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311th Signal Command (Theater) Conducts Contingency Command Post Exercise in Guam - Focusing on Network Operations

By CourtesyApril 9, 2021

Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Whitehall improves a communications room for efficiencies and maintainability in support of TF-West/DCE-West at Santa Rita, Guam.
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Whitehall improves a communications room for efficiencies and maintainability in support of TF-West/DCE-West at Santa Rita, Guam. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Sgt. Derik Gonzales(left) and Staff Sgt. Dane Kaneakua (right), run network cables in Santa Rita, Guam in support of Contingency Command Post operations.
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Derik Gonzales(left) and Staff Sgt. Dane Kaneakua (right), run network cables in Santa Rita, Guam in support of Contingency Command Post operations. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Maj. Gen Reginald G. Neal (right), the U.S. Army Pacific Deputy Commanding General receives a Contingency Command Post technical brief of the Tactical Network Monitoring System from Chief Warrant Officer 3 Quintin Lawrence (left), the system technician & security advisor, 311th Signal Command (Theater).
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maj. Gen Reginald G. Neal (right), the U.S. Army Pacific Deputy Commanding General receives a Contingency Command Post technical brief of the Tactical Network Monitoring System from Chief Warrant Officer 3 Quintin Lawrence (left), the system technician & security advisor, 311th Signal Command (Theater). (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The Soldiers of the 311th Signal Command (Theater) conducted a Contingency Command Post exercise at the Defense Coordinating Element (DCE) - West Tactical Operations Center in Santa Rita, Guam, March 8-12, 2021.

The exercise was conducted to validate that network operation sections could deploy west of the International Date Line and conduct monitoring of tactical assets throughout the Pacific, according to Capt. Andrew Buchter, G3 Plans and Exercises, 311th Signal Command (Theater) and lead planner for the event.

The CCP team deployed with a small, expeditionary package to Guam. The core team consisted of nine personnel with only three tough boxes worth of equipment - all of which was hand carried. While there, the CCP carried out its mission with a focus on Network Operations. Participants of the CCP exercise included the Tactical Integration Branch and Plans/Exercises section of the 311th SC (T). The rest of the G1, G2, G4, G8 staff participated virtually and remotely from Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

Some of the main mission-essential goals of the exercise were to perform and plan network management and enterprise system management, establish a tactical network and conduct actions associated with force projection at Echelon Above Corps.

In order to accomplish these goals, various tactical processes were employed to include remotely connecting Tactical Network Monitoring System stacks on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in order to monitor tactical assets from both the 304th and 307th Expeditionary Signal Battalions. The CCP worked with the DCE-West building managers to extend Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router to our workspace, which helped establish a ‘warm site’ for rapid establishment of the CCP in this building during future events. According to Buchter, this exercise was an important step in enhancing the DoD Information Network mission in the Indo-Pacific Theater for the U.S. Army.

“The network operations section is continuing to improve by working toward monitoring the strategic network, which will allow the 311th to paint a better picture of the network for the United States Army Pacific Commander,” Buchter said.

The CCP also monitored tactical assets in the Republic of Korea and the Pohakuloa Training Area on the big island of Hawaii, during this exercise. Despite the long distance and time differences, the CCP exercise showed what the 311th SC (T) could bring to the fight.

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