BAUMHOLDER, Germany — The 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion held a redesignation ceremony Dec. 16, 2021 here to formally recognize the battalion’s transition to an Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced.
“A ceremony such as this may not strictly be traditional, but it’s important for us to recognize our place in the Signal Regiment, and the hard work of these Soldiers throughout this process,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jason Kendzierski, Commander, 44th ESB-E, said during the ceremony. “This redesignation is symbolic of our combined efforts to continue serving as U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s best signal and cyber professionals.”
The ESB-Enhanced is a modular, scalable, more agile version of the ESB that provides the U.S. Army with uninterrupted mission command and the ability to rapidly deploy and maneuver across the battlefield. The ESB-E’s tactical network communications support allows for a more lethal, mobile, and hardened joint and coalition force.
The 44th ESB-E’s mission is to provide tactical communications for customer units in the European Theater. When tasked, the unit builds, operates and defends Mission Command Systems and Networks in support of Unified Land Operations.
“The ‘Enhanced’ added to the end of ESB-E symbolizes our unit is now equipped with the new smaller Scalable Network Nodes instead of the much larger and older Command Post Nodes,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Adam Stanley, 2nd Platoon Leader, Charlie Company, 44th ESB-E.
“This new equipment makes our communication teams much more mobile in how they can support our customers’ communications requirements. Customers are now provided much more flexibility in exercising command and control over their subordinate units.”
During the transition period, Soldiers completed mandatory two-week training blocks on the new equipment, including Small Form Factor and Terrestrial Transmission Line of Site equipment, and TriLOS and Commercial Coalition Equipment training. The additional training and experience also ensures Soldiers gain more diverse experiences and skill sets as they continue their Army careers.
“Many of my soldiers are eager to work with new equipment that is much more modern than our old equipment,” Stanley said. “Our Soldiers faced many competing requirements in the past few months of this transition. I am extremely impressed with our units’ ability to meet the mission timetable and equipment certification. Our Soldiers’ work ethic has been outstanding and they are excited about this transition and their ability to continue showcasing why the ‘Fighting 44th’ is the premiere Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced.”
The 44th ESB-E is part of the 2d Theater Signal Brigade, USAG Wiesbaden, Germany. The 2d Theater Signal Brigade conducts Department of Defense Information Network operations to enable mission command in support of U.S. Army, Joint and multinational operations throughout the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of operation.
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