TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -Soldiers from all over the United States participated in a training course here, Oct. 19-30.
The 80-hour Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) training course was designed to educate Soldiers on the radio system equipment, which allows personnel to speak securely over airwaves and with encrypted coding.
"We normally get a conglomerate of military occupational specialties," notes Staff Sgt. Howard Braxton, course instructor at the U. S. Army High Tech Regional Training Site-Maintenance, 80th Training Command.
Soldiers who attended the training held military occupational specialties such as military police, administrative assistant and mechanic.
Braxton notes that a few Soldiers attended because their units were getting ready to deploy and required personnel who could prepare and operate the radio system, and others were brushing up on their training.
The course is taught eight times during the fiscal year, and includes 10 students per class.
"The SINCGARS course was of much use to me as I'm sure it was to my classmates," says Spc. Christian Avila. "It is a skill that every Soldier should have because they will need it at one point or another in their military career."
"Tobyhanna is a great place to do this training because the weather is ideal," Braxton explains, noting that the class is normally taught during the summer but an increase in number of classes taught for fiscal year 2010 pushed the course to be taught at other times during the year.
Part of the class taught Soldiers how to use a global positioning system (GPS) to locate readily identifiable points throughout the depot, including the Mack Field House, the satellite by the Post Exchange and a tank along Hap Arnold Boulevard.
Braxton notes that it rained and was windy on the day of the GPS training, adding, "Mother Nature was not our friend, but you don raingear and drive on."
Spc. Derek Womble says that even as a Reservist he believes it will serve as a useful skill in some capacity.
"[The course] teaches proper military radio etiquette as well as critical information on how to communicate with the Forward Operating Base. This could, very well, affect the outcome of a special task or operation, or even the lives of fellow Soldiers," Avila notes.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department's largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.
About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.
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