TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. - Tobyhanna personnel are providing a wide range of support to the international relief effort in earthquake-devastated Haiti.
Depot engineering personnel traveled to a South Carolina installation in late January to modify a communications system for an Air Force AN/MPN-14K air traffic control system that will be deployed to Haiti. The radar system is used by air traffic controllers to identify and sequence aircraft and provide final approach guidance as they prepare to land at airfields, says Chris Flint, chief of the Air Traffic Control Division.
At Tobyhanna, technicians are expediting the overhaul of an Army AN/TSW-7A air traffic control tower to meet a deployment date to Haiti later this month. The system performs the same functions at forward airfields as a permanent air traffic control tower at a commercial airport.
"These systems are important wherever they go, but there is an immediate need for this system in Haiti," said Electronics Mechanic Joe Betz, GCA/Sensors Branch, as he worked on the system.
Communications Systems Directorate personnel also have responded to requests by select United States agencies to supply mission-specific secure equipment for use by U.S. forces in Haiti.
Tobyhanna's role may soon include direct support in the Caribbean nation.
A Tobyhanna employee is enroute to Fort Bragg, N.C., for Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) before reporting to Pope Air Force Base, N.C., for transportation to deploy to Haiti. He will provide on-site technical support on Command Post Systems and Integration (CPSI) equipment that is headed for the Caribbean nation. The equipment belongs to the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), which is coordinating logistical efforts in Haiti.
The employee is assigned to Tobyhanna's Forward Repair Activity (FRA) at Fort Drum, N.Y. Tobyhanna operates a worldwide network of FRAs providing direct support to military units.
CPSI equipment includes a variety of command post systems and platforms that enable units to plan and execute missions and operations in the field. It encompasses a wide variety of C4ISR systems in standard configurations that allow for easy setup, operation and maintenance of Tactical Operations Centers.
The 3rd Sustainment Command will form the nucleus of Joint Logistics Task Force-Haiti, bringing its logistics expertise to the relief effort. Its mission is to provide logistics support through sustainment and distribution management in any environment.
In addition to providing mission support to units in Haiti, Tobyhanna personnel are also supporting relief efforts through a special fund-raising drive at the depot. The special drive collected more than $6,000 in one week. More than 20 charities operating in Haiti are the beneficiaries of Tobyhanna employees' generosity.
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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