FORT STEWART, Ga. - Signal Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were certified at Fort Stewart, Ga., July 16-19, to operate a portable battlefield communication system designed for use by small units.
The one-week course trains the Soldiers on how to employ and maintain the secret internet protocol router and non-secure internet protocol router access point-very small aperture terminal system, or SNAP VSAT, which provides secure and non-secure data and voice communications for commanders who are geographically separated from their higher command.
"[The SNAP VSAT is] going to allow us to have worldwide communications capabilities--that's going to be pivotal to us [during any missions we have in the future]," said Spc. Andrew Horner, a signal support systems specialist with Troop A, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4IBCT.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native said the one-week course, which taught him the basics of the system, is a stepping stone that will lead to two weeks of further training. He said when he completes the program he will be able to send voice and data transmissions via the satellite from any remote location, as long as he sets up the satellite to have a clear line of sight to the sky.
Sergeant Joseph Wilk, a multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4IBCT, said experience with larger battlefield communication systems helped him to quickly learn the basics of the SNAP VSAT.
The Fredericksburg, Va., native said that the portability of the SNAP VSAT will make it a vital asset to his unit's leaders if they operate in austere conditions.
Social Sharing