Airmen set up communication lines for exercise in Croatia

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • Medical Central and Eastern Europe Exercise Public Affairs
DIVULJE TRAINING BASE, Croatia (AFPN) --  Members of the 1st Combat Communications Squadron based out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, began arriving in late April into Croatia to prepare network and phone systems for participants of the Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe 2008 here.

The 1st CBCS Airmen linked the more than 400 multinational participants to the rest of the world for the U.S. European Command-sponsored exercise.

Croatian officials welcomed exercise participants and support members from 15 nations who began arriving here April 21 in preparation for the Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe 2008. The exercise is a U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff regional/multilateral exercise sponsored by USEUCOM and hosted by Croatia this year in the spirit of NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe 2008 brings participants together in a joint training and validation medical exercise aimed at the interoperability of multinational disaster response, humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. 

"We're here to provide communication support to the participants of MEDCEUR," said 2nd Lt. Dan Casey, the 1st CBCS communications officer in charge of Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe 2008. His 15-man communication team brought all of the equipment they would need to set up services for a small base including an initial communications package and a satellite.

"When we arrived here, commercial Internet and Croatian phone lines were already in place," Lieutenant Casey said. "We had to establish a nonsecure Internet protocol routing network, a secure Internet protocol routing network and a defense switched network. You don't get those services through what was already here. The communications systems that were already in place would have had a hard time supporting the hundreds of exercise participants who will be arriving here."

The locally established systems provided a starting point for the 1st CBCS Airmen, but more communication infrastructure was needed to support the exercises.

"One really unique thing we are doing here is utilizing radio frequency to span more than six miles of airspace to (nearby) Laura Naval Air Station in order to provide nonsecure voice and data SIPRNET," said Staff Sgt. J.C. Rainey, a 1st CBCS systems integrator supervisor.

This achievement was done using the theater deployable communication suite.

Normally one RF module is used at a location. To provide the communications needed here; however, five RF "mods" were linked together, Sergeant Rainey said. "Linking together five at one time is not typical but was required in this situation since we have to provide services over such a long distance."

Providing this distance support has caused challenges to members of the 1st CBCS.

"The most challenging part is the six-and-a-half mile microwave link between the two points," Lieutenant Casey said. "As far as I know, we have never done this before in this type of environment. It took some time, but we made it work."

Despite the challenges the communications squadron Airmen had to overcome, they seem to have found this experience rewarding.

"It has been very rewarding to provide communication out here during this exercise to the different nations," the lieutenant said. "It has been a great experience."

Sergeant Rainey agreed, "I have enjoyed watching the camaraderie that happens in this type of environment. I've seen squadrons start integrating together, multinational relationships form and the export of good will."

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