Airmen, Soldiers open lines of communication

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Brian Davidson
  • 447th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFPN) --  Since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the area surrounding Baghdad International Airport has developed into a series of bases, each with its own unique role in fighting the war on terrorism.

Now, a small group of Airmen and Soldiers are working together to link each of those bases together with state-of-the-art communications capabilities.

The Airmen, part of the engineering and installation team, are assigned to the 447th Air Expeditionary Group. They are installing fiber optic cable in a ring that runs more than 22 miles and includes placing cable ductwork and more than 250 manholes.

With only one draftsman and three fiber optics engineers facing a project of such size and importance, the Army stepped up with manpower and equipment to help get the job done.

“We’re using a combination of existing and new ductwork in the project,” said Chief Master Sgt. John Adams, U.S. Central Command Air Forces-Forward fiber optics project leader. “The job presents a considerable challenge for the team because the existing manholes and duct systems are small, cramped spaces with ducts that are broken, filled with earth or crushed. Trenching and routing for the new lines and manholes is tough going in the hard Iraqi soil.”

The chief is no stranger to leading his people to accomplish the impossible. Assigned to the Illinois Air National Guards’ 217th Engineering and Installation Squadron, this is his 19th deployment in his 28-year career. Additionally, as a fiber optic planner for a telephone company in Chicago, the chief brings experience in the most current fiber optic technology to the project.

“It’s going to take all of us working together and a little bit of luck,” he said. “We intend to have the project done by the end of our deployment in August -- considerably ahead of the original completion date.”

Each morning the team sets its sights on the distance they need to reach that day with the installation. Working in the harsh Iraqi sun in temperatures often reaching 120 degrees, they continue digging through an obstacle course of challenges.

Although they have heavy equipment to dig some of the 6-foot deep trench needed to run the ductwork, countless obstructions require the Airmen and Soldiers to dig by hand in soil that closely resembles concrete.

Under fences, roadways and walls, around buildings and other utilities, the digging continues. Between each run of ductwork, the team digs a larger hole and wrestles into place a 4-foot square concrete manhole that will allow access and maintenance of the fiber optics.

“We just focus on each obstacle as we come to it,” said Army Spc. Jeremy Edwards, assigned to the fiber optics project from the 35th Signal Brigade at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Standing in a trench less than 3-feet wide, Specialist Edwards carefully chips away at the hard soil to prevent cutting one of countless utility lines that cross the path of the project. Covered in sweat and dirt, he heaves each shovelful of soil over his head and out of the trench that is already deeper than he is tall.

“This is going to be one of the most important and sophisticated systems in Iraq,” he said. “People living in a free Iraq will still be using this system when I have grandkids.”

The project not only addresses the present communication needs of coalition forces, but is also engineered to include future expansion.

Instead of just running one 4-inch duct to house the 144-strand fiber optics cable, the team is installing four ducts, each one capable of housing three cables for a total capability of 1,728 fiber strands.

“The application potential and expansion capabilities will have a huge benefit to both the Iraqi military and civilian communities once they are ready to take over control of this area,” said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Teschendorf who is deployed from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 210th Engineering and Installation Squadron. “We’re opening up telephone, computer and television capabilities that will last for generations.”

The project will link Army, Marine, Air Force and other coalition partners and provide the capability to overcome problems that make communications problematic at best.

“There are multiple phone systems in use now, and some that can’t even connect to each other,” Chief Adams said. “We’re providing a service that will allow each compound to communicate as clearly as telephoning your neighbor at home.”