Comm squadron makes mission possible

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Colleen Wronek
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Miles of wires weaving information through walls and underground pathways connect each facility together to form a network so Airmen can make a phone call or log onto a computer and accomplish their mission here.

Communication is what most people take for granted. Having a working phone or computer is considered an everyday occurrence, but without the help of the 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron Airmen, Balad might be a very different place.

“Comm touches everybody,” said 1st Lt. Shawn Prosser, 332nd ECS mission’s systems flight deputy commander deployed from Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. “Without our guys, you can’t have communications, and without communications, you can’t accomplish the mission.”

Squadron Airmen provide secure data and user access to 4,000 secure and nonsecure Internet users and 1,830 phone numbers off the base switch. And it all begins with laying copper and fiber optic wiring.

“The engineering and installation team installs all outside cabling so all Air Force buildings and facilities are networked to the communications squadron,” said Chris Salas, a 332nd ECS engineer. “We’ll receive work orders, which tell us where the cabling is needed. Then we dig trenches and add pipes to lay the cable underground.”

Working outside with copper wire for phones and fiber optic cable for computers can be very difficult, he said.

“The heat in the summer and the mud in the winter are rough on the wires and crews when they are working in manholes for hours,” Mr. Salas said.

After the wire has been placed in the ground, the last 400 feet is installed inside the buildings.

“My folks are the middle men. We take Mr. Salas’ heavy trenching and install the last bit in the buildings … so personnel can receive data and have telephones,” said Lieutenant Prosser.

Since December, the Airmen have completed 900 trouble tickets or fix actions, 290 work orders and laid more than 20 miles of wiring, he said.

“When we first got here, 75 percent of our work was repairing communications lines,” he said. “A lot of damage occurred to these lines due to the harsh environment and the nature of tactical installs.”

Buildings are ready to be networked to the 332nd ECS once the wiring has been installed.

“A lot of people think it’s plug and play. You can’t plug in your computer or phone and think it’s on the Balad network,” said Tech Sgt. Will Bellamy, noncommissioned officer in charge of the squadron’s network managements deployed from Barksdale AFB, La. “Once the wiring is installed, we assess the building for the customers’ needs. We then create a new virtual local-area network if the customer is new to the base, and we install a switch that connects to the main switch. There’s a lot of programming and behind-the-scenes work involved. (We) not only satisfy the customer’s current needs, but (we) have to think of future requirements.”

Sergeant Bellamy said communications are key to everything.

“It’s nice to know we’re leaving the base better than what we found it,” he said.