Camp Zama Airmen provide vital communications link

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Val Gempis
  • Air Force Print News
CAMP ZAMA, Japan --  A small group of Airmen at this Army installation provides vital worldwide communications links for the Department of Defense and its allies in the Pacific region. The technicians assigned to Operating Location C of the 374th Communications Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, handle area, regional, theater and global networks.

“Our mission here is to provide communications where (they are) needed and ensure critical and relevant information gets to the right place at the correct time,” said Chief Master Sgt. Michael Ostermann, site chief.

Staff Sgt. David Goodnight, a satellite communications technician, said the site is one of the communications bridges in the Pacific. It operates around the clock, all year long, and the Airmen here manage more than a thousand circuits every day.

“It can be hectic here, but it’s a lot of fun getting elbow-deep trying to solve problems in electronics,” he said.

Sergeant Goodnight did not quite know what to think when he found out he was being assigned to an Army installation. Although he enjoyed training with Soldiers before, actually living and working on an Army base is a different experience. But after a year, Sergeant Goodnight said that being here is one of the best assignments he has ever had.