Battlefield calls go through MacDill Published Jan. 23, 2004 By 2nd Lt. Erin Dorrance 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- American military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan reach for their satellite phones when they want clear, secure and fast communications. More often than not, the operator who patches through their calls is sitting in a building here.People at the one-stop-shop Regional Satcom Support Center here process requests for satellite phone time and schedule the required bandwidth to commanders all over the globe.The joint RSSC is one of three regional support centers. The other two are in Germany and Hawaii. Headquarters for the three is the Global Satcom Support Center at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.By using satellites located over the equator line, 23,000 miles above Earth, RSSC operators receive satellite access requests and grant satellite phone time in three frequencies -- ultra high, super high and extremely high.The RSSC's main users are Special Operations Command, Central Command, Southern Command and Joint Forces Command. Since MacDill has two of the four biggest users within an arm's reach, and Southern Command is only several hundred miles away, it only made sense to have an RSCC here, said Tech. Sgt. Jay Steele, EHF chief of Central Command operations, who has been with the RSSC for three and a half years.The RSSC staff also works closely with the joint communication support element here.The satellite phone technology was not used as much during Operation Desert Storm, but during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom the satellite phones have been in high demand, said Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg Denton, RSSC noncommissioned officer in charge."It is unbelievable how fast and big satellite communications is growing," Sergeant Denton said. "Even the career field is growing quickly because of the technology's popularity."Because of the prominent use of satellite communications and the large amounts of bandwidth needed to use this type of communications, RSSC technicians carefully plan satellite phone time, said David Miller, chief of UHF cell. Exercises help the RSSC staff ensure that planning is efficient and that military commanders have the time and bandwidth they require for satellite phone calls.Although the RSSC team members start planning six to eight months in advance of a war, they are very flexible and ready to deal with rapid changes."War is unpredictable," Mr. Miller said. "If plans change and a group is sent to a different country, we need to change the originating location of the satellite phone call, which may even mean sending it through a different satellite altogether."Based on the popularity and efficiencies of satellite communications, it appears the technology will be a preferred means for exchanging intelligence, Mr. Miller said. That means RSSC specialists will be kept busy in their role as high-tech operators to U.S. military commanders and by an ongoing schedule of exercises and training to improve the system.