Delaware National Guard

Signal soldiers field Grecian Firebolt 2000

SSG Brian Nichols and PV2 Jeffery Hicklin
assemble a crucial piece of the FM antenna .
By SSG Deborah Welch
Det 1/444 Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
June 9, 2000

Zeus wielded his terrible firebolt from above, as he ruled the mythical ancient Greek skies. Today, the U.S. Army Signal Corps fields mighty electron transmissions throughout the global skies to real world missions during the annual exercise known as Grecian Firebolt.

This year, soldiers of the 280^th Signal Battalion, Company A, Delaware Army National Guard, are supplying field communications to several nationwide exercises here including WATEREX/POLEX. The Seaford unit vigorously attended the needs of three quartermaster battalions and 16 companies, including various transportation and maintenance units.

"Normally, one company might support, for example, two battalions and three or four subordinate companies," said CPT Carl Johnson, 280^th commander. "We. re really stretched. Other posts are operating with several (signal) companies."

SPC T.J. Soriano climbed several telephone poles along Texas Avenue on Sunday in order to run wire and cable connections to the 317^thQuartermasters. Tactical Operations Center.

"Each year the exercise gets larger and more intense," said SPC T.J. Soriano, a seasoned Grecian firebolt participant. "We have more lines, more phones, more communications needs this year than we. ve had in past exercises."

Beginning Sunday, Soriano, and the other wire and cable installers from the same squad, stretched literally thousands of feet of wire and cable. From voice and data antennae to site areas of operation, such as the Tactical Operations Center for 319th Quartermaster, Fort Devins, Mass., lines of communication were set to transmit electrons to the main tactical switchboard.

From the main site, the signal is then connected with to a satellite which shoots the message to 930^th Signal Brigade at Fort Story, Va. "That is our connection into the Grecian Firebolt exercise," said Johnson.

In addition to providing the 280^th with their connection to the nationwide signal exercise, it is also the pivotal link for all the other exercises it supports. "Our role is critical, because without our switchboard, nobody has communications. Basically, all of Fort Dix would be disconnected from their relative exercises," said Johnson.

Often signal units set up and support only their own communications missions, but during Grecian Firebolt, the 280th is serving real-world scenarios and missions.

"We have real customers, real problems, real needs. We must be customer service oriented in our mission," said Johnson.

Another advantage of the type of real world training offered, is the immediate feedback that is made available. Grecian Firebolt assesses the planning and execution of the unit. s capability to deploy to a field location and provide reliable and flexible communications support during wartime.

For instance, the WATEREX/POLEX might report that they were able to get a certain number of gallons of drinking water purified, or a certain amount of water bagged and sent to Bosnia due to effective communications set up by the 280th.

More immediately, the unit receives input on local time down and time up of phone lines, which directly impacts their standing in the exercise.

The operation consists of four brigades containing more than 3,700 soldiers and stretches over 28 states. It is designed to refine integration of active component, Reserve and National Guard units. The overall operation is sponsored this year by U.S. Army Signal Command, Fort Huachuca, Az.

SGT Amore Rice constructs an UHF antenna
tranmitter.
Teamwork drives commo success

By SSG Deborah Welch
Det. 1/ 444th MPAD/DEARNG

After a day of travel, transport and other necessary logistics, the 280th Signal Battalion, Company A, Delaware Army National Guard, kicked off their first full day of Grecian Firebolt 2000 operations, Sunday, June 11.

Soldiers from the 280th had only until daybreak the next morning to install antenna connections to four key locations. Those locations would serve as hubs for several simultaneous reserve component exercises taking place over the two-week period.

"The 280th participates regularly in Grecian Firebolt," said SSG Brian Nichols, squad leader for the Texas Avenue site. "Each year training improves. This year, we're getting more sergeant training time, added shift schedules and improved lanes evaluation. Two years ago, (lanes training) was only on one site. Now the training is spread throughout the exercise."

The 280th's ability to blend the practical skills of veteran soldiers with the technical knowledge of recent graduates proved fundamental to mission accomplishment.

"We have been focusing on more junior enlisted involvement," said SGT Amore Rice. "They are the backbone of our future, and as NCO's... we owe it to them to give them a chance for more experience and opportunity."

"One example is PV2 Hicklin," added Nichols. "He came back from Advanced Individual Training two months ago and really wants to learn more. He's asking for the hands-on training."

Newer soldiers can also help the older NCO's do their jobs better, said Nichols. "We can forget some things over the years. Plus, they (soldiers coming from AIT) learn some of the new tricks of the trade and technology at school. So they bring back a lot of knowledge that can benefit everyone."

As soon as Nichols and his crew had secured the two antenna towers, soldiers from another 280th squad arrived and commenced laying and stringing the wire and cable along Texas Avenue necessary to link to the TOC site.

The wire and cable installers told a similar story of how squad members were integrating technical skills and hands-on experience.

"One thing I'm learning is that tasks are never the same twice in the field," said PFC Andy Lynch.

"Very true," agreed SPC William Winchester, a fellow squad member who is another recent AIT graduate. "Exercises like this give us all a chance to develop our skills in a real life situation. In school the training might be more technical, but out here the guys who have been in the field know the tricks of the trade, like (SPC T.J.) Soriano. He can do tasks that some of us newer guys never had to learn."

"Each year the exercise gets larger and more intense," said SPC T.J. Soriano, a seasoned Grecian Firebolt participant. "We have more lines, more phones, more communications needs this year than we've had in past exercises." Soriano attended AIT in 1994 and has several years of cable and wire installation experience. He is the designated telephone pole climber in his squad.

"More recent AIT graduates didn't need to learn how to climb telephone poles, because in school they were trained for a different environment," said Soriano.

Installing FM and UHF antenna communications for short-range and long-range communications to the 319th Quartermasters' Tactical Operations Center on Texas Avenue was the first priority for both squads.

The short-range antenna connection would provide the TOC with vital communication to other sites on post. In addition, the long-distance UHF antenna provided voice and data transmission to all the Grecian Firebolt sites nationwide.

By working together, newly schooled soldiers and their experienced leaders successfully met their challenge and provided the vital link for the 317th's concurrent exercise.