261st Grecian Firebolt 2001 261st Grecian Firebolt 2001
Teamwork and technology
GF '01 sends message, tests commo equipment at Ft. Dix
 By Staff Sgt. Deborah Welch

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 Sergeant 1st Class Howard Savage of 280th Signal Batallion, Company A,  stationed at Seaford holds his part steady as his fellow soldier cranks up a satellite dish to operating height to assure the Tactical Operations Center is sending and receiving strong signals for daily operations.  (US Army photo by Sgt. Kyran V. Adams)

FORT DIX, N.J. – Soldiers from 261st Signal Brigade, Dover Del. and its subordinate units arrived here Saturday to commence Grecian Firebolt 2001, the largest peacetime, global communications exercise in the world.

Active Army, Reserve, and Army and Air National Guard units connecting 28 locations throughout the US and Asia highlight the "Total Force Integration" concept using the latest communications technology.

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Sgt. Chad Dunfee, 63rd Signal Battalion transmission supervisor, assists a 280th Signal Battalion soldier by improving an antennae shot. (Photo by SSG Deborah Welch.)

Its subordinate units are working together in support of east coast operations and include: the Delaware National Guard’s 280th Signal Battalion and the 259th Tropo, as well as the Active Army’s 63rd Signal Battalion, from Fort Gordon, Ga., and two Air National Guard combat communications units.

With two branches of the military and reserve and active forces working together, GF01 provides a unique opportunity to train, exercise, evaluate, and improve the integration of these forces.

"The 261st exemplifies both teamwork and technology," according to Col. Henry C. McCann, acting 261st Commander.

The Active Army brings a lot of their high technology to the table and the Delaware National Guard brings time and experience, according to McCann. For instance, many Delaware Guard soldiers have gone through Desert Storm and other deployments and have remained in their guard units. Also, Guard soldiers often gain institutional knowledge and expertise in their civilian jobs and can bring those skills to annual training.

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Sgt. Edwin Luhrman of the 259th Signal Company (TROPO) mounts a satellite dish before setting up communications operations at Crusader Park using the Transpheric Scattering Long Haul Line of Sight Communications System.  (Photo by Staff Sgt. Deborah Welch)

Working with The Air Force units has added value to the Army’s training also, according to 280th Signal Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Breeding. "We get to see how they operate, and they can see how we operate," he said. "Then we can mesh efforts and make it a better system."

GF01 is also designed to test and further develop the deployment of a combat-ready global Signal force to engineer, install, operate and maintain communications systems capable of handling large volumes of voice, data and video traffic. The 280th Signal Battalion is supporting the 475th Quartermaster Battalion with field telephones to talk over their tactical system during their POLEX training, said Breeding.

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Overview of theatre of operations 261st Signal Brigade, 280th Signal Battalion and 62rd Signal Battalion. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Deborah Welch)

During GF01, the 261st will also help provide a communications network "backbone" to support several concurrent proficiency-training exercises involving medical, transportation, personnel and quartermaster units.

With operations sites located at Fort Dix, NJ, Fort Devens, Mass., and Orange Ct., the 261st Brigade’s more than 400 soldiers provided operations that have been paramount to success of east coast operations during GF01, according to Maj. Jane Zak, 261st Personnel and Administration Officer.

Various Signal units will concurrently provide similar network support in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Korea, Japan and 11 other states within the continental United States.

July 2001

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