Delaware National Guard Two Delaware leaders give final 'Hoo-ah' at Combined Endeavor 2002
Photos by Spc. James Pernol, 1/444th Mobile Publiic Affairs
Capt. Sean S. Hall (left), 261st Signal Brigade, and Capt. Davide
Dettori of Italy look at data collected from the switch test during
Combined Endeavor 2002.
BAUMHOLDER, Germany (19 MAY 2002)— Maj. Bruce R. Walton Jr. and Capt. Sean S. Hall, both of the 261st Signal Brigade from the Delaware National Guard, returned for their 2nd and final year at Combined Endeavor this spring.
Combined Endeavor is the largest communications and information workshop in the world. The workshop, sponsored by U.S. European Command and hosted by Germany in the spirit of "Partnership for Peace," is held annually to test and document the interoperability of dozens of countries and NATO. There are 40 different nations and over 1,000 people participating in Combined Endeavor 2002, which runs from May 9 to 24.
Maj. Bruce R. Walton Jr., 261st Signal Brigade, stands next
to the Multi-national Division North's flag during Combined Endeavor
2002.
Walton and Hall both have key leadership positions in
the Combined Endeavor workshop. Walton is the Operations System Control
Officer in Charge (OIC) of Multi-national Division North and Hall is
Deputy OIC of MND West.
Testing was conducted on information systems and assurance, wide area and local area networks, digital and analog switchboards and high-frequency transmissions systems. The reason for the testing is to develop an interoperability guide for the different nations so they can communicate between each other in future real-world operations.
Hall said of his training at Combined Endeavor: "It was the best 2 years I have ever had on a mission."
In MND North, Walton is the OIC, with Maj. Marian Babjak of the Slovak Republic, and Warrant Officer 2 Ray Edge of the United Kingdom working as his deputies.
When working with the many different countries, language can be a hurdle. Most of the countries at CE 2002 speak some English. Everyone here has a common basis and that is they all are military and signal people.
"Half the fun is trying to communicate in hand and arm signals," said Hall.
The theme for the communications workshop is "Interoperability," but not only interoperability between countries but also human interoperability.
There are over 40 different countries and cultures on showcase during CE 2002. Many of these are countries most people only read about and never get to experience.
"The relationships that you build during the cultural and social events, improves your ability to perform signal testing," Walton said.
Both Walton and Hall attended several conferences throughout the year to plan the tests for CE 2002. They attended planning conferences in Sweden, Latvia and Croatia to plan the testing for the workshop.
"This has been the most rewarding National Guard experience I’ve had in my career," said Walton. Walton will take back with him the knowledge of how to manage communications in an international environment. Back home, Walton works in the S3 (Operations) shop with the 261st Signal Brigade as the System Control (SYSCON) Officer.
Both Walton and Hall will take with them the friendships they have built with the other nations. They will have also gained a better understanding of how tactical communication works outside the U.S.
"I now know we are all separated by miles, but we are all very similar," said Hall.
Once Hall leaves CE 2002 he will also leave the Delaware National Guard. He will officially join the Florida National Guard assigned to the 153rd Finance Battalion as the Detachment Commander of the 2153rd in St. Augustine, Fla.
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