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Airmen from the 1st Combat Communications Squadron prepare equipment in Africa. The Airmen replaced pallets of communications equipment for transportation as another squadron replaced the 1st CBCS. This was the first time an entire combat communications team and equipment were switched out.
A group of ambitious and innovative Airmen from the 1st Combat Communications Squadron recently completed a mission that has never been accomplished by the total-force combat communications community.
In less than 48 hours, this team of specialists came into a small base in Africa and seamlessly replaced an entire communications infrastructure with absolutely no interruption to operations — no planes grounded, no missions postponed, not even a missed phone call.
During this transition, the base’s airfield, command and control capabilities, telecommunications system and basically everything that keeps the base’s mission going was swapped out.
Although most combat units replace each other in deployed locations in this manner, the 1st CBCS and the 52th Combat Communications Squadron were the first combat communications squadrons to do it with such speed and lack of mission impact. However, Tech. Sgt. Marcus Smith, 1st CBCS described it a bit differently.
“It’s like someone came and replaced all the electronics in the middle of the night, optimized your network and took the old equipment to be refurbished,” Smith said. “You would notice a new computer, but all your favorite games and videos are still there. And a new phone and SIM card charging, but all your contacts are still there.”
The 1st CBCS, part of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing out of Ramstein, provides or establishes communication networks all around Europe and Africa. This event freed up equipment and manpower allowing the 1st CBCS to build up other sites in their area of operation.
The 1st CBCS moved out seven pallets of communication equipment then switched it over to have the 52nd CBCS’s system. During one part of the mission, they completed what an unexperienced team would accomplish in one hour in only seven minutes.
“This effort proved that the Air Force can meet the long-term needs of deployed joint-force commanders while retaining our tactical footprint,” said Lt. Col. Douglas Shahan, 1st CBCS commander. “The team also validated that we can rotate combat comm deployable packages just like other weapon systems, which ensures the overall health of the community and readiness of the deployed force.”
This was a huge success for the 1st CBCS, said Senior Master Sgt. Hector Garcia, 1st CBCS team lead. The team and process they used has created options for the Air Force to deploy total-force Airmen in a new way anytime, anywhere.
“I’m proud to contribute in a small way to the many successes by the people in this unit,” Garcia said.
“There’s no other unit like the 1st (CBCS), and at this point in my career, there’s no place I’d rather be. My team of subject matter experts performed flawlessly, and our cutover went even better than any of us expected.”
The equipment and personnel the 1st CBCS replaced did not disappear. It merely went home and rearmed, resupplied and readied itself for a new adventure in Africa or Europe.
