Airman keeps Soldiers connected in Afghanistan

One Ramstein Airman is providing an invaluable service to the Army while deployed at Combat Outpost McClain in Logar Province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Emond, deployed from the 86th Communications Squadron, does his part at the outpost, aiding soldiers by providing Internet access.

“I’m supporting the warfighters at ground zero,” he said.

Nearly everything from intelligence reports, operations planning and tracking troops outside the wire depend on Internet connectivity.

“Before he came out here, the (secure Internet protocol router) was really slow, and with most of my job I use SIPR,” said Army Spc. Daniel T. Bailey, an intelligence analyst with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Task Force Spartan. “Since he’s come, everything has been really fast.”

Sergeant Emond is one of nearly 80 Airmen deployed to various locations in Afghanistan to operate the Virtual Secret Internet Protocol Router, Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router, Access Point, – known as VSNAP – a system developed early this year to provide Internet access for Soldiers in remote locations.

“It’s a great system, because the disc can be set up in about 15 minutes, and you can probably be passing traffic in a half an hour,” the communications specialist said. “It can pull power off a running Humvee; you don’t even need a generator to operate the system.”

As for his deployment, Sergeant Emond finds it quite enjoyable.

“This is probably the most fun I’ll ever have on deployment,” he said. “It’s given me a chance to see how the war is being fought from inside a command post.”

(This article was compiled with information from Army Pfc. Melissa Stewart who serves in the Task Force Spartan Public Affairs Office.)