MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 conducted a communications training exercise at Penny Lake Field here Sept. 9 - 16.
MWSS-171 conducted the training with Marine Wing Communications Squadron 18 and Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 based out of Okinawa, Japan.
This is the first time in approximately six months the Marines have been able to conduct Support Wide Area Network satellite training.
“This is training we don’t usually get,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Adam Bethard, MWSS- 171 communications chief.
The SWAN satellite is an integrated commercial-off-the-shelf solution using very small aperture terminal and networking components. A SWAN can be set up in 30 minutes or less and uses a Beyond-Line-Of-Sight capability within the Marine Air-Ground Task Force communications infrastructure.
The training prepares Marines for the communication requirements of MWSS-171 in a forward-deployed environment.
“If we go forward to Korea, support a unit in Guam or go down to the Philippines, the gear will assist us to ensure the unit out there has radio, telephone support and data connectivity to the higher headquarters,” said Bethard.
In a field environment, if there are no computer assets, a radio enables Marines to pass traffic almost anywhere around the world.
“The radio is always the backup, so we can stay involved with headquarters and make sure to maintain and provide situational awareness to those that need to know,” said Bethard.
MWSS-171 conducts field training at Penny Lake Field to familiarize Marines with equipment and keep them proficient in skills needed for mission accomplishment.
“It takes a lot of proficiency, mental focus and determination to be able to set up equipment, program switches, routers and set up gear to get everything connected and make sure everything is talking to each other,” said Lance Cpl. Joshua Guthrie, a MWSS-171 tactical data network specialist.
This exercise also gave Marines hands-on training with gear such as running cables, setting up tents, antennas, monitors and connecting to different radio networks. Marines were also able to find errors or discrepancies ahead of time.
“The reason we do exercises like this when we aren’t deployed, is simply so we have a margin of error that we can control,” said Staff Sgt. Oscar Morales, MWSS-171 data chief. “We need to make sure everything is functional and properly configured.”
Even though Marines faced some difficulty with hardware troubleshoots and coordinating communications with MWCS-18. Some of the obstacles were a blessing in disguise.
“We found some discrepancies with the SWAN,” said Morales. “It’s good that we discovered it now instead of when we’re in the field. This way, we can find the problem, get a resolution, get the fix and go forward.”
Bethard’s goals for the training were to make sure the Marines knew how to setup the gear, operate and troubleshoot in a time-proficient manner.
“The only goals I had were to re-familiarize the Marines with this gear set,” said Bethard. “We went through some obstacles but as long as the Marines are able to adapt and overcome those obstacles, they are learning what not to do when in a real world situation.”
With the communications department accomplishing their mission, other MWSS- 171 sections can accomplish theirs.
“Accomplishing our mission helps (MWSS- 171) because they always maintain communications,” said Bethard. “Their mission is to maintain an airfield forward deployed. The (communication) aspect is to make sure (MWSS-171) can provide reliable data and telephone support to any unit or organization within the airfield we’re pulling support for.”
Although this training is not that common, another training exercise is scheduled for October.