His familiarity with the equipment helps make his job easier. I make sure all secure and encrypted data and voice calls get routed correctly. And since it s my rig, it s not too difficult. The active-duty soldiers from Fort Huachuca receive and transmit data, voice and encrypted signals through mobile satellite dishes. These signals are fed to the mobile switchboards run by the National Guardsmen from Texas.
Troops don t handle each individual call, they just keep the lines of communication open.
Together the two teams form a mobile tactical satellite communications station that keeps troops connected to the rest of the SFOR communications network. Carlos Coonrad, a guardsman from Texas, is an electrician in his civilian life. He s on an eight-month deployment to Bosnia. He said that the biggest challenge was proving that being in the National Guard didn t make him a slacker. He also admitted that he and other guardsmen felt the tactical satellite operators of the 40th Signal Battalion were a little conceited.