When it comes to communications, ‘Comm’ does it all

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Whether it's UHF, VHF, short-wave secure radios, telephones, emails or some other form of base communication -- in one way or another it all goes through the 51st Communications Squadron.

According to Capt. Raquel Cummins, 51st CS operations flight commander, these Airmen proved they were one of the best squadrons in the Air Force in 2010 by winning several major command-level Air Force awards, something she said they haven't done in about 15 years.

"These cyber warriors have done an exceptional job balancing operational and compliance requirements to ensure Osan has an environment which is both functional and secure," said Lt. Col. Andrew Ryan, 51st CS commander. "As great as it is to receive this recognition, it's equally enjoyable to pass on the kudos I receive everyday to the Airmen who are out in your areas making the mission happen."

Among the awards was the Major General Harrold McClelland Award for best large communications squadron, which according to Master Sgt. Brandon Alvey, a network control center section chief with the 51st CS, was one of the squadron's crowning achievements.

"It was about a year-long process to try and get us back to where we needed to be; and it was everyone working together to change some trends while also making sure we were having a more seamless transition when we were turning over to our new guys coming in," he said.

It was a full team effort from the "cable dogs and wire dogs" to the upper leadership, it wasn't a single person who won the squadron this award, Sergeant Alvey said. It was communication up and down the chain of command has gotten the squadron to where it needs to be.

Winning an award is a great morale boost for any squadron but like anything else it doesn't come without a few challenges.

"One of the biggest challenges is the wide variety of missions we support and the different organizations here," Sergeant Alvey said.

The communications squadron supports the Seventh Air Force, the Army and several other tenant units. Each unit uses a piece of the network, and each unit has a different mission and different requirements.

"In some cases a mission overtakes compliance and when compliance is overlooked you start getting into a realm where the network could be compromised," Sergeant Alvey said. "Our job at comm is to make sure we service our customers, while trying to meet their needs so they can support different wing objectives and making sure we are staying compliant with our security obligations to the network."

Maintaining compliance isn't the only difficulty the squadron faces, he said. They are also dealing with a constantly evolving technology, and this is a time and age where people are very dependent on that technology.

"It's no secret that we are one of the most, if not the most, technology dependant militaries in the world," Colonel Ryan said. "This dependence also encompasses all facets of our nation, so it's not much of a surprise that many strategists believe that the first shots in any future engagement will come in the cyber domain as our adversaries seek to offset our strengths."

Evolving quickly to the changes is one way the communications squadron can stay ahead, Sergeant Alvey said.

"Technology changes so fast that it is very difficult to keep up," he said. "[Our Airmen] are basically teaching themselves the best they can, and we need troops who can think outside of the box and come up with the best way to do things, and be dynamic all the time."

"This job is not black and white," said Master Sgt. Greg Flannelly, a network control center section chief with the 51st CS. "It's extremely grey and it's important for our guys to find the best way to do things sometimes."

Most of the time when it comes to technology the easier something makes someone else's job the harder comm Airmen have to work, Sergeant Flannelly said.

"The easier it is to use something seems to directly relate to how easy it is for someone to find a vulnerability in it and that only adds something else for us to track," he said.

Easy or not, some Airmen might have misconceptions about the members of the comm squadron and just because they are all comm doesn't mean they all work on computers, Sergeant Alvey said.

He explained there are several main sections to the communications squadron. On the operations side, they are broken down into airfield management, "cable and wire dogs," the network control center, comm focal point and the client support teams. The squadron also supports Osan though the management of the bases Information Assurance, Communication Security, records, publications and forms programs.

"We aren't all computer nerds," Sergeant Alvey said. Most Airmen who have computer issues deal with either the comm focal point or the client support teams on a daily basis.

He said another misconception is these Airmen do what they want because they control the base network. They don't cut off email servers or lock down Internet websites just because they "have the power" it all has a purpose.

"We don't do whatever we want -- A lot of people think we hack into their computers for fun or lock down emails or websites for convenience this just isn't the case," Sergeant Alvey said. "We do what's in best interest of our customers and it's for everyone's security."

It takes patience, understanding and everyone working together to protect network security.

"Every Airman plays a role in our cyber defense mission to ensure we keep this technological advantage," Colonel Ryan said. "An un-patched computer or one that's been infected by malicious logic due to a successful phishing attempt is the equivalent of a hole in the base perimeter allowing our adversaries onto Osan."