Comm: Wired for war

by Senior Airman Siuta B. Ika
51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

11/20/2013 - OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- For some, defending the base means donning 'battle rattle' and arming up with an M-4 rifle before heading out to the installation's perimeter.

But for members of one Team Osan squadron, whose tools of war include network-administrator rights and some of the most advanced pieces of equipment in the Air Force inventory, defending the base means ensuring that all of its communications assets remain up and running.

While some people may only see the client support teams that are dispatched throughout the base to deal with inoperable phones or computers, 51st Communications Squadron members are also working in the background in the network control center, comm focal point, and land mobile radio maintenance center, in addition to supporting the bases' information assurance, communication security, records, publications and forms programs.

"We are data transport providers - everything from airfield systems, weather systems, radar, to email and server security," said Maj. Scott Jensen, 51st CS director of operations. "Also, a lot of people don't think about Postal when they think comm squadron, but they are an interval part of our organization. So basically if there's a way to send a message from 'point A' to 'point B' we handle it."

The 51st CS not only enables 51st Fighter Wing units to accomplish its mission, but also provides support for 7th Air Force, the U.S. Army, and several other tenant units on Osan and throughout the peninsula.

Additionally, when exercises like Operational Readiness Exercise Beverly Bulldog 14-01 kicks off, the squadron's very own security team - the Installation Arming and Response Team - stands up to defend the comm building and all of its assets.

"This unit has done a lot of things very successfully for a very long time, and I'm proud to be part of the 51st FW and the 51st CS," Jensen said. "We're still growing with the new network constructs and the global constructs, but we're still going to do whatever it takes to take care of the mission so that folks can do their jobs. We are enablers, but in a down and dirty sense, we like to consider ourselves wired for war and ready to go take it to the enemy."