ANG Airmen perform communications upgrades

by Tech. Sgt. Matt Hecht
177th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

9/17/2014 - ATLANTIC CITY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.J. --  Hundreds of miles from home, Airmen from the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 212th Engineering Installation Squadron, Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, are the 177th Fighter Wing here doing final telecommunications upgrades recently that culminate a ten year project.

The unit is a specialized group that travels throughout the northeast region assisting other National Guard bases with communications infrastructure.

"Atlantic City is an enjoyable place to work,” said Master Sgt. Keith Delage, as his team was working to splice cables deep in a manhole. “This is one of the bases we've been supporting for a long time. I've been coming here for about eight years now, and the leadership and other Airmen from the 177th Fighter Wing have been very helpful with getting us what we need to get the job done."

The latest mission for the 212th EIS has lasted two weeks, and has seen Air Guardsmen from across the communications career field teaching each other their trade.

"This is great for our new guys that are training," Delage said. "On jobs like this we do cable pulls; work with copper and fiber, and even antenna work. We have radio Airmen assisting with splicing, and infrastructure guys shadowing and assisting the radio Airmen, so it's a great learning experience. They're getting the full spectrum of communications."

The 212th EIS brought a wide range of capabilities necessary to complete the mission.

"Once again, the professionalism of the 212th is apparent in their work," said Lt. Col Thomas Dahl, the 177th Communications Flight commander. "They have been repeating years of quality service to the 177th Fighter Wing."

"It's been really interesting and educational seeing the Air National Guard cyber spectrum, all of those layers coming together,” said Airman 1st Class Jonathan Tuxbury, an RF radio specialist from the 212th EIS on his first trip. “We have RF radio specialists, airfield systems specialists, and cable/antenna systems Airmen all working together to complete the mission."