GRAYLING, Mich. - Squadrons of Airmen from Illinois and Utah are providing the communications backbone for Northern Strike 2016.
The 264th Combat Communications Squadron from Peoria, Illinois, is providing the communications hardware and infrastructure support for the exercise, operating from three locations at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in northern Michigan.
The 109th Air Control Squadron, based in Salt Lake City, is using that infrastructure to provide the direct air-to-ground communications needed to allow air and ground assets to coordinate and put bullets, bombs and other weapons on target.
"It is really an integration of a number of units, across service branches, working together to manage the battle space," explained Maj. Leon McGuire, commanding the roughly 135 members of the 109th participating in the exercise.
The 264th, which has about 50 Airmen participating in the exercise, used its deployed equipment to provide both secure and non-secure voice and data link communications to the 109th and other exercise participants. In essence, they created the pipe through which units spread throughout the exercise can communicate, explained Major John Parise, officer in charge of one of the 264th's three operating locations.
"Once we get initial capability, it is all about trouble shooting and working through any issues to ensure that all the units can communicate clearly," said Staff Sgt. Patricia Sparks, who is serving as the site engineer for one of the 264th's locations. "We are listening to the customer, in this case, the 109th and hearing what they need to get their job done."
Utilizing the capability provided by the 264th, Airmen with the 109th work with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers on the ground to ensure that the correct aircraft, with the correct weapons load, is available at the right location at the right time to support friendly ground forces and put bombs on target.
"Our Airmen are identifying and tracking threats, coordinating air refueling support and, particularly in this scenario, aiding in the air-to-ground chain of command and control," McGuire said.
Tech. Sgt. Megan Bender, a weapons director with the 109th – and a former trumpet player with the now-defunct Air Force musical group Tops in Blue – said 109th personnel work as an integrated team not only within their own squadron, but with the various air assets that engaged in the operation.
Bender said when the opportunity arose, she jumped at the chance to serve as a weapons controller.
"I am able to contribute directly to the fight," she said. "When I first enlisted in 2005 on active duty, I was able to make a direct impact. I have one of the best jobs on the planet."
As an Air Control Squadron, the 109th has 22 different Air Force career fields represented among its assigned Airmen. McGuire said with all those different specialties, the unit is cycling different people through the exercise to manage the training opportunities. The 109th is also utilizing secure communications to "reach back" via satellite to the Distributed Operations Center for Training, or DETOC, in Iowa, which can provide simulated training scenarios for combat controllers.
"So even if there is a down time for us in the live exercise, we are able to reach back to our National Guard DETOC and conduct simulated training," McGuire said. "We are able to really maximize the opportunities for our people who are here. "This is providing training in both a hands-on and a simulated environment that allows our Airmen to really maintain that degree of readiness that they need to have," he said.