1-44 ADA Sentinel Platoon overcomes obstacles in Afghanistan.Members of the Sentinel Platoon, Watchdawgs, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Weapons and equipment for actively combating air targets from the ground. Also called ADA. (HHB/1-44 ADA Ada, city, United States Ada (ā`ə), city (1990 pop. 15,820), seat of Pontotoc co., S central Okla.; inc. 1904. It is a large cattle market and the center of a rich oil and ranch area. ), 31st ADA Brigade, based out of Camp Casey, Korea, have been deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since February 2007. The Watchdawgs combined with Soldiers from HHB/1-188 ADA (Rapid Aerostat aer·o·stat n. An aircraft, especially a balloon or dirigible, deriving its lift from the buoyancy of surrounding air rather than from aerodynamic motion. Initial Deployment), of the Grand Forks, North Dakota  “Grand Forks” redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Forks (disambiguation). Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. Army National Guard, and the perimeter defense forces to form C Company, Special Troops Battalion A Special Troops Battalion (STB) has companies from different branches of the Army under a Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC). In an Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the STB has an HHC, an Military Intelligence, a Signal, and an Engineer Company. , 82nd Airborne Division. The three units quickly meshed into one and focused on the many different force protection missions assigned. The Watchdawgs operate Sentinel radars throughout the Afghanistan area of operations An operational area defined by the joint force commander for land and naval forces. Areas of operation do not typically encompass the entire operational area of the joint force commander, but should be large enough for component commanders to accomplish their missions and protect their . The primary mission is to provide early warning and airspace control. Most of the platoon is based at Bagram Airfield while other radar teams operate from forward operating bases (FOBs) throughout eastern Afghanistan. Military Occupational Specialty A Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a job classification in use in the United States Army and Marine Corps. The occupational specialty system uses a system of letters and numbers to identify general and specific jobs of military personnel. (MOS (1) (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) See MOSFET. (2) (Mean Opinion Score) The quality of a digitized voice line. It is a subjective measurement that is derived entirely by people listening to the calls and scoring the results from ) 94M Radar Repairer Soldiers routinely perform or supervise direct- and general-support level maintenance on ground-based sensors (Sentinel) and Firefinder radar electronic systems. However, in Afghanistan, this is a challenge. Challenges. Afghanistan's harsh climate adversely affects the radars significantly. Extreme temperatures from winter cold to summer heat and the blowing sand require the Soldiers to perform more maintenance than usual. Dry rot on seals and dirty air filters are a continuous problem. Daily preventative maintenance checks and services, such as the cleaning of air filters, blowing out the dirt and dust from inside the radars' compartments and weekly lubing of components, are required to maintain the equipment. The Watchdawgs tried to pull weekly maintenance on each of the radars initially, but with the unpredictable flight schedule between the FOBs, it was difficult to get manifested on a sortie and get to each of the FOBs every week. They had to rely on the operators to pull daily maintenance and to "keep an eye on" the wear and tear the heat and blowing sand caused. To address the transportation problem, the 94M Soldiers were based out of two of the more remote FOBs, and Raytheon's Sentinel field service representative was based at Bagram. Now when a radar goes down, the 94M troubleshoots it to find the broken part, and the field service representative gets the part from the warehouse on Bagram and ships it to the necessary FOB. In most cases, the new part arrives at the FOB within a day or two, depending on weather conditions and flight schedules. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nonstandard non·stan·dard adj. 1. Varying from or not adhering to the standard: nonstandard lengths of board. 2. Missions. Soldiers based at Bagram are assigned numerous missions outside the traditional ADA realm. These additional missions include providing personnel for the base defense operations center A command and control facility established by the base commander to serve as the focal point for base security and defense. It plans, directs, integrates, coordinates, and controls all base defense efforts and coordinates and integrates into area security operations with the rear area (BDOC BDOC Biodegradable Dissolved Organic Carbon BDOC Business Document BDOC Base Defense Operations Center BDOC Biodegradable Organic Carbon BDOC Bed Days of Care ), security for an entry control point (ECP (Enhanced Capabilities Port) See IEEE 1284. 1. ECP - Engineering Change Proposal. 2. ECP - Enhanced Capabilities Port. 3. ECP - Extended Capabilities Port. 4. ECP - Extended Concurrent Prolog. ) and Bagram's perimeter defense, and maintaining perimeter defense sensors. The Soldiers, though not trained for any of these specific missions before the deployment, adapted quickly and perform the missions professionally and efficiently. The unit ensures the Soldiers cross train on each others' duties. This enables the Soldiers to rotate duty positions, serve in the BDOC, as a perimeter rover and on the security force at the Egyptian Field Hospital ECP, as well as maintain the Sentinel radar. Rotating assignments helps the Soldiers ward off complacency, often a "side-effect" of long deployments. The Watchdawgs quickly learned about proper force protection standards, how to operate a small ECP effectively and efficiently, and about how to protect a large airfield's perimeter fence line. The Watchdawgs have to be prepared for any type of mission and be flexible because, although air defense is their specialty, the needs of the Army come first. While the air and missile threat in theater is considered low, the Watchdawgs play an essential role, providing force protection and security for forces both on the ground and in the air. Despite harsh weather, transportation problems, cross-training requirements and other challenges, the versatile Watchdawgs accomplished every mission. MAJ Tanya L. Kabel-Ballard, AD Chief of Professional Military Education US Army ADA School, Fort Bliss, Texas 1LT James L. Wagner, AD Commander, C Company Special Troops Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan |
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