Airmen from the 205th Engineering Installation Squadron support C4ISR

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Seven Airmen from the 205th Engineering Installation Squadron have been reunited with their families and friends over the last week at Will Rogers World Airport after returning from a six-month deployment to Southwest Asia in support of communications enhancements and upgrades.

The Airmen, along with members of the 219 EIS, 138th Fighter Wing, Tulsa, Okla., 272 EIS, 147th Reconnaissance Wing, Houston, and the 85 EIS, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., installed fiber cable network distribution systems in multiple facilities across Department of Defense locations in Southwest Asia in enhancement of their Command and Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities.

"All jobs across the Air Force are important," said Air Force Lt. Col. James D. Snow, 205 EIS detachment commander. "However, installing the infrastructure that provides the backbone for C4ISR to run virtually all communication systems is paramount to successful mission completion."

The EIS teams completed 18 projects across five different countries and six different air bases. Air Force Capt. Kevin Bobala, 205 EIS electronic flight commander, was designated as a project engineer for the deployment. Bobala's team installed a fiber-optic communications ring at one of the air bases, which is protected by a manhole duct system the team also installed.

The communications ring and manhole duct system are a form of permanent communications infrastructure that protects the fiber cables so communications capabilities are not lost during severe weather situations, said Bobala.

"We replaced tactical infrastructure with permanent infrastructure," said Bobala. "Permanent infrastructure is protected. There are redundant communications paths once the permanent infrastructure is complete. So, if there is a damaged cable from a sandstorm or windstorm, you can re-route the phone and email traffic, and not lose your communications."

Snow added that providing support for a mission as important as the C4ISR is always satisfying.

"Without Command and Control, it's quite difficult to accomplish the mission," said Snow. "It is the pivotal nature of our work; the realization that we install the infrastructure to make C4ISR work that gives us our pride in the accomplishment."