JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- The self-proclaimed cyber warriors demonstrate the Marine Corps future of the modern battlefield.
The Marines affectionately known as the ‘geek squad’ or by their military occupational specialty, tactical data-networking specialist, are responsible for installing, operating and maintaining network systems.
They are currently deployed to Jalalabad, Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment in support of Operation ‘Enduring Freedom.’
TDN specialist abilities include installing and configuring hubs, routers, bridges, and other transmission mediums, as well as installing and configuring server hardware and software. They also install, optimize and troubleshoot Local Area and Wide Area Networks and operate the Tactical Data Network server.
“We do everything from email to live video feed from aircraft, we can deliver real time, instantaneous feed to anywhere in the world,” said Sgt. Alexander Papiernik, tactical data networking specialist from Mineral Ridge, Ohio.
TDN specialists not only keep up the data communications for the battalion but also help out fellow Marines with their own computer problems. Since it would take six weeks for a computer to make a round trip to the states to be repaired TDN specialists are considered valuable to the Marines that use computers to email friends and family back home.
“We get two or three fix-it jobs a week,” said Cpl. Andrew P. Parsons, tactical data networking specialist, from Winchester, Va. “Our biggest grief is when they try to fix it themselves. When that happens it just makes it harder on us.
The Marines execute the data plan for the battalion under the supervision of Sgt. Jeremy D. Sadler, network administrator, from Newark, Del. The linking of the forward operating bases with secure communications is crucial to the success of the battalion in its mission. Miles of rugged terrain separate many of the bases, so support would need to be sent as quickly as possible to be effective. The use of up to date technology makes the range of battalion significantly greater due to the ease of communication.
“Security and stability are the main concerns for our job. Thankfully, with NMCI (Navy Marine Corps Intranet) we’re a step closer than ever before, now all units will be on the same system,” said Sadler.
Besides keeping the battalion in constant communication for military applications the TDN specialist’s are also an important factor in morale, as they upkeep the internet allowing Marines easy contact with their families and friends.
“When I came in the Marine Corps we had to write letters and you had to pay for your own stamp. Now I got Marines that can chat with their wives and even use webcams,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Gerardo V. Panetta, battalion operations chief. “These guys are amazing, without Marines like Papiernik and Parsons we would be in a hurt locker, we usually have at least one computer go down a day and we just bring it to them and they get it right back up.”
“How many computer nerds do you know that have a grenade launcher,” said Papiernik. “Bill Gates doesn’t.”
E-mail Sgt. Robert M. Storm at robert.storm@usmc.mil