SALT LAKE CITY -- Twelve members of the Utah Air National Guard’s 130th Engineer Installation Squadron provided Joint Incident Site Communications Capabilities for the 59th Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. from January 16 – 20.
The JISCC team touched down in Maryland a week before the ceremony and began preparing to support the Joint Task Force in D.C. with communications. Their mission provided data, phone, and interoperable multiband radio capabilities to multiple locations throughout the National Capital Region. This allowed military and civil authority support agencies clear lines of communication ensuring a common operating picture.
The JISCC is built for emergency preparedness allowing for maximum effectiveness by bridging communications and delivering high bandwidth capabilities anywhere. It improves situational awareness across multiple agencies and provides the ability to restore critical communications if needed.
“As a team, we train and prepare for events that will challenge and test our efforts,” said Maj. Richard Snyder, 130th EIS installations flight commander. “The opportunity to interact in a joint environment and working with the Army National Guard was both challenging and rewarding.”
This is the very first JISCC operation for any engineering unit to be a part of. The team set up the terminal at the FedEx Field stadium in Landover, Md. The equipment was not originally designed to deploy in that manner, but the ingenuity and careful dedication of the team ensured a complete setup.
“Having the opportunity to support this mission allows our members to switch gears from engineering and installing communications capabilities for the warfighter to utilizing their skills to support domestic operations,” said Capt. Amy Bocage, 130th EIS detachment commander.
The 130th EIS was instrumental in the support of a national mission of creating alternate reach-back and communication ring capabilities for all participating organizations for the event, and to represent the Utah Air National Guard.
Tech. Sgt. Michael Perez, 130th EIS non-commissioned officer in charge said, “It was an absolute honor to be able to serve our homeland and positively represent our home state. The team has been training for months leading up to the event and even achieved the highest evaluation score in Utah.”
For more than 200 years, the presidential inauguration has been an essential part of the United States of America and its democracy. The inauguration is one of the largest events the National Guard participates in, with more than 25,000 guard members from 30 different states. The National Guard is responsible for identifying requirements and planning for all contingencies along with assisting local law enforcement.