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V CORPS SIGNAL SOLDIERS JOIN WITH MARINES TO ESTABLISH VITAL RETRANSMISSION SITE

V Corps Release

Release Date: 8/18/2003

By Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The 1st Armored Division's 141st Signal Battalion, working with signal elements from 1st Marine Division, has set up a joint-service remote retransmission site for U.S. Army and Marine communications between Baghdad International Airport and Logistic Supply Area Dogwood.

The land between LSA Dogwood and BIAP is full of what 1st Lt. Kurt Rhymer, site officer in charge for Camp Venom, calls "dead spots" - low-lying areas of land where radio transmissions will not carry.

"We are providing coverage for a critical area - (Alternate Supply Route) Sue," said Rhymer. "This is an area where we have had some small-arms fire as well as ambushes."

The lack of communication capability in the face of a potential enemy contact can obviously be very dangerous for convoys, said Rhymer.

The remote transmission site will boost radio signals along ASR Sue and the areas surrounding it, covering convoys along the entire route, he said. The benefit of the team's retransmission efforts are much faster response to attacks on that road, possibly saving lives.

Thirty-five soldiers and Marines work and live at the site, and each individual has an important part to play in maintaining not only a radio signal for the security of convoys, but also security of their own site, said Rhymer.

"We have basically built our own site defense - our own small fort and perimeter," said Pfc. Layton Flynn, retransmission operator. "We started with a burned-out building with no perimeter, and it developed into a place where we work, live and interact."

Marine Corps forces operating at the site have been a beneficial part of the experience, said Sgt. Brian Lannon, the site's NCO in charge and radio access unit team chief.

Mortars and small-arms harassing fire was common when Lannon and his team arrived at what used to be a Baghdad University agricultural affiliate located in a very remote area. The Marines named the outpost "Camp Nowhere," because it was so far from any other military sites.

"The first few weeks out here were a shooting gallery," said Lannon.

As a result of the hostile environment, Rhymer and Lannon approached the Marine forces who were conducting raids in the local neighborhoods to see if they could help prepare their soldiers for whatever they might encounter.

"Signal soldiers are doing things out here they are not accustomed to doing," Lannon said. "They are getting a lot of good training alongside the Marines."

Marines living on the site, and some of the riflemen who stop by, have been conducting weapon systems and building clearing classes for the radio operators, said Lannon.

"I have a real good feeling about being able to defend ourselves, should the need arise," Lannon said. "We are basically a bunch of signal soldiers learning to be infantry out here."

The task of "filling the gap" in radio communications between LSA Dogwood and BIAP and maintaining a secure site is a task that Lannon said has been a group effort.

"We don't feel like Army and Marines," said Lannon. "We feel like one fighting force out here to defend the site and to do our job."