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U.S. Army Reserve Signal Soldiers Enable Troop Move to New Joint Base in Jordan

By Maj. Andrew Benbow June 24, 2018

U.S. Army Reserve Signal Soldiers on June 15 completed the IT work required to support the move of U.S. troops in Jordan from two joint training bases to a new base.

The 335th Signal Command (Theater) (Provisional) provided planners, engineers, and IT maintainers to support the consolidation of troops from the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) and the Joint Training Center (JTC) to the New Joint Training Center (NJTC).

The move, in addition to being a cost-saving measure, had other strategic advantages.

"[JTC] was beyond its useful lifecycle and could no longer be maintained efficiently," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Nicole Davis, program manager with U.S. Army Central, overseeing the overall consolidation.

"Another reason for the move was to reconfigure how the Army works and operates in Jordan. Armed Forces Jordan (ARFOR-J) will transition into a Regional Support Group (RSG) by the end of 2018, providing the built-in capability to manage army activities across Jordan. NJTC's building layout is configured to optimize the capabilities of an RSG as well as the joint training missions to promote synergy between Jordanian and American armies," Davis said.

Davis lauded the 335th's work in transitioning voice and data assets to NJTC.

"The 335th has done an outstanding job getting NJTC ready for us to move in. They have worked tirelessly to provide the camp's initial operational capacity for communications."

The 335th is headquartered in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, under the command of U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. John H. Phillips. The command is comprised of over 2,000 Soldiers, civilians and contractors across Southwest Asia. Their mission is to plan, engineer, integrate, operate, maintain, and defend the Army's portion of the DoD network across the region. Over 80 percent of the 335th's headquarters is composed of U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers.

Maj. Donald Snavely, project manager with the 335th, led the movement of voice and data services from KASOTC and JTC to NJTC. A Reserve Soldier himself, he explained the unique capabilities others in the Reserve contribute to the effort.

"Reserve Soldiers, especially in the signal field, bring a breadth of knowledge and expertise that they hone daily in their civilian jobs. When they deploy, many bring those cutting-edge industry ideas and combine them with technical and tactical skills the Army provides through training and on-the-job work. A specialist might have technical expertise that far exceeds that of the major for whom he works. As a leader, you sometimes have to learn when to give way to some of that talent."

Snavely further explained the critical nature of the 335th's mission.

"There's a saying in the signal community that 'you can talk about us, but you can't talk without us.' So, if a commanding officer - the decision maker - does not have the capability to pick up the phone and communicate that decision, that lapse has dynamic second and third order effects, potentially causing casualties or damage to equipment. That's our job - to never let them go without being able to communicate."