307 BW Airmen support 608 ACOMS

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Walston
  • 307th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale AFB, La. --  Forty feet off the ground might not seem very high. That is, until you're suspended by a rope that's no thicker than your pinky finger. That's exactly what members of the 307th Force Support Squadron Communications Element experienced recently while obtaining their tower climbing certification. Culminating a year of planning, eight members of the 307th Force Support Squadron Communications Element are spending their Annual Tour with the 608th Air Communications Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

"This is a great opportunity for us to work with the 608 ACOMS," said Maj. Justin Kunath, OIC, 307 FSS Communications. "We're providing assistance and support while receiving excellent training."

"Half of our Reserve Airmen are involved in a radio tower climbing certification class while the other half is either setting up a series of virtual severs to be used in classroom training or assisting with web development" he said. "Overall, we're facilitating integration with the 608 ACOMS."

The 608 ACOMS directly supports the 8th Air Force Air Operations Center (AOC) with systems, communications, and applications support. "The 608 ACOMS maintains all radios for the AOC so they can communicate with the bombers," said Staff Sgt. James Cain, the NCOIC of Air Operations Center RF transmissions systems. "They also maintain the data links."

The tower climbing certification involved learning and exhibiting climbing techniques, safety procedures, repelling and rescue procedures designed to recover someone who becomes incapacitated on a radio tower.

"This is a great opportunity to not only showcase our great Airmen in the (307th Communications Flight), but to illustrate how Active and Reserve forces work together to get these complex missions done," said Col. Jonathan Ellis, commander of the 307th Bomb Wing.

The radio tower climbing training must be completed once a year, with at least one climb made every four months to maintain certification.