JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas. –
On any given day, a member of the 502nd Communications Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio can be found in the trenches supporting the workload of its more than 266 mission partners.
To keep the communications highway operating without too many bumps in the road, workers can be found climbing antenna towers, going into manholes to access communications line that run underground and maintaining racks of servers so JBSA’s 86,000 customers can communicate with the world by computer and phone, and support world-class training for the Air Force.
Their efforts recently earned the squadron the Air Education and Training Command’s selection for the Maj. Gen. Harold M. McClellan “Best Large Communications Squadron” award for 2017. The selection is based on superior performance while providing information dominance and cyber space operations to Air Force and Department of Defense operations.
“In the 502nd Communications Squadron, we are 371 members strong,” said Kenneth Kunze, 502nd CS communications focal point chief. “We’re the largest stateside communications squadron in the U.S. for the Air Force supporting the largest Department of Defense joint base.”
The squadron handles approximately 42,000 tickets a year ranging from network concerns, phone problems and communications systems challenges.
“I would compare it to a firefighter. A lot of the times we come in and we have folks that are fighting the fire, meaning that there’s an outage or somebody is having issues with their computer,” said Senior Master Sgt. Jesse White, 502nd CS operations superintendent. “Those type of things; that’s all they do all day is tickets and making sure that people’s issues are taken care of.”
“It’s a challenge but everyday is a different day,” Kunze said. “I’ve got a great team that supports me and we, in turn, support the unit who, in turn, supports Joint Base San Antonio.”
One of those challenges is maintaining proficiency and staying up-to-date with new technology such as cloud computing. Technicians are required to maintain certifications, stay current with training and stay informed with always changing technology so they can support JBSA’s customers.
“Every day has to be an “A” game for us,” Kunze said. “With vulnerability management effort across the 502nd Communications Squadron, maintaining a cybersecurity culture is a must that we have to perform and uphold every day. It is challenging but we are doing a very good job achieving it.”
The 502nd CS consists of only 72 military personnel in the 371-member unit. The remaining personnel are civilians.
“We have a very small military footprint here which is out of the norm for most communications squadrons,” White said. “I think that in itself makes this unit unique.”
He said civilians back up the military members when they are deployed.
“Luckily for us we do have our civilian counterparts to take care of the mission,” White said. “It may be part of the reason that this unit has been so successful because that continuity is there.”
This combination will keep the lines of communication flowing for the missions the 502nd CS serves for years to come.
“Winning the Maj. Gen. Harold M. McClellan Award is a testament to the men and women here that not only do their job, but do it well,” Kunze said.