By Sgt. Danny Hough, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs
PINEVILLE, La. – Soldiers from the 225th Engineer Brigade, 204th Theater Airfield Operations Group, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Detachment 38, Operational Support Airlift were tasked with receiving new radio equipment and training on behalf of their units at the Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville, March 13–20.
The new equipment included portable and vehicle-mounted Army Navy/Portable Radio Communications (AN/PRC) 160 and 158 systems. These radios feature enhanced capabilities such as Very/Ultra High Frequency Line-of-Sight (VULOS), Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, Warrior Robust Enhanced Network (WREN), Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications (SATCOM), Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), Demand Assigned Multiple Access and Integrated Waveform SATCOM.
The units were issued both handheld and vehicle-integrated versions of the radios, increasing their ability to maintain communication in nearly any environment.
“
It’s a software-defined radio, and it’s just adding some new capabilities—dual channel, so it can run one waveform on one channel and a different waveform on the other,” said Kristyn Briseno, a radio signal course trainer. “No matter what your military occupational specialty is or what you’re doing, in every unit there’s somebody who knows how to put these files into the radio, make those comms, and talk.”
The training gave LANG Soldiers hands-on experience with the new software and hardware, allowing them not only to operate the equipment but also to return to their units and train others.
“A lot of times during natural disaster responses, we are spread thin while units are activated and supporting communities,” said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Parker, signal noncommissioned officer in charge for the 528th Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Engineer Battalion. “You’re not going to talk across the State with a single radio, but with these radios being fielded, it doesn’t matter where you are—as long as we can see the sky, we can communicate.”
