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By Jerry Rodgers
On March 7, the 53rd Signal Battalion and its “Alpha Company”, along with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) hosted the dedication of a new Wideband Satellite Communications Operations Center (WSOC) at Fort Detrick, Md. This 27,244 square-foot building was recently completed by the Baltimore District Corps of Engineers at a cost of $10.5 million.
 LTG Richard Formica, commander, USAMDC/ARSTRAT, and other officials spoke at the ceremony, praising the work accomplished by the 35 organizations involved in bringing the new WSOC on line, including the Program Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmissions Systems (PM DCATS). As the systems integrator, PM DCATS was responsible for all satellite communications related equipment acquisition and upgrades. In his remarks, LTG Formica stated, "As we dedicate this new facility we replace the 1980s-era satellite control capability here at Fort Detrick with this 27,244 square foot state-of-the-art facility. This center here serves as the new operations center for the Army Space Soldiers of Alpha Company, 53rd Signal Battalion in our 1st Space Brigade." COL Clyde Richards, Jr., PM DCATS, and Mr. Isaac Gusman, deputy product director, Wideband Control, also attended the ceremony, toured the facility, and conversed with many of the soldiers who operate the WSOC. The soldiers were enthusiastic about the new facility that provides them not only a safe and healthy work environment but also gives them increased capabilities to perform their mission—capabilities made possible through the system upgrades provided by PM DCATS. The USAMDC/ARSTRAT is responsible for providing wideband satellite communications capability to soldiers and to Department of Defense (DoD) entities. Its mission includes controlling communications payloads and transmissions on the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) and Wideband Global Satellite Communications (WGS) satellite constellations. This integrated system is composed of satellites, users, controllers, planners, and managers. Four WGS satellites are currently in earth orbit, with a single WGS satellite providing as much bandwidth as the entire DSCS constellation.
The 53rd Signal Battalion’s mission involves managing the five WSOC’s located around the world, including the Fort Detrick WSOC operated by the Battalion’s Alpha Company, as a part of the USAMDC/ARSTRAT and First Space Brigade. The WSOC is the focal point for conducting payload command and telemetry functions, monitoring transmissions, and performing strategic and tactical terminal control for the DSCS and WGS constellations. The mission responsibilities include controlling terminal access, maintaining operational databases, responding to alarms and anomalies, monitoring status of the constellation satellites, evaluating communications quality, and maintaining restoral plans on a 24-hour basis.
Performing these tasks require highly qualified and specially trained soldiers. LTC Benjamin C. Jones, commander of the 53rd Signal Battalion, hailed the soldiers who will work in the new WSOC. These soldiers earn their military specialty designation by completing advanced individual training at Fort Gordon, Ga., followed by a 19-week follow-on course to earn their identifier as controllers. But as LTC Jones noted during the ceremony, “At that point their training as a satellite controller has really just begun. Because once they arrive at the unit they begin an intensive training and certification program, which must be completed before each soldier is authorized to serve as a member of a crew on our operations floor."
 Guests and Alpha Company family members viewed the new spacious facility where soldiers work in 12-hour shifts. In addition to its mission related equipment, the building contains the Company’s administrative and support functions such as orderly room, arms room, training rooms, conference room, fitness center, and kitchen. The mission control room, a restricted area where security protocols are strictly enforced, is occupied by a number of control stations where Soldiers monitor and control payloads and transmissions and provide a constant situational awareness and defensive space control as directed by higher authorities. In addition, they provide assured wideband satellite communications for the military services, combatant commanders, and troops around the world. In the equipment room stands racks and racks of the sophisticated communications subsystems that were acquired and installed by PM DCATS.All of this upgraded equipment works in fine-tuned unison to provide the much-improved capabilities of the WSOC. Unlike the old pre-fabricated metal building it replaced, the new building has adequate space to allow mission growth as system improvements and new technologies develop.
Fort Detrick is one of five WSOC locations around the globe, and after Wahiawa, Hawaii, it is the second location to receive a new WSOC facility. The remaining WSOCs are located at Fort Meade, Md.; Landstuhl, Germany; and Okinawa, Japan. Team DCATS is pro-actively managing the acquisition process that will ensure upgrades for the additional new facilities are ready for respective move-in dates. |
