"We're
like a family up here," said Davis. Our NCOs are NCOs up here. But when
they're off duty, they take their rank off. We can all joke
around."
came
booming out of the loudspeaker at the KC-39 operator. "I'm having trouble
getting in touch with my distant station. You need to get your stuff
together," he growled. "The operator
checked his 'stuff' and said everything's OK," said Gaines. "But the
guy still wouldn't listen. That's when I had to step in and say,
'these guys up here know their job. You need to let him square you away.'
That guy made a radio check on a separate ra-dio and got hold of them. He had the problem."
"Sometimes,
people call up here and they're demanding. They're trying to get their job
done," said SSgt. Gene Pageler, a tactical retransmission section chief stationed at Camp Casey. "But
these guys are the resident experts in the division on
communications."
But even
when things are going well, the job can become incredibly hectic. One
of the operators' tasks is to relay net radio interface, or NRI, calls.
NRIs allow telephone users to talk to field radio users. "When I was
being shown the ropes," said Spec. Rob Roberts, "I had 49 NRI calls in one
night."
Such
traffic comes to a standstill during emergencies. In remote areas, the
seriously injured would likely never see an emergency room without a vital
signal relay by KC-39. "Once we open a channel to a medevac, we don't
accept any NRIs, radio checks,
anything," said Cheeley.
The signal
mission aside, normal chores like cleaning and painting serve to keep the
hill's residents plenty busy. And during "Sergeants' Time" on Tuesdays,
training can range from inspecting snow chains and cold weather equipment
to moving into their assigned
defensive fighting positions on the hilltop. "It's fun," said
Cheeley. "You don't have a boring moment up here."
His
soldiers agree. "It's not a lot of B.S.," said Roberts, a veteran of
Operation Just Cause. "It's a real-world mission. If something
happens, it'll come through
here first." □
rives each
month. During the winter, a pool table and workout area stand
adjacent to the radio room, as do a television and videocassettes.
"We've seen every movie over there five times," said Davis.
Video games
and Armed Forces Korea Network programs also fill a lot of hours. When the
ground is snow covered, he said, "we sled down the hill from the back gate
to the helipad on MRE boxes." Showers are allowed every other
day.
In
warmer weather, the highly motivated
can go for runs down and back up that awesome hill. It's one mile down
to the well pipe but, said
Cheeley, "it feels like about
five miles." There's also a basketball hoop on site, but players have
to watch their passes. "Once
the ball goes over the fence,"
he said, "it's gone." One can
only imagine the reaction of a Korean farmer who looks up to see an orange
basketball bouncing wildly down
the mountain toward his rice
paddy.
Occasionally, soldiers
on the hill get away for a while as requirements like the Primary
Leadership Development Course beckon. One such soldier had a problem
cashing a check for necessary
odds and
ends. A quick pass of the hat raised $100. It was delivered the
following day.
"Must be
willing to help" is one of the 10 rules posted on the list next to the
radio room. So are "must be trustworthy" and "no big-headed power
trippers." But rule 9 is probably held in highest regard: "Must be able to
adjust to constructive criticism, no matter what your rank."
"We're like
a family up here," said Davis. "Our NCOs are NCOs up here. But when
they're off duty, they take their rank off. We can all joke
around."
It doesn't
mean there's any doubt as to who's in charge. The NCOs train, counsel, and lead their subordinates.
"Sometimes it gets pretty hectic," said PFC Kenneth Lewers. "The
NCOs take the time to teach you these things."
But
they also listen and, when necessary,
they're ready to back their soldiers up. For instance, when radio
systems in the field go down
their operators have a
tendency to blame the problem
on someone else.
Sgt.
Marshall Gaines told the story of a senior NCO "out there" whose
voice
SOLDIERS
reprinted with permission from SOLDIERS magazine