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Small team keeps senior leaders connected

  • Published
  • By Bekah Clark
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Tucked inside a small, first floor office in a corner of Bldg. 1600 sits a small team of active duty, civilian and contract Airmen.

Given their location, it's not hard to mistake them for Air Mobility Command personnel, but these Airmen actually belong to the 375th Communications Squadron. This team, which makes up Executive Communications Support, is responsible for meeting the communications needs of a large portion of Scott Air Force Base's senior leadership--about 225 of them in fact.

Their customers include AMC's commander, directors, deputies and their staff, 18th Air Force command section, the Air Force Global Logistics Support Center commander, and the 375th Air Mobility Wing senior leadership and command staff. This includes about 30 general officers and Senior Executive Service employees. Additionally, they provide communications support to distinguished visitors including flag officers, colonels and civilian equivalents who are visiting Scott for temporary duty.

The job is demanding with office hours beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. and a 24/7 on-call rotation that makes them readily accessible to their high-speed customers.

ECS's customers are busy, whether it's around base, across the country, or on the other side of the globe, they can't afford to be held up by communication glitches--that's where ECS comes in.

"We have to not only be able to do our job well, but we also have to understand the proper protocols that go along with working with senior leaders," said Master Sgt. Dave Walpole, ECS NCO in charge.

With their ability to help most customers over the phone or remote into various computer systems, the ECS team is virtually able to help any of their customers, at nearly any location at any time.

ECS steps in when problems are beyond what an office's computer support technician has the resources to solve. This includes software and hardware issues with desktop and laptop computers and mobile devices, network issues and communications equipment support for senior officer quarters. The team also provides on-site and after-duty-hours support to the Essex and Huyser Houses. Their support deals mostly with unclassified networks, but includes some support for classified systems.

It's a challenging position, said Sergeant Walpole, "with a staff of seven and more than 200 customers to serve, manning can be a challenge, especially when it comes to training, temporary duty assignments, and on-call schedules. But being able to see your projects through from start to finish, and see the results of your work and its impact on the mission is worth it."

The team members who work in this office are hand selected by 375th AMW leadership based on their technical and customer service skills. Most Airmen in ECS are already stationed at Scott in another office within the communications squadron. This is done so the Airmen already have a sense of the base, its tenant units and senior leadership requirements.

This office also provides a unique service: an Airman dedicated to traveling with the AMC commander to ensure communications needs are met while he travels around the world. This position currently belongs to Staff Sgt. Keith Kelley, who arrived at ECS from the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center systems support helpdesk last September.

"This has been the most rewarding opportunity I've had in my career--to be able to travel on overseas missions in direct support of AMC senior leadership," said Sergeant Kelley. "It's a privilege that most Airmen my rank will not have the opportunity to experience."

Since he began the job, Sergeant Kelley has been able to travel throughout Europe, the Pacific and into deployed environments.

Military members of ECS are generally on a two-year rotation in the shop. Civilians stay longer for continuity purposes.

Other members of the ECS team include Staff Sgt. Andrew Nuckolls, Senior Airmen Brian Gunn and Jeremee Bartolome, and information technology specialists Bob Harness, Sid Ritchy, Steve Miller and Greg Bennett.