Augusta, GA

US Army testing communications gear for different fighting styles

Published

1 year ago

August 14, 2023

US Army testing communications gear for different fighting styles

AUGUSTA, Ga. — To ensure soldiers are equipped with the right communication tools, U.S. Army network experts are testing gear in radically different environments and among troops employing specialty tactics.

Portions of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina were recently provided tailored packages of radios, variable height antennas and the like, or what’s known as the integrated tactical network.

The goal, according to Col. Shermoan Daiyaan, a radio expert with the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, is to collect feedback from both, compare the results and, ultimately, better inform Army decisions down the road.

“We are in two different regions, two different fighting styles, two different types of demands and two different mission sets,” Daiyaan told C4ISRNET Aug. 11, ahead of this week’s AFCEA TechNet Augusta conference in Georgia. “That will show the tailor-ability of both units.”

The executive office, known as PEO 3CT, develops, deploys and supports networking gear across the service.

“The 25th, they do things like island hopping, they’re a lot more dispersed. So, how do they use these capabilities on watercraft, when they’re coming ashore, or commanding from offshore?” Daiyaan said. “The 82nd, they are joint forcible entry, and they take airfields, right? It’s a different mix; not one size fits all.”

As the Army readies for potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific, where it could clash with China, or across Europe, where fighting could break out with Russia, it is placing growing emphasis on the division, a formation of some 15,000 soldiers capable of long-term fighting and maintenance.

The preparations are motivating a pivot to the so-called division as a unit of action network design — a connectivity scaffold that will take months of deliberation, real-world experimentation and tweaking to construct.

PEO C3T and Network Cross-Functional Team leadership unveiled the initiative earlier this year at Fort Myer, Virginia.

“We have to have assured voice communications between commanders, we have to have a common operating picture, focusing on the ‘common,’ and then we have to have digital fires,” Maj. Gen. Jeth Rey, the cross-functional team director, said at the time. Modernization of the network is one of six service priorities. Others include improved air-and-missile defense and long-range precision fires.

“As we pivoted to the division as the unit of action, the questions kept coming,” he said. “We all came to the conclusion that we needed a better — a different — approach in order to iterate on getting the equipment into the hands of soldiers a little faster.”

Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.

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Augusta, GA

The Major Rager Sets 2025 Lineup: Greensky Bluegrass, Eggy, Easy Honey

Published

16 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

The Major Rager Sets 2025 Lineup: Greensky Bluegrass, Eggy, Easy Honey

The Major Rager has announced the artist lineup for its 11th annual event, set to take place in Augusta, GA on April 12th, 2025 during The Masters. The long-running event takes its name from the professional golf tournament with which it coincides—one of four tournaments known collectively as “the majors.”

Jamgrass favorites Greensky Bluegrass will headline the 2025 edition of The Major Rager. The single-day event, produced by Friends With Benefits Productions, will also feature performances by ever-rising jam quartet Eggy and Charleston, SC-native rock outfit Easy Honey. Tickets for The Major Rager 2025 are now on sale here.

On Tour With Eggy: Waiting Game [Feature]

Greensky Bluegrass’ Major Rager headlining slow will follow an extensive run of early-2025 headlining tour dates across the country. Find a full list of upcoming Greensky Bluegrass tour dates here. Eggy, still riding the momentum of the band’s long-awaited sophomore album, 2024’s Waiting Game, will arrive in Augusta on April 12th fresh off a run of spring festival appearances at Live Oak, FL’s Suwannee Amp Jam #1, Phoenix, AZ’s M3F, Miramar Beach, FL’s My Morning Jacket-hosted One Big Holiday, and Atlanta, GA’s Mental Awakening Festival. Find a full list of upcoming Eggy tour dates here. For Easy Honey, the Major Rager marks the first announced date on the band’s 2025 tour schedule. Find a full list of upcoming Easy Honey tour dates here.

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Augusta, GA

34-year-old and 32-year-old ID’d in related Augusta fatal shootings

Published

24 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

34-year-old and 32-year-old ID’d in related Augusta fatal shootings

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Coroner has identified two victims after two related shooting incidents in Augusta, we learned on Friday.

The Richmond County Coroner’s Office responded to Wellstar/MCG about a shooting death.

Jeremy Dontavious McGahee, 34, of Augsuta was transported to Wellstar/MCG by EMS from the 2100 block of C Street with at least one gunshot wound, Coroner Mark Bowen said.

He was pronounced dead at 8:28 p.m., Bowen says. An autopsy has been scheduled.

The Coroner’s Office also responded to the 2100 block of C Street about a possible suicide.

Zyquan Jamarcus Franklin, 32, of Augusta, was found inside a residence with at least one gunshot wound and pronounced dead on the scene at 12:15 a.m. Bowen said. An autopsy has been scheduled.

Bowen says these cases are connected and in the early stages of investigation. Once the next of kin has been notified, the victim’s identification will be released.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to C Street around 9:34 p.m. about shots fired with two people down.

Deputies say upon arrival, they located one male and one female subject who had been shot at least one time.

Both victims were transported to a local hospital for treatment, where the male victim succumbed to his injuries.

The sheriff’s office says investigators are still on scene as of 11 p.m.

Also on Thursday, 50-year-old Chavious Kimmerlin was shot dead in his home on Highland Avenue.

The shooting comes amid a two-year outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed more than 180 lives across the CSRA.

Cities large and small have been affected on both sides of the Savannah River. But as the largest community in the region, Augusta has been hit especially hard.

Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs.

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Augusta, GA

1 dead, another injured in shooting on C Street in Augusta

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – One person has died and another has been injured after a shooting on the 2100 block of C Street on Thursday night.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to C Street around 9:34 p.m. in reference to shots fired with two people down.

Deputies says upon arrival, they located one male and one female subject had been shot at least one time.

Both victims were transported to a local hospital for treatment, where the male victim succumbed to his injuries.

The sheriff’s office says investigators are still on scene as of 11 p.m.

Also on Thursday, 50-year-old Chavious Kimmerlin was shot dead in his home on Highland Avenue.

The shooting comes amid a two-year outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed more than 180 lives across the CSRA.

Cities large and small have been affected on both sides of the Savannah River. But as the largest community in the region, Augusta has been hit especially hard.

Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs.

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