KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Imagine the rickety wagon trains rolling over uncharted land on their way to California or Oregon during the 1850s.

Then look at the journey's intricate movement and what it took for the wagon master to prevent “all hell from breaking loose” either with equipment or pioneers.

Now, fast forward more than 150 years and to another country where the same scenario could play out in a more technologically savvy world.

That's a similar role inherited by Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)of the 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB) that deployed to Kandahar Air Field in March as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Both Nevada Army National Guard units are housed at the Washoe Armory north of Reno.

HHC's different mission

HHC's mission, though, is much different from the companies that round out the battalion which is nestled among buildings in a small area of KAF called Camp Mercury.

“We ensure all working parts of a company are handled by one platoon, and that's us,” said 1st Sgt. Elizabeth “Lizy” Leimandt, who grew up in Douglas County but now lives in Carson City. She, along with her operations NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) Staff Sgt. Michael Raviart of Gardnerville, ensure all soldiers are in good hands.

“We take care of soldier care, morale, welfare. We make sure the machine keeps oiled,” said Raviart, a 14-year veteran who joined the signal battalion three years ago.

Leimandt said the signal battalion has outperformed any signal unit sent to KAF and insisted the warfighter had fewer communications issues and more availability to home than anyone.

“I would say it was a success,” she stressed. “We had some hard times. Sitting on a large FOB (forward operating base) tends to bring out the drama in people, but so far they have held it together and pushed the mission which is what counts.”

Most of Raviart's duties are accomplished in the office and not in the field, but they are equally important to each soldier's well being. He works closely with the families and the support groups in both Nevada and Arizona.

“I coordinated some things with the Family Support Groups at deployment,” Raviart said. “I now write and send newsletters to families back home. I focus on the positive news, and I want to keep it updated. I don't want the families to be scared.”

Raviart emphasized the newsletters inform families on what their loved ones are doing at KAF and in the field.

“This is war and war sucks, but we're doing something positive and something to keep us going,” he added.

While Raviart keeps his own pulse on morale, he also sees how separation affects soldiers and their families in different ways.

“It tests loyalty,” Raviart pointed out. “I see marriages falling apart, and it's tough. It tests your resolve. Some soldiers need to step back. I know they love the Army, but I can't see people deploying five or six times.”

Raviart said he feels strongly about keeping morale high so that the battalion succeeds with its battlefield missions. He said NCOs must be strong in assisting soldiers who fall into a “funk.”

“If we see someone down, we grab that person, go for a coffee and talk,” he explained.

Raviart, though, has found a way to keep his morale high and focused. His small office wall is adorned with San Francisco Giants baseball memorabilia. The impending baseball season and opening day festivities tend to bring a smile to his face.

Although the war zone presents its own intensity, Raviart noticed life back at home has produced more stress. He cited the murder of three Nevada Army National Guardsmen in September which rattled many soldiers in the theater, not only those from Nevada.

Companies provide similar services

While HHC takes an angelic approach to providing assistance to the other units in the 422nd ESB, each company, however, tends to be its own separate entity under the battalion's umbrella.

Sgt. Azsha Ortega has been spark-plug for Bravo Company, a Las Vegas signal unit that transformed itself more into 21st century technology before deploying to Afghanistan earlier this year.

As with the overall mission of the 422nd ESB, the company supported numerous Forward Operating Bases with connection sites. Teams scattered throughout southern Afghanistan after arrival in-country, but many guardsmen are slowly returning to Camp Mercury at Kandahar Air Field before the battalion leaves Afghanistan in early January.

Ortega, the unit's administrative NCOIC, exhibits the pride she has for her company and her bubbly enthusiasm shows. A single mother from Las Vegas, Ortega said Kandahar has that Nevada feel to it with the dry heat and barren, brown mountains that surround the bowl in which the huge base lies.

“Indeed this has been a huge learning experience from dealing with the basic administration stuff out here,” she said.

The deployment to Afghanistan has not fazed Ortega, however, although she misses her daughter. Ortega's mother, who persuaded her 25-year-old daughter to join the Nevada Army National Guard almost five years ago, also served in Iraq with the Nevada Guard's 593rd Transportation Company.

Capt. Bryan Schuster of Reno, also a combat veteran, commands the Las Vegas unit. Formerly the battalion's movement officer, he was selected for company command in late summer. The unit's mission mirrors the other Nevada companies.

“We're responsible for providing communication to the battlefield,” Schuster said, explaining much of that work extended to the smaller sites. “We had support missions … to provide Command Post nodes (connections) and Joint Network nodes.”

During his time in Afghanistan, Schuster, an ardent Boise State University graduate and fan whose office shouts out to visitors with the Bronco colors of orange and blue, visited most of the node sites housed at the forward operating bases, which were primarily scattered around Regional Command South or Kandahar Province in the southeast quadrant of the country.

“I talked to the command group on the ground. We received support from the company and battalion level and experienced no equipment failures during the year,” Schuster said. “The soldiers have also kept the generators running, and I find that fantastic.”

Generators were used when a site either experienced outages or was unable to sustain power to the equipment.

Schuster said soldiers at the remote sites love their work because they are working on their own and doing their jobs. Part of the success centers on stacking teams with the best personnel possible. When battalion assigned the teams, Schuster said mechanics who could keep the generators running were also included.

A contact officer with the Bureau of Land Management's state office in Reno, Schuster joined the Marines out of high school in the late 1990s and once he completed his enlistment, Schuster entered the ROTC program at Boise State and joined the Idaho Army National Guard after graduation. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 with a Police Mentor Training Team.

1st Sgt. Rodney Medina, a letter carrier in Las Vegas for the past 18 years, said servicing the FOBs has been the No. 1 challenge but because of transportation issues.

“The transportation could be hard but something we can deal with,” Medina said. “We needed to get people out to the FOBs but there were rules and restrictions on flying. I got stuck at one FOB for a month because of weather, and a couple of times from threats.”

Additionally, Medina said a plane or helicopter landed at the FOB once a week.

“It was good being with the guys,” Medina said with a grin, who rocked back in his chair against the wall draped with an American flag. “I wasn't behind the desk.”

Being assigned to a war zone and especially to a FOB takes strength and character, and Medina said it's a first sergeant's job to ensure the mission success.

“I'm here to build a company of mentally and physically tough soldiers to handle this deployment, and they have,” he added.

Time has now arrived for the 422nd to ensure success for the new battalion following it, and Medina said the key is to help the Alabama Army National Guard battalion become settled at KAF.

Charley Company's reach

Charley or C Company represents the signal battalion's Northern Nevada interests. Commanded by Capt. Gordon Steinmann and his 1st Sgt. Julio Guerrero, the unit is a heavy switch company responsible for three Command Post nodes and a “triple s” or single shelter switch. Like Bravo Company, the Washoe Armory based company scattered its guardsmen throughout RC-S and RC-West to FOBs to provide communications. Steinmann said part of the mission has been to use copper for computer hook-up and fiber wire for Internet connections.

“Now we have Harris radios, satellites and Internet, all very important over here,” he explained when taking several people on a tour of the equipment yard. “We have moved past the old green phone. The evolution of technology has taken us around the globe, both with secure and nonsecure information.”

When a new building nears completion either at KAF or at a FOB, for example, Steinmann said the signal company builds the drops for communication and provides fiber optics. Then, the soldiers test the classified and unclassified signals that are received by satellite dishes.

Steinmann said the company began fielding new equipment in 2009 to meet the needs of the modern-day battlefield, an upgrade from the Army's Cold War days with the former Soviet Union and its Iron Curtain allies.

“Intel requirements now travel around the battlefield instantaneously,” Steinmann explained.

Since the signal battalion bridged communications in southern Afghanistan Steinmann said the mission has been “awesome” in what the soldiers are doing for communications. Not only is Charley Company and the other units responsible for successful communications but they are also teaching other units — as well as their own personnel — how to deal with Help Desk issues.

“It's wild to see a National Guard expeditionary signal battalion accomplish its mission very well,” he said. “Amazing how soldiers step up with little training.”

After deployment to KAF and once soldiers installed equipment, Steinmann said guardsmen experienced overheating with the apparatus, but he said they figured out a way to cool the equipment with air conditioning in order to complete the job.

Communications at Bagram

Although Alpha Company hails from Casa Grande, Ariz., and received most of its peacetime guidance from the Arizona Army National Guard, soldiers said the 422nd has been a good administrator despite the unit setting up shop at Bagram Air Field, almost 300 miles north of Kandahar.

Some of its operation, though, remained at KAF, primarily in maintenance

Additionally, the company reports to a National Guard signal brigade from South Carolina, which is also at Bagram.

“They let us run the show because we are so independent,” 1st Sgt. John Cummings explained. “Anything higher, though, and the commander works with through the 422nd.

“We're providing communication data for computers and telephones,” said Cummings. “We have a various number of FOBs and task forces to serve ... we have a lot of bosses and people.”

While the main body associated with the signal battalion primarily services southern Afghanistan, Cummings said Alpha Company's area of operation covers all of RC-East. Cummings said soldiers appreciate doing a mission that required the unit to use signal equipment.

“For us, that's been a ‘true-blue sign' of a mission where everyone is training,” he pointed out.

Sgt. 1st Class Albert Amador pointed out the training performed with the battalion and the two Nevada companies gave the Arizona soldiers a better insight into the Afghanistan operations. He said overall battalion training at the Hawthorne Army Depot 135 miles south of Reno in 2010 gave the company a true picture of the distance required to complete the operation successfully.

“We got here and knew what to expect,” he said.

Cummings concurred: “We have some great command leadership, a common sense, level-headed approach to situations.”

Now, the company is in re-deployment stage, attempting to clean equipment and prepare the pieces for customs inspection.

Overall, Leimandt said the deployment has been successful for not only HHC but also for the one Arizona and two Nevada companies, a thought echoed by the battalion executive officer, Lt. Col Michael S. Peyerl, a Churchill County High School graduate.

“I say as a team, collectively, and the mission given to us, no other signal battalion did it as good as we did,” he said.