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Shaw Airman keeps Kirkuk connected

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Holly MacDonald
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C --  An entire unit in Iraq would be cut off from the rest of the world without the help of one individual. 

A material management craftsman, Staff Sgt. Susan Rhodes orders, tracks, expedites and receives mission-critical parts for communication systems essential to keeping Kirkuk Regional Air Base connected to the rest of the world. She is the sole supply liaison for communications at the base, located 250 kilometers north of Baghdad near the foot of the Zagros Mountains

Sergeant Rhodes helps support more than 4,000 Army Soldiers and 1,000 Airmen in Kirkuk, said Master Sgt. Karl Rudorf, 506th Exepeditionary Communications Squadron Mission Systems Flight superintendent. At Shaw, she is assigned to the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron as the NCO in charge of stock control.

Sergeant Rhodes is the only logistics Airman assigned to the communications squadron at the Kirkuk base.

"Although I am not in the communications career field, I still feel like part of their family. I provide these combat communicators with the necessary parts they need for the war effort," Sergeant Rhodes said. 

By doing her part, she is also helping expedite the transfer of control of Kirkuk Regional Air Base from coalition forces to the Iraqi government.

Sergeant Rhodes coordinates directly with seven maintenance work centers supporting Kirkuk's infrastructure, which includes buried cable systems and telephone switching networks, ground radio and satellite communication systems, local area network systems, and air traffic control and landing systems, she said. 

Sergeant Rhodes said she received one-on-one training at Kirkuk for her position, adding that her training at Shaw helped her prepare for her deployement. 

"The computer-based training and the actual Phase I and Phase II exercises at home station helped me become more focused, aware and readily available to perform to my fullest potential under combat field situations," she said. "You don't have a second chance to get it right, this is the real deal. I am no longer within the box, I see the bigger picture."