Herd ‘plays’ in the mud Published Sept. 30, 2010 By John Stuart Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- It was rainy, the hours were long and the supply of mud seemingly never ending. But there was a definite plus for the Tinker team at New Horizons Panama 2010, a three-month humanitarian mission -- this year taking place in rural southern Panama. "You're in the middle of nature and no one's shooting at you," said 1st Lt. Jake Cadwell, the officer in charge of the 11-man team from the 3rd Combat Communications Group that was dispatched to support the exercise. The Airmen returned to Tinker Sept. 19, having spent three months in country. For the last several years, 3rd Herd Airmen have made the trip to different Central and South American countries for a three-to-four-month humanitarian mission. This year found the 3rd Herders in rural Meteti, Panama, near the Columbian border. The combat communicators provided bare base communications to the 820th Red Horse Squadron of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and the 320th Engineer Company. They provided communications support to more than 400 personnel at the bare base camp and in six different work sites and two clinics in the surrounding area of the Darien region. Working 12-hour shifts, 24-hours a day, the 3rd Herd Airmen were the only communications link to the outside as they provided telephones, secure and non-secure internet and also ensured the Air Force Network equipment functioned properly, Lieutenant Cadwell said. The construction crews built classrooms, renovated local clinics and built sanitary bathrooms for the local population. The projects, totaling $8.5 million, were steered by what the locals requested, Lieutenant Cadwell explained. The exercise was a milestone event for the 3rd Herd, as it was the first time they deployed their new "Everything Over IP" technology, which bundles voice and data communications together in the same lines. "It was the first operational deployment for the new equipment," Lieutenant Cadwell said. "So it was a thing of pride to go down there and make it work and meet the objectives." At least 200 school children and 1,000 area locals benefitted from the exercise. Although they're communications experts by training, the 3rd Herd Airmen also helped out at the construction sites when able. "The biggest reward was for the guys to go out to the work sites and help out," Lieutenant Cadwell said. "Our guys were going out and getting their hands dirty -- pouring concrete, digging trenches or installing computer equipment." While it was Lieutenant Cadwell's third deployment, his team had a mix of experience. Some were veterans and some had never deployed, he said. Regardless, in his first time as the OIC of an exercise, he came away with a definite impression of his co-workers from the 32nd Combat Communic-ations Squadron. "They did an awesome job down there and I'd absolutely take any of them anywhere," Lieutenant Cadwell said.