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Roped in by the Cable Dawgs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Melany Bermudez
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan. --  

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan - Cable and antenna technicians with the 18th Communications Squadron held an immersion event to showcase their capabilities, July 17, 2024. 

Their capabilities include tower climbing, fiber optic cable terminations, underground manhole work, and other day-to-day operations that allow them to sustain communications across the installation.

Popularly called cable dawgs, they uphold the base’s cyber infrastructure by maintaining and installing cables on telecommunications towers and underground maintenance holes. 

“Aircraft missions work off of antenna communications,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Griffan Ternes, 18th CS noncommissioned officer in charge of cable and antenna operations. 

Cable dawgs work on the antennas used by Kadena’s aircraft to communicate with one another. They climb up 150-foot towers for preventative maintenance inspections, to change light bulbs for tower collision prevention, and to conduct antenna inspections to ensure the base's cyber infrastructure is protected. 

18th CS technicians also provide emergency responders with land mobile radio systems as the primary means for transmitting mission critical voice communications between responders. 

“From gate guard to aircraft, everyone is using communication devices,“ said Ternes. “From the lowest level to the most critical level, proper communication is essential to the mission.”  

The 18th Wing commander was invited to the immersion event to view the range of cable dawg’s capabilities and experience first hand climbing and rappelling down a training tower. 

“The cable dawgs are valuable in support of the mission on base,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, 18th Wing commander, while attending the 18th CS immersion event. “Underground, on the ground, and above the ground, the cable dawgs work in these environments. What a unique opportunity to see their professionalism and expertise in action.”