Soldier, design engineer, mechanic and electronics technician – the EW maintenance sergeant

Hauptfeldwebel (HFw) Marcel Arndt is serving as a maintenance sergeant in the 912^th Electronic Warfare (EW) Battalion in the north German town of Nienburg (Weser). His and his team`s service is needed whenever a sensitive and state-of-the-art Electronic Warfare system have to be maintained-ranging from antennas to complex overall systems.

“Variety characterizes my daily work”, Arndt says. “We are responsible for the EW equipment of vehicles, for the antennas and receiver systems and for all the technical equipment built into vehicles and mobile containers, so-called cabins, rather than for the vehicles themselves.” Arndt and his team measure the signal paths and find faults to help German EW forces accomplish its important mission of reconnaissance in the cyber and information space. The 1^st company of the 912^th EW Battalion is located in Nienburg (Weser).

Combat ready equipment

“Our companies have a wide range of state-of-the-art systems. For instance for the detection location and analysis of radar sets”, Arndt says. “These systems range from upgraded Fuchs, armoured wheeled transport vehicles equipped with multiband radio sets to small antennas.” What signal reconnaissance personnel need most to accomplish their mission apart from expertise is serviceable equipment. This is where Arndt comes in. In several maintenance squads, each consisting of up to four soldiers, they look after the approximately 30 systems, some of them are very different, of the 912^th EW Battalion.

From antennas to protective grilles

HFw Arndt is a communications electronics technician by profession and a mission-experienced specialist sergeant today. “This means that I have considerable expertise in electronic systems, but we need much more to keep EW equipment serviceable”, he says. HFw Arndt and his team deal with the whole range of material from the engines for deploying antennas to the highly sensitive antennas themselves and the grilles that protect sensitive sensors. “We are often asked to provide services of electronics technicians. At other times, we are asked to provide services of mechanics”, he says. “And when systems have to be built into vehicles or cabins, we are even asked to provide services of design engineers.”

Diverse and flexible

HFw Arndt has acquired his extensive knowledge in different areas during training courses and through private study. “We were trained to detect and analyze faults, among other things”, he explains. “But our systems are so numerous and diverse that maintenance personnel cannot be trained to maintain all of those systems.” HFw Arndt and his team have often been asked to solve unknown technical problems quickly. “We try to solve such problems by trial and error and by relying on our common expertise”, the maintenance specialist says, “but it is these unknowns that make our work interesting. We can always rely on the wide-ranging knowledge of the team.”

At the home station, during exercises and during deployments abroad

“Our expertise is unique in the Bundeswehr”, Arndt says, “the battalion’s maneuver companies have material no one else in the Bundeswehr has.” The 2^nd company is the 912^th EW Battalion’s “seafaring” company. Its members are posted aboard intelligence collectors to gather information above and below water and in coastal areas in different deployment areas. The 3^rd company provides the German air force with the information it needs during exercises and operations, according to HFw Arndt. The 4^th company is capable of mobile reconnaissance of radio relay links and of radar emissions with its armored vehicle-based systems. That capability is needed to support operations of ground forces in particular. “Of course, we always support our maneuver companies with our mobile maintenance shops during exercises and deployments abroad”, HFw Arndt says, “because without us, there is no serviceable material.” Only the 912^th EW battalion has these reconnaissance systems. Arndt has repeatedly shown his abilities during deployments abroad, which he regards as the biggest challenges he has faced during his career.

by Sebastian Wanninger  email