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intelligence message traffic to MARCENT forces during the early I
phases of the operation, and provided high capacity secure voice

digital telephone trunking.


Further, a GMF point to point link was established between the I
BSSG-7 headquarters, also at the Jubayl port, and Fort Buckner I
Okinawa. This link was established by equipment and personnel of

Support Company, 7th Communication Battalion.   It provided I
Autovon trunking access to all MSEs and GENSER message service I
for the FSSG through the ASC in Yokota.   eWhile the original GMF
network was being established, an SHFI
G~C-20l network was installed, and integrated with the GMF I
system.   It offered robust telephone  trunking and critical I
circuit paths.  Ninth CommBn operated GRC-201 links proliferated

as more Marine forces deployed in the Jubayl area.   1
Specifically, during this period, microwave links were I
established from the MARCENT headquarters at the port to four I
different locations.  One link connected the Tactical Air I
Operations Center located at King Abdul Aziz Naval Air Base to I
the MAGTF command element.  Another link went from the port to I
the Jubayl Naval Air Facility  which housed 3rd MAWs rotary wing

squadrons and later would become the Tactical Air Command I
Center. A third link was established to Camp 15, a facility much

like Camp 5 which housed the 1st Marine Division and later 2nd I
Marine Division as they arrived in Saudi Arabia.   The fourth I
link was a back up for the GMF spoke at Manifah Bay, but it I
proved to have only marginal reliability.

Two other factors were significant to the communications system I
during this first phase. The first was the communication center I
circuits operating Mode I AUTODIN entries using uYK-S3s with I
TEQCOM cards.   This configuration was established at all MSC I
communication centers and allowed for high speed GENSER message I
service.   The second significant factor was the telephone I
switching equipment that was employed and the numerous I
interfaces that were required.   Specifically, the TTC-39A from I
JCSE was established as originally planned, but it caused a I
major challenge due to incompatibility with the Marine Corps I
TTC-42 and SB-3865. While the TTC-39A provided an enormous line I
capacity,  its incompatibility with UThCS disallowed the use of I
the SB-3S65 or TCC-42 as either primary switches for MSCs or as I
a backup at the MAGTF headquarters. However,  this problem was I
identified early bringing high level Marine Corps and contractor

attention and was ultimately corrected in late December 1990.

This was the general circumstance of the first episode.   Even as

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