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equipment were employed for direct connectivity with ARCENT
command centers and to inte~rate the Marine Air Control System
with the Theater Air Control System. Microwave equipment and
operators from Support Company, Eighth Communication Battalion
added more depth to the microwave multichannel network and
operated- throughout the AOR.

The importance of Eighth Communication Battalion's operators can
not be over stated.  The GRC-2Ol microwave network included as
many as nine links,  five more than the communication battalion
table of organization was designed to support. Consequently, by
the time Eighth Communication Battalion's personnel arrived,  the
microwave operators of Ninth Communication Battalion were spread
terribly thin.  Eighth Communication Battalion's operators
proffered much needed help at the numerous GRC-2Ol locations
that dotted the length and breadth of the desert.

The telephone switching system for MARCENT/I MEF became a
complex network that integrated numerous dissimilar equipments.
A TTC-39A operated by the 263rd Combat Communication Squadron of
the U.S. Air Force National Guard provided the primary switching
node for the network and subscriber service at the I MEF Rear
command post.   Three  TTC-42 telephone switches operated by
Construction Platoon, Support Company, Ninth Communication
Battalion provided digital automated trunking and digital
subscriber service at the I MEF Main C.P.,  the First FSSG
Headquarters, and the TACC.   Moreover, three TTC-42s operated in
tandem at the I MEF rear C.P. for added digital trunking and as
ready backup to the TTC-39A.

Late in this episode,  it was decided, that the offensive would
launch from Northern Central Saudi Arabia vice up the eastern
coast as the forces had been positioned for.   This called for
another displacement of the MEF main command post to the west
near the elbow of the Saudi/Kuwaiti border.   But this time,
Bravo Company, Eighth Communication Battalion was to provide the
service at the new MEF CP and Bravo Company,  9th Communication
Battalion got a much needed rest.   Nevertheless, the primary
communication node remained in the Jubayl area under the control
of 9th Communication Battalion, and Bravo Company prepared for
the next jump which would be into Kuwait.

From the outset of operation Desert Shield, GENSER and Special
intelligence message service for each major Marine command
utilized a dedicated circuit from the TYC-39 at CENTCOM.   By the
end of December,  this configuration had become nearly
unmanageable.   Two things were done to alleviate this problem.
First, Radio Battalion installed the MSC-63A, and second, a
fifty line TYC-39 message switch was installed, both operated at
the I MEF rear command post,  streamlining the management of the
automated message distribution system.

The system had grown and matured tremendously since the first
radio net was established in August.   Now, it was a highly

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