Ohio National Guard News

137th Signal Company returns from Puerto Rico

Photos by Sgt. Andrew Kuhn, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs


By Sgt. Andrew Kuhn

Soldiers with the 137th Signal Company, based in Newark, Ohio, return home from providing communications support to hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico Nov. 15, 2017, at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus. The signal company provided mobile satellite, telephone, internet, video conferencing and information technology services for more than 50 missions conducted by deployed military assets in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.


Soldiers with the 137th Signal Company prepare to disembark from a KC-135 Stratotanker, operated by the 121st Air Refueling Wing, upon returning from providing communications support to hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, Nov. 15, 2017, at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio. The signal company provided mobile satellite, telephone, internet, video conferencing and information technology services for more than 50 missions conducted by deployed military assets in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Justice (from right), a signal support systems section chief, and Sgt. Joshua Gerhart, a satellite communication systems operations noncommissioned officer attached to the 137th Signal Company, disembark from a KC-135 Stratotanker

Soldiers with the 137th Signal Company, based in Newark, Ohio, load in to a bus to head home, upon their return at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio.

Spc. Steven Guay, a signal support system specialist attached to the 137th Signal Company, disembarks from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Spc. Steven Guay, a signal support system specialist attached to the 137th Signal Company, disembarks from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Pfc. Kyle McKay, an information technology specialist with the 137th Signal Company, disembarks from a KC-135 Stratotanker

Pfc. Kyle McKay, an information technology specialist with the 137th Signal Company, disembarks from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Sgt. Joshua Gerhart, a satellite communication systems operations noncommissioned officer attached to the 137th Signal Company, unloads gear from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Sgt. Joshua Gerhart, a satellite communication systems operations noncommissioned officer attached to the 137th Signal Company, unloads gear from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Soldiers with the 137th Signal Company, based in Newark, Ohio, unload their gear from a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Soldiers with the 137th Signal Company, based in Newark, Ohio, unload their gear from a KC-135 Stratotanker.


COLUMBUS, Ohio (11/15/17) — An Ohio National Guard unit that has been providing communications support to hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico arrived home the evening of Nov. 15,  disembarking from a 121st Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus.

About 40 Soldiers from the 137th Signal Company, based in Newark, Ohio, had been deployed since Oct. 11. The unit provided mobile satellite, telephone, internet, video conferencing and information technology services for more than 50 missions conducted by deployed military assets in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

Since the first hurricane made landfall in August, more than 400 men and women of the Ohio National Guard have been engaged with rescue and relief efforts in Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

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