TOBYHANNA, Pa. — Members of the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Coolbaugh Township are playing a role in one of the biggest events set to take place in the new year — the presidential inauguration.
"We were approached by the Joint Force Headquarters representatives to provide them wireless networks, and that's something they've been trying to get for a significant amount of time. It allows them flexibility for their transitional teams that come in and support the inauguration," said electronics technician Andrew Hrosovsky.
Technicians recently installed new wireless internet and upgraded networks at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., and that's where their work was noticed.
Mark Yeninas is an electronics technician. He helped with the installation.
"It's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. For someone else, it might never be an opportunity," said Yeninas.
Tobyhanna has played a big role in providing or upgrading wireless technology at a number of depots.
"We do many missions that are very important to the Department of Defense and our country. This happens to be one of them. We've done work with audio and visual equipment to actually be able to have our soldiers deploy a whole division and have a general back here talking directly, in real-time to the division. When you talk about the importance of the warfighter, communication is so important," said Robert Olshefski, Tobyhanna Army Depot.
This wasn't a one or two-person job. It took a number of departments, employees, a team really to make the mission work.
"We've been doing this program for about six years now, and over the course, and depending on the size of the support that we need to provide, it can go from a three to a 10-man team, and sometimes we have multiple teams at a time. It can be upwards of 20 people supporting," said Amanda Mayer, Tobyhanna Army Depot.
While Team Tobyhanna has a hand in many parts of the world, members are happy this time they were a little closer to home.