Tobyhanna Expands Role in Modernizing Army Command Centers

Soldiers in the field can now safely connect with their leadership at home – all thanks to a rapidly-growing workload at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

A cross-functional group of employees continue to support installation and upgrade missions for the Home Station Mission Command Center (HSMCC) and Mission Command Facilities (MCF) programs, which establish and improve joint operations mission centers around the world. Like a situation room, the facilities are outfitted with high-end teleconferencing equipment such as projectors, video monitors, microphones, and speakers for real-time communication, visibility and decision-making.

The growing workload is directly aligned with Tobyhanna’s long-range strategic plan, TOBY2028, which has four focus areas: Investing in Our People, C5ISR Readiness, Shape the Future and Strategic Communications. TOBY2028 aims to posture the depot for success in the coming years as the Department of Defense’s premier worldwide C5ISR readiness provider.

Tobyhanna’s previous support of the program was limited to electrical work and equipment installation.  Customers were continuously impressed by Team Tobyhanna’s work under tight timelines; as a result, they expanded the scope of work to include carpentry, wood fabrication, networking upgrades, wireless installations and engineering support with assistance in mission design.

A previous depot mission to Fort Bragg, North Carolina found depot team members transforming an open work bay into a state-of-the-art HSMCC, with carpenters on-site building walls to create the new space, while woodworking artisans back home crafted cabinetry and a credenza to enhance the project. The finished product resulted in 50 feet of handmade cabinetry, custom-designed for the HSMCC. Those involved say the effort was a unique challenge.

“The main objective for the cabinets was to cover up the wiring and improve the aesthetics of the HSMCC,” said Kyle Oakley. “Our team did a great job taking a basic concept and bringing it to life as pieces of expertly crafted furniture – not something we do every day. Our customer was very pleased.” Oakley is a work leader in the System Integration and Support (SIS) Directorate’s Equipage Branch.

Personnel also took on a new challenge during a MCF mission at Fort Carson in Colorado recently, installing a high-tech LED micro-tile video wall and all video processing equipment. The tile-based displays offer unlimited design freedom, exceptional visual quality, and less complex installation requirements – but presented a vastly different process from previous technological installs.

Equipage Branch Chief Nathaniel Isaac praised his team’s performance.

“There has never been a request too large or too small, too difficult or too easy for my team. They always achieve amazing results with a finished product that expresses the high level of expertise they possess,” he said. Fellow SIS Chief Robert Olshefski agreed.

“I am very proud of our team and their willingness to accept and thrive with new challenges.” Olshefski leads the Electrical Cable Branch in SIS.

The collaborative SIS teams will support several comprehensive MCF missions in the future at sites such as Redstone Arsenal, Fort Knox, and Fort Drum. Successful HSMCC installations were previously completed for the Indianapolis Army National Guard’s 38th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division; the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carlson, Colorado; and the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.

About 3,500 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.