The Army environment is ripe for improvisation. Especially if you're dealing with a lot of manual process that can be automated. Your story is definitely heart-warming. It shows what bright individuals can do, even if they don't have professional training.
I recall the off-the-shelf satellite systems! We had one too (I was stationed on Camp Liberty) and an Iraqi engineer dude would show up to help us set it up. It only worked about 70-75% of the time and once we had a serious rainstorm that damaged the dish. It took us a while to get us a replacement.
Eventually I was able to find a PDF manual for the system and was able to do some of my own troubleshooting when issues came up.
I recall the off-the-shelf satellite systems! We had one too (I was stationed on Camp Liberty) and an Iraqi engineer dude would show up to help us set it up. It only worked about 70-75% of the time and once we had a serious rainstorm that damaged the dish. It took us a while to get us a replacement.
Eventually I was able to find a PDF manual for the system and was able to do some of my own troubleshooting when issues came up.