Marion's Frankenphone, RPA Innovation

Published May 19, 2015
By Airman 1st Class Christian Clausen
432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada --
In a crowded room of remotely piloted sensor operators it would be easy to overlook him, yet his accomplishments scream for attention. His peers labeled him a 'jack of all trades' and after getting past his quiet first impression, it's easy to see why.

For Staff Sgt. Marion, 42nd Attack Squadron sensor operator, it all began before he even considered wearing the uniform. In his early childhood at the age of 13, he began welding. He then began started building go-karts, and at 17, he started his first official welding job building race cars. At 20, he began building computers and working with circuitry until he decided to enlist in the U.S. Air Force at 23.

"I just married my wife and we were planning on starting a family; the job I had paid well, but the military was stable," Marion said. "And I wanted to serve my country as well."

Although a skilled welder, this wasn't what earned him his label among his peers, it was the combination of hands-on abilities that took years to acquire through wood-working, circuitry, landscaping, sheet rock work, and house rewiring.

"Anything I've set my mind to do, I just do some research," Marion said. "My wife's always surprised by the stuff I can do and build."

Although he's gathered skills off-duty, his talents are not just bound to life outside the military, Marion has contributed his talents to furthering the Air Force when he repurposed materials in two different Air Force Specialty Codes.

"I was in cable antenna maintenance prior to being a sensor operator," said Marion. "I took equipment in its original form and without needing specialized tools to get the job done, I was able to repurpose it."

Most recently, he distinguished himself by fashioning a device that helped increase communications quality and reduced piloting complications while flying remotely piloted aircraft.

Now, two years later and on its third variation, the pocket-sized contraption, dubbed Frankenphone 3.5 Ultra High Definition due to its crude manifestation, doesn't look like it is much of anything. In fact, despite it mishmash aesthetics, it's an incredibly simple and highly effective way to complete the mission.

Like its name suggests, the phone is patched together from pieces of equipment that are heading for the scrap pile.

"It's made of a phone receiver that has been retired, and an old headset that had either microphones or speakers quit working," Marion said.

Faced with budget constraints, RPA crews were operating with outdated communication systems while still having to ensure accurate mission planning and execution with ground forces. While the design is simple, what the Frankenphone does for the Air Force is nothing short of incredible, according to the commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Hawk Carlisle.

"It's amazing," Carlisle said. "It's a classic case of innovation. Ultimately, we needed to build a piece of equipment that would allow us to talk through a phone while we're still on the radio and [flying the aircraft]. Frankenphone is the kind of innovation [the Air Force] needs."

Previously, RPA pilots were presented with a challenging method of relaying messages with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers and to the rest of the aircrew.

When a JTAC called into the phone line, a pilot would hold a phone to their ear with their shoulder, while still having their hands flying the aircraft and monitoring computer readouts in addition to the pilot's intercom system headset, making this a difficult process.

The pilot would then have to relay the information to the rest of the aircrew via radio, repeating themselves multiple times and delaying mission engagements.

"The Frankenphone really simplifies life in the ground control station," said Capt. Christine, 432nd Wing pilot.

The Frankenphone solves all those problems by tying the phone line into the pilot's headset intercom system, and essentially puts the aircrew on a party line mitigating the need to repeat messages numerous times and improving communication clarity.

"This eliminates a lot of the coordination piece by getting everyone on a conference call and getting everybody on the same page," Marion explained, "versus via radios and delaying strikes by having to repeat messages to whole aircrew."

He went on to say another aspect of coordination the Frankenphone streamlines is the approval process, allowing key leadership and the aircrew to be on the party line, providing quality control and verify the information the JTAC is passing in real time to eliminate miscommunications.

Another thing about the Frankenphone is that while it improves many things, it is very low-cost and quick to produce.

Because the Frankenphone is made of recycled materials, it can cost as little as nothing or up to $250 if new parts are used and takes less than an hour to make.

"The Frankenphone is allowing us to seamlessly execute the mission, while saving the Air Force money," said Lt. Col. Gregory, 432nd Operations Group deputy commander. "A less than $250 modification has helped ensure ground forces in combat zones return safely to their families. There's no doubt in my mind that we have saved coalition lives with this device."

To ensure the Frankenphone continues to save lives and the knowledge is not lost after Marion changes duty stations, he has created continuity on how to build the Frankenphone to allow others in his field to continue to evolve the device for future needs.

"I've seen so many good ideas disappear when someone [changes assignments] and this device is still needed by squadrons on Creech," Marion said. "Taking that knowledge with me without passing it along would have been wrong."