STAFF SGT. CODY SCHINDLER, right, receives the Meritorious Service Medal at Fort Cavazos, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tanner Dibble)

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — A soldier from Iron River was recognized by the U.S. Army for superior performance in a competition designed to test the Army’s old-school communication systems.

Staff Sgt. Cody Schindler, who graduated from West Iron County High School, was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal on Tuesday by Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, commanding general, III Armored Corps and Fort Cavazos. His team placed third among 201 teams in the Army’s recent “QRPX” competition.

“It was a great honor to work with the 11th (Corps Signal Brigade) on a team that has different variations of knowledge with (high-frequency operations). We placed third out of 201. I feel amazed,” Schindler said.

The competition, represented solely by those letters, tests soldiers on their ability to communicate over long ranges using high-frequency technology — without infrastructure like satellites or cell phone towers.

“It’s older technology that is not pulled out and used as much, but it’s vital. It’s secure and it can travel great distances — thousands of miles,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Helmer, command sergeant major of the 11th Corps Signal Brigade.

As an additional challenge, the competition allows only 20 watts of power — roughly the same needed to run a small household appliance.

Teams consider weather, terrain, solar output, and other factors, and custom-design their antennas to maximize range, or wave propagation. As part of their competition, soldiers were able to contact counterpart stations in Hawaii, as well as multiple locations in the continental United States and Canada.

There are tactical advantages: the smaller, quieter signals are harder to detect and counter, in many cases, than signals with higher power.

QRPX has been hosted annually by the U.S. Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command, or NETCOM, since 2014.