"I can put [data packages] in the middle of nowhere, power them and support a customer," Plummer says. In fact, just 25 hours after arriving, his troops had set up a secure videoconference system that was capable of handling meetings between Camp Shelby and President Bush.

Although the 67th Signal Battalion was deployed to support Army relief efforts, Plummer says his troops served civilian organizations as well. For example, they supplied equipment and set up civilian computers to connect and work through the Army's network.

Multiple customers can put extreme demands on staff, however, and that can slow down a job, Plummer says. "You might have [only] one person who knows how to operate that widget, and if that person gets interrupted every other minute, they can't get their job done," he says.

To make sure competing demands didn't distract workers, Plummer gave customers a place to vent -- a point person who could handle complaints and questions -- leaving other workers free to work.

Employ "after-action reviews." After his battalion's deployment to Mississippi in September, Plummer says he realized he should have brought along the Computer Emergency Response Team, which monitors for intrusions and helps protect the Army's network against them.