JTF Scott expands interoperability Published April 16, 2008 By Monte Miller 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The communication between Scott Air Force Base and its surrounding communities has reached a new level and is gaining national attention. Five years ago, the radio communications between Scott emergency services and its neighbors was dismal, to say the least. Now, the communication is seamless. The introduction of 800-megahertz radios to St. Clair County and to Scott has brought the interoperability into the 21st century. "After Sept. 11, it was recognized that communication between agencies needed improvement," said St. Clair 911 Coordinator Nick Prsha. "The federal government wanted regional approaches to this problem." Mr. Prsha explained that St. Clair County teamed with Scott to write a federal grant request for a new radio system that would remedy current problems and prepare for future incidents that might involve military and civilian emergency services. "We (county) never could speak to the base on the radio," Mr. Prsha said. "There have been several instances over the years that we couldn't call the other side of the fence. Now we can have immediate and real-time communications." More than $10 million has gone into the new communication system for the county that includes Scott in their emergency management plans. The same can be said for Scott emergency plans that now include many downtown agencies. The communication upgrades come in the form of handheld radios that are on an 800-megahertz system, which is far superior to older VHF systems. "Believe it or not, the radios we have are line of sight only,", Timothy McFall Scott chief of planning for the emergency management flight explained. "We've been fighting to get these radios for three or four years, and they have definitely increased our interoperability. It saves a lot of time and effort." Mr. McFall said the radios provide a direct line between the base Emergency Operations Center and county 911 center without picking up a phone. Both offices can listen in over their radios and hear what's going on. By doing this, all agencies involved are able to take steps to be prepared to respond before the official call is made. He added that radio technology has finally caught up with other forms of telecommunications. "Six years ago, commanders and support people all carried radios," He said. "Now, they have gotten away from using radios an use cell phones and their blackberries instead." The 800 radios allow users to reach agencies across the metro area and even as far as Chicago with one press of the microphone on their radio. The 800 system is based on trunking and utilizes specific talkgroups, which have dedicated channels for their use only. Thus, the lines of communication are never overcrowded with traffic as would happen with a mass casualty incident or natural disaster. So far, Scott has 60 of the 800-megahertz radios in use by security forces, the fire department, medical group, emergency operations center and the installation control center. Fifty of the radios, which cost between $2,500 and $5,000 apiece, are on loan to Scott from St. Clair County, and the base has purchased 10 additional. On the outside, area hospitals, every St. Clair County agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, St. Louis city and almost every local fire and police departments have the radios as well, so when help when it is needed or requested, can come in many forms and from every direction. "Now everyone is working off the same sheet music," Charley Mills, 375th Airlift Wing acting chief for plans programs and readiness, said. "With our loss of the hospital and ambulance services on base, we rely on downtown agencies even more. When someone on base calls 911, it goes to Cencom in Belleville. Then the call is transferred to the applicable base emergency agency. Communications are a whole lot smoother now." To this point, the 800-megahertz radios are used mostly in training scenarios but are used more frequently by the Scott fire department. Mr. Mills' office is in charge of setting up exercises on the base, many of which also include outside agencies. Also, if outside agencies wish to utilize some of Scott's resources for training activities, the interoperability is seamless. Scott Kempton, Scott deputy fire chief, said they employ 14 of the radios that are spread between the three engine houses on base. "We have a few at each house and the guys grab them when they go mutual aid off base," he said. "They are also used when we have groups come and use our training facility. Most of the departments we run calls with have 800 capabilities." Mr. Kempton added the radios would also improve the fire department's communications inside buildings on the base, which is minimal with the current system. "The key is antennae placement," he said. "Instead of our line of sight system, the county claims a 98.5 percent coverage." Maj. Dan Pempel, 375th Security Forces Squadron operations officer, said his unit has five of the radios that they use on a minimal basis, but hopes that will increase. Although, SFS rarely responds to outside police events unless it is a life or death circumstance or a witnessed event, the need is definitely there for interoperability with the downtown departments. In addition, Scott security forces only call outside police agencies if they apprehend civilians. Where the radios will come into play for security forces is in the event of a major air crash or vehicle accident involving military cargo. "Scott is responsible for a several state area, including almost all of Illinois and parts of Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin," Major Pempel said. "We would be called to secure the area of the accident or aircraft crash." In that scenario, the need for Scott to communicate with whatever local agencies are working the scenes and to also be able to reach their headquarters at Scott would be imperative. The necessity for interoperability between Scott and downtown was made even clearer when last year 911 dispatcher Patricia Michaels at Centcom in Belleville fielded an emergency call that came in from Seoul, South Korea. The call came to Belleville over a Voice Over Internet Protocol using a high speed internet service offering long-distance service over the internet. The system was originally set up when the woman and her husband were based at Scott and lived in O'Fallon, Ill., and when they deployed to Yongsan Army Base, Korea, the account stayed active at her Illinois address. The woman called 911 to report a domestic assault by her husband and that he was threatening to kill her. The couple had only been in Korea a few days and the woman did not know her exact address. The only information she could give was that the apartment complex was across the street from the base, but she did not know which base entrance was in eyesight. The quick thinking Ms. Michaels, kept the woman on the line for 45 minutes while she contacted Scott for assistance. Knowing the military connection, Scott personnel contacted the military police at the Army base, but they could not respond to the call because it was off base. Military police contacted the Korean National Police, who used local landmarks to locate the caller and come to her aid. The ease of communications that led to getting the woman help was seamless between the base and Cencom because of the 800 radios. For her quick thinking and use of available resources, Michaels recently received the Dispatcher of the Year Award from the 911 Institute in Washington D.C.