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Radio station to alert base of emergencies

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Christie Putz
  • 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Scott Air Force Base, Ill. --  A new capability will soon allow urgent messages to be broadcasted to people on or around base via AM radio channels.

"This new system is going to provide another tool for Joint Total Force Scott members to stay up to date on important information that affects them," said Col. Al Hunt, 375th Airlift Wing commander. "It's another example how we leverage technology ingenuity and manpower to make JTF Scott the best, safest place it can be."

The channel, AM 1650, will be primarily used as an emergency broadcast system, and blinking lights in five locations on base will alert base personnel of updated urgent messages. Lights are located at the Shiloh, Belleville and Mascoutah gates, as well as near Cardinal Creek Golf Course and Building 1600.

The capabilities of the station, however, reach far beyond those of emergency broadcasting. Anything allowed by the Federal Communications Commission, excluding music, can be broadcasted over the airwaves.

"We truly do have a ton of options with this station," said Jim Baker, 375th Communications Group Telecommunications Specialist project manager. "Live speeches by wing leadership can be broadcasted, or even recorded and played back at a later time."

Other permissible information includes public service announcements for base events or live interviews.

"The main purpose of the radio station is to be used as a safety tool, but we're going to be able to do so much more than that with it," said 1st Lt. Karoline Scott, 375th AW officer in charge of Public Affairs. "We really will have the capability to make it a one-stop source of information for the Joint Total Force Scott family."

Day-to-day operations of the station will be managed by the 375th AW Public Affairs office. The 375th CG will manage technical support.

"We have more than one way to access the system," said Mr. Baker. "If the computer goes down or you cannot get to the computer in time, you can update it over the telephone."

This will allow up-to-the-minute updates from disaster scenes as well as overall faster delivery of critical messages.

The range of the signal covers all of base and approximately a two- to three-mile radius surrounding the base. Listeners will now hear the standard standby message until the system is fully operational in late March or early April.