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East River Units Explore Communications Capabilities

December 11, 2021

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Members of three South Dakota Wing squadrons along I-29, and wing staff members at multiple operating locations, met on the air for a communications exercise Saturday, December 11.

Original plans had called for testing the range of three CAP VHF radio repeaters from vehicles, but snow the previous day led to a revised plan in which all members worked from home. The result served as a simulation of using radios after a major blizzard that affected commercial communications.

The overall goal of CAP using radio communications is to remain mission effective, even in severe disaster situations when regular commercial communications may not be available.

CAP uses Air Force assigned VHF channels for tactical communications, such as connecting a South Dakota Wing Incident Command Post with aircrews and ground teams. CAP uses HF channels for long-distance strategic command and control communications. South Dakota Wing trains regularly on the use of radio communication to be ready for the worst-case communication scenario.

Participants in the exercise tested the ability of various radios to reach specific repeaters, and members became more comfortable with the capabilities of the South Dakota Wing radio communication system.

Tagged As: Communications

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