The value of the improved coordination for first responders will undoubtedly enhance public safety not only on federal installations but also in adjoining communities ...
The sentries posted at the armory, the crews at the fire station, and the base security patrols in their squad cars all depend upon wireless communication to perform their duties with responsiveness and effectiveness. This is not combat, but the stakes can still be high.
This article focuses on wireless solutions for first responders with specific details for Marine Corps requirements. A future article will discuss the Navy's plan to meet its unique wireless needs for first responders.
Intelligence Reform Act
On Dec. 17, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Title VII of the Act implements certain recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, including communications-related provisions related to use of the electromagnetic spectrum by federal, state and local emergency response providers.
The Department of the Navy (DON) approached this legislation in strategic coordination with other federal agencies and has engaged in operational planning with emergency elements at various bases, posts and stations where Sailors, Marines, civilians and military family members work, live and utilize the facilities Land Mobile Service
The primary wireless communication solution for local, state and federal agencies supporting the public safety is called land mobile service. It provides radio connectivity between fixed base stations and land mobile stations (i.e., stations capable of surface movement) or between multiple land mobile stations.
The land mobile service is vital to supporting the public service missions of federal agencies. Unique federal requirements for land mobile service include: providing for national security; promoting public safety for traveling via air, water and land; interdicting entry of illegal aliens and substances into the United States; establishing communications between disaster areas and relief forces; ensuring swift search and rescue operations; protecting national forests, parks and farmlands; bringing to justice perpetrators of federal crimes; and ensuring the security of energy generation and distribution sources.
DON Use of Land Mobile Service
Non-tactical land mobile radio systems used by the DON include equipment such as base, repeater, vehicular and handheld stations in a variety of geographic environments supporting voice and data communications. Navy and Marine Corps land mobile radio systems are usually multipurpose systems, for example, law enforcement, emergency medical, administrative and public works functions may be supported by the same radio system. The radio systems, which are purchased from commercial vendors, are similar to those employed by non-federal entities.
Users communicate in a dispatch/supervisory, one-to-many or one-to-one mode while other users monitor the channel and take action as appropriate. Typical messages from mobile sources are of short duration, and typical channel hold times for these mobile communications are quite short, usually less than a minute. Under these circumstances, one or more channels can often be shared by several independent users.
Although DON personnel use common carrier services, such as cellular telephones and radio pagers to augment communication needs, they do not serve as replacements for the DON's own land mobile systems. While both the Marine Corps and the Navy have selected similar approaches to land mobile service based on open standards, specific deployment is unique for each service.
Marine Corps LMR Challenges
The Marine Corps combat team faces diverse challenges stemming from the global war on terrorism, such as conducting combat and logistic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and providing antiterrorism and force protection inside and outside CONUS. Not altogether different from the Marine Corps combat team, the Camp Pendleton Fire Department has been fighting and winning battles with structure and wildfires on this terrain-unique base in Southern California.
The department's primary mission is to save lives and property. Even before the recent legislation, the Camp Pendleton Fire Department coordinated efforts with the surrounding communities; thus, a requirement for reliable communications that provides interoperability with neighboring federal, state and local fire departments was identified. Since off-base counterparts of the Camp Pendleton Fire Department used commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment, a Marine Corps solution pointed to similar technology.
Concurrent with the Camp Pendleton Fire Department's need was a mandate, issued by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), to adopt new narrowband technologies that allow greater spectrum efficiency for all land mobile radios (LMRs) used by the federal government. Serving as the president's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy issues, NTIA also manages the federal use of spectrum and resolves technical telecommunications issues for the federal government and private sector
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment