Communicatons
When commercial communications systems are unavailable or overloaded, the North Dakota Wing is ready to keep command and control (C2) channels open, keeping CAP’s aircraft flying, and relaying urgent traffic for federal and other customers.
North Dakota Wing’s HF/VHF system includes a network of High Frequency Automatic Link Establishment (HF-ALE) mobile and base stations located strategically in conjunction with each squadron’s home base. The wing manages a comprehensive Very High Frequency (VHF) network with seven (P25) repeaters, three portable repeaters and over fifty portable, mobile, and base stations. The repeaters are located to provide communications throughout the state and, if necessary, the portable repeaters can be loaded onto an airplane and deployed to an area of poor VHF radio coverage. All equipment operates on federal frequencies assigned to CAP, and is compliant with National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) standards and thus capable of inter-operability with military and federal agencies.
