Photo By Sgt. William Marsh | Soldiers of the 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion test communications with the Reno...... read more read more
RENO, Nev. – The 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion of the Nevada National Guard hosted local Reno Fire Department – Station 9 firemen on June 17, 2021 at the Washoe County Armory. The purpose of the visit was to facilitate training for Soldiers operating their new Disaster Incident Response Emergency Communications (DIRECT) system and demonstrate to the first responders of the community the capabilities of the system.
“Communication is always our greatest liability,” said Captain Bill Gentry, among the visiting firemen. “It is great to work with the people who share a mutual purpose; to serve the greater community.”
The DIRECT tool suite enables National Guard signal units to provide commercial phone, internet access, and commercial Wi-Fi and 4G LTE to first responders -- military, government, and non-governmental -- during domestic natural disasters, emergencies, and civil support operations.
Lt. Col. Laura Boldry, Battalion Commander of the 422nd ESB, first saw the DIRECT system over 4 years ago. “I saw many capabilities for our partners here in Nevada,” she said. “Delays in communications have a causal effect on casualties, and the new DIRECT system allows for faster and more efficient communications during those critical moments.”
Capt. Jose Madrid, commander of C-Company of the 422nd ESB, facilitated the visit of the first responders. "We wanted to conduct community outreach to ensure that our first responders had visibility into the supports that we can provide with the DIRECT system and create relationships for future training."
Sgt. Reese Johnson, of the 422nd ESB, worked with the firemen to test the system. First, testing the radio-to-radio communications, and then testing the radio to cellphone and vice-versa capability. “It is easy to test our own equipment and work out the bugs in the system but having the firemen out to test the connection on their equipment gives us a chance to practice and learn,” he said. “We look forward to arranging further training in partnership with first-responders to ensure the quickest response time when disaster strikes.”
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2021 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 399431 |
| Location: | RENO-STEAD, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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