MAFB, MT National Guard install communication tower

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Eydie Sakura
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  An airlift by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter atop Highwood Baldy Mountain, roughly 40 miles northeast of Great Falls, took place Aug. 21 in conjunction with Malmstrom personnel and the Montana National Guard. 

The aircraft hoisted four microwave dishes to the Peak of Highwood Baldy Mountain where they will be installed on a 100-foot tower that was previously brought up in 20-foot sections. 

The helicopter crew completed 50 lifts in a two week time frame in a joint effort supporting the Air Force Space Command funded Wide Area Coverage Project. The project brings Air Force and Montana communication capabilities into the 21st Century through digital communication and will further enhance communication within the 341st Missile Wing missile field, which stretches across nine counties and 13,800 square miles. 

"The Wide Area Coverage project will provide land mobile radio communications throughout the entire missile field," said David Hinds, 341st Communications Squadron project manager. "We must be able to talk with each other to protect the mission. In addition, interoperability with the state gives us the ability to support each other in times of need if an incident were to arise." 

The new antenna will also support Choteau, Cascade and Judith Basin counties; Montana Highway Patrol; Montana Department of Transportation; local law enforcement agencies; and first-responders. 

"The communication site sits on national forest, so we authorize any improvements that go onto the site," said Dave Cunningham, Public Affairs Officer for Lewis and Clark National Forest. "The site has existed since 1965 and it started as a microwave site for television translators and has grown to include a variety of wireless communication as well. It's especially gratifying to see a facility like this added to the [existing] site. This will benefit public safety, the safety of Montanans, and the safety of all Americans as well." 

Mr. Hinds said the tower supports the communication antennas and there are two types. Radio frequency antennas, similar to what is in a vehicle, talks between the tower and the land mobile radios; however the microwave antennas, like satellite dishes, connect the towers back to Malmstrom. High speed telecommunication circuits take the information back to AFSPC headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., and back to Malmstrom again, connecting all Intercontinental Ballistic Missile bases. 

Malmstrom has been working toward this goal since 2005 and this site is 100 percent funded by AFSPC; however, the Interoperability Montana project is composed and paid for by state and federal agencies. For more information on IM, visit http://interop.mt.gov.