Fortress to Provide Secure Wireless Comms for South Carolina National Guard Mobile Response Teams

Release date: 6/3/2008
Company Enables Secure Voice, Video, and Data Transmissions during Emergency Response Situations
Fortress Technologies, a leading provider of secure wireless solutions, today announced that it is integrating its Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) certified secure wireless solutions into the South Carolina National Guard’s Mobile Response Teams (MRTs) – providing communications for the National Guard Task Forces responsible for responding to any emergency. Working with the 43rd Civil Support Team (43rd CST), these MRTs will deploy Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges as part of their wireless solution. MRTs will enable the National Guard to better prepare, act, and respond during times of emergency.

“It is well documented that the current communications infrastructure is not always available during major disasters – both natural and man-made,” said COL Debra Rose, J-6 for South Carolina. “The goal of this program is to be able to provide voice, video, and data interactions between first responders at an incident site and coordinating locations such as state emergency operations centers. We are in theory developing a National Guard “Hot Spot” for first responders and others.”

As part of the program, Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges will be installed at armories throughout South Carolina, delivering highly reliable wireless communications with required FIPS security. Leveraging one of the most advanced and reliable mobile communications units available –– the Incident Commander's Command, Control, and Communication System (IC4U™) from Information Processing Systems of San Carlos, California –– MRTs will be able to connect to the Fortress Secure Wireless Bridges, enabling voice, video, and data capabilities during emergency response or disaster recovery situations. The project will allow all responding units to use wireless communications – while in the vicinity of a wireless equipped armory – in a completely secure environment.

Having previously deployed the National Guard’s prototype Joint Incident Site Communications Capability (JISCC) in support of hurricane relief efforts in Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, David McNamee, the former Director of Information Management (DOIM) for South Carolina and the first Officer in Charge (OIC) of the JISCC, highly recommends the Fortress Solution. “I have used Fortress products for several years and have been very pleased with their performance and reliability,” said McNamee. McNamee will lead the MRT implementation.

“Government agencies are required to use validated secure wireless solutions for any implementation,” said Dana Kuntz, Vice President, Federal Sales, Fortress. “Fortress delivers robust wireless communications with uncompromising security to ensure support of our customer’s missions. We supplied certified secure wireless solutions for the JISCC systems and now support the South Carolina’s MRTs. We have extensive past performance in supporting National Guard and other military wireless implementations and are pleased to have been selected as the secure wireless provider on this project.”

About General Dynamics C4 Systems Fortress Technologies
Fortress Technologies, part of General Dynamics C4 Systems, delivers a high performance portfolio of COTS wireless and secure communications capabilities, based on industry-proven technology. Fortress products and technologies are enhanced with the highest levels of industry-standard encryption that conform to commercial and government security standards and meet stringent environmental standards to support tactical wireless communications in austere environments for global defense, critical infrastructure and enterprise users.
Leveraging a self-forming, self-healing, path-optimizing mesh architecture, the Fortress advanced wireless network solution is optimized for rugged-outdoor, mobile, military, first responder and critical infrastructure environments, where reliable communications are a must.
Fortress secure wireless networking products and embedded solutions are designed for ease of use, simple integration and technical insertion, enabling partners and customers to meet their most challenging wireless communications needs. For more information, visit www.gdfortress.com

About Information Processing Systems

Information Processing Systems provides robust and affordable emergency communications and data solutions, employing best of breed technology, built on the experience gained from past disasters and input from the first responder’s community. Information Processing Systems is dedicated to providing the vital everything over IP solutions desperately needed to protect the lives and property our first responders as well as our fellow citizens. The inability to communicate across disparate radio frequencies created a breakdown in communications on September 11, 2001 that resulted in unnecessary loss of life because responding agencies could not communicate with one another. In a collaborative effort with the National Guard, IPS developed the Incident Commander's Command, Control, and Communication System (IC4U) and its civilian counterpart, the Advanced Command, Control, and Communication System (AC3S) are the results of 40 years of satellite and related communications development.

For more information, visit www.ac3systems.com