Join the Cal OES Tactical Communications Reserve Unit (CRU)
The Communications Reserve Unit (CRU) is a specialized disaster response public safety communications service in support of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES).
CRU volunteers employ a wide variety of diverse practical skills to assist State, County and partner government agencies in incident preparedness and response. Volunteers work closely with Cal OES and other local government public safety staff and are credentialed, sworn Disaster Service Workers for the State of California. Volunteers take preparedness seriously and train often for the inevitable situation we all know will happen in California.
Commitment
Some of our activations require us to be at or deployable from our regional facilities within two hours within our Mutual Assistance Regions (MAR):
Inland Administrative Region & MAR IV
Mather
Sacramento County
Redding, MAR III
Shasta County
Fresno, MAR V
Fresno County
Southern Administrative Region, MARs I & VI
Los Alamitos
Orange County
Coastal Administrative Region, MAR II
Walnut Creek
Contra Costa County
Time Commitment
Volunteering in the Communications Reserve Unit means being the quiet backbone of emergency response—ensuring that when lives, resources, and decisions depend on clear information, the message gets through.
CRU volunteers train alongside public safety professionals, support emergency operations centers, deploy communications systems in the field, and help maintain vital links between agencies when normal networks are strained or fail. The work requires technical skill, calm under pressure, and a commitment to teamwork in high-stakes environments.
Though these roles are unpaid, the experience offers something just as valuable: a sense of purpose, professional pride, and the knowledge that your skills helped keep responders connected when it mattered most.
Roles
Volunteer roles vary, some involve field deployments for search and rescue, wildfires, or natural disasters, while others focus on administrative tasks or operational support at our regional facilities.
Some volunteers participate in periodic statewide, regional and/or local amateur and federal radio voice and data networks.
Requirements
Applicants to CRU must be at least 18 years of age, in good physical condition and have a valid California Driver’s License. 
Training and certification in the Incident Command System. Understanding policies and procedures, both administrative and in the use of equipment.
While many of our CRU volunteers are licensed Amateur Radio Operators and/or some have FCC GMRS licenses, a license is not required to become a volunteer.
Prerequisites
A desire to train on gaining understanding and skills in:
ICS and NIMS
An understanding the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Public Service Communications
An understanding of the California public service communications infrastructure and communications methods
Radio
Skills you may have acquired as an amateur radio operator or in public service communications such as the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), the Red Cross, AUXillary COMMunications, AUXCOMM, Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) or other public safety communications work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is CRU organized?
Like the Cal OES structure, Cal OES CRU is made up of three Administrative Regions (Coastal, Inland, and Southern). Within those Administrative Regions, we have six Mutual Aid Regions (MARs), each served by a CRU MAR Officer and an individual CRU Team. While each CRU Team is normally responsible for their individual geographic area, common Cal OES equipment, standards and training enable CRU Team members to respond to any emergency situation anywhere within the State of California.
How many volunteers are in CRU?
Currently we have approximately 50 staff on our rolls. Pre-COVID we had as many as 85 staff. They are operationally managed regionally (Mutual Aid Regions I – VI), and statewide for the staff administrative services and voice and data Amateur, and Federal radio networks.
Who administers CRU?
Cal CRU is administered by both career, as well as volunteer management. For day-to-day operations, a career Cal OES TACtical COMmunications (TACCOM) Chief manages the overall Cal CRU program as a CRU Program Administrator. The Chief CRU Officer, appointed by the Cal OES TACCOM Chief and reporting to the CRU Program Administrator, serves as a volunteer CRU Program Manager. Cal OES TACCOM Communications Assistant Chiefs provide advice and support for the CRU Teams within their respective Regions.
During a deployment, CRU members fall under the management and supervision of the Cal OES TACCOM Communications Assistant Chief for the geographic Region of the deployment.
How does CRU respond in an emergency?
All of our responses are via mutual aid. Simplified examples:
A city requires communications resources. So, they first go to their county. If the county cannot assist, then the county goes to the Cal OES State Operations Center (SOC) which in turn goes to the Mutual Aid Region (MAR, six regions in the state) via the Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF 2, communications).
If a state or federal agency needs resources, then they go directly to the SOC which, in turn, goes to the appropriate MAR via ESF 2.
I live in a remote area of the state, can I still volunteer?
Yes, you can by participating in our statewide Cal OES radio voice and data networks. These occur on both HF Amateur Radio and SHAred RESources (SHARES) federal frequencies.
CESN (California Emergency Services Network) is the Cal OES Amateur Radio voice network and nets are held Monday evenings and Wednesday mornings state-wide.
CALWINNET is a Winlink data network requiring simple Winlink check-ins using either amateur radio frequencies or SHARES frequencies and everyone is encouraged to use multiple methods to check-in as emergency practice.
CAL-LINK is another Cal OES HF voice and data network assigned to State, County and City agencies using SHARES calls and frequencies. You may have access to a county or city agency for this net.
Is CRU considered a RACES organization?
The Cal OES CRU is the State RACES unit. One city or county public safety unit (OES, Law, Fire) in all jurisdictions statewide can have its own RACES Unit. Each unit is independent from all others.
I'm part of an existing California EMCOMM organization, is it part of CRU?
No, it is not. All EMCOMM units (RACES, Law and Fire volunteer comm units, Auxiliary Communication Service units, public safety registered ARES, Cal Fire VIP and CRU units) are separate entities managed and maintained by their own government public safety agency. If needed, however, each Public Safety entity can request EMCOMM mutual aid from other Public Safety entities.
How often does CRU respond to emergencies?
It varies over the years. There have been years where we have as many as 18 major deployments, and some years with only 3 or 4 major deployments.
We had two major deployments in 2025, but it was not a bad year for major fires in remote areas (State or National Parks or Forest).
We continue to have many minor deployments with handheld radios and repeaters, satellite phones, portable satellite voice and data units and WiFi units utilized for Incident Command Post (ICP). The need to prepare, however, is constant.
Interested?
Submit your information to be contacted about becoming a CRU volunteer.