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Cal OES Communications Reserve Unit

The mission of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Communications Reserve Unit (CRU) is to serve the State of California in voluntary support of any possible communications need in an emergency, incident or event. This means more than being activated in emergencies—it includes day-to-day, ongoing involvement in state-level emergency preparedness.

CRU Reservists Support The State

CRU reservists support the State in providing reliable, point-to-point voice, data and satellite communications anytime, anywhere, and by providing “ground truth” situational awareness when needed. CRU members possess a variety of professional skills, including administrative, technical, and operational, assisting communications between the State and its agencies, the state’s Mutual Aid regions, California county (Operational Area) and city (local) governments, and neighboring state governments.

CRU Assignments

CRU assignments include on-going assistance to counties and cities in developing their own emergency communications units, and coordination with other State agency emergency response units, such as those in CalTrans, Cal FIRE, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the State Emergency Operations Centers in Sacramento and Los Alamitos.

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)

The Cal OES Communications Reserve Unit is the official Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) unit for the State of California, and we encourage participation and cooperation with other emergency communications (EMCOMM) organizations statewide, including city and county RACES units, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS), the federal SHAred RESources (SHARES) program, CalFire Volunteers in Prevention (VIP), and the American Red Cross. An Amateur Radio license is not required for Public Safety FCC Part 90 communications.

Volunteer

CRU is actively recruiting new volunteers with an interest in public service and an interest in emergency communications. Prerequisites include an interest of the (Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS), interest with the California communications infrastructure, an understanding of public safety communications methods, and skills you may have acquired as an amateur radio operator or public service (most ARES, Red Cross) volunteer.

Cal OES Communications Reserve Unit Mission Statement

The Mission of the Cal OES Communications Reserve Unit is to provide the highest standard of communications interoperability support to the citizens of the State of California.

Our common tasks:

To provide our Allied Agencies, Organizations and Operational Areas with communications advice and support.
To staff our Regional and Headquarters Emergency Operation Centers in the event of an emergency or other event as assigned.
To support, maintain and respond our Cal OES Tactical Communications (TACCOM) Unit assets, including communications equipment, vehicles and other resources as assigned.
To provide assistance, advice and support to other emergency communications organizations, including RACES, CalFire VIP, MARS, ARES, and the American Red Cross.

Our CRU Vision:

To field statewide, deployable, mission-capable 24/7 Emergency Communications Support Team(s)
To train and maintain a Statewide Communications Reserve Unit Team
To maintain a CRU Team comprised of, supported by, and managed by volunteers, with direction by our CRU Program Administrators, and advice and support given by our Region Emergency Communications Coordinators (RECC).