[MilCom] NEADS Remote Transmiter Sites & Scramble Protocols?

[Ken]

"Monitoring Times" June 2009 edition, "Milcom column is devoted entirely to 
"Monitoring The Defenders of the Homeland", an excellent article on NORAD 
including how it is organizaed; list of frequencies (almost 90) as well as 
potential remote transmitter sites (over 40) tied into a specialized air 
defense radar system (None appeared to be on any active, reserve, or ANG 
military bases/stations).   I always thought that NORAD had remote 
transmitter sites on military bases that had fighter aircraft assigned to 
NORAD missions such as the following northeast units:

158th FW, Burlington International Airrport, S. Burlington VT
177th FW, Atlantic City International Airport, MJ
and soon to be the 104 FW, Barnes ANGB, Westfield, MA.

With all the radio targeting data capabilities being added to the aircraft, 
I've got to wonder if a remote data link with NEADS, would allow information 
to be transmitted directly to the scambling aircraft pilots as they taxied 
for takeoff or even allow "HUNTRESS" to have direct voice comms with the
aircraft while they are taxiing?

A  glimpse of the procdures that go into an alert can be found on the "9/11" 
history at:
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=otis_air_national_guard_base
  -- It looks like the aircraft while taxiing maintain communications with
their local wing command post that relays information to them before they
take off, rather than direct comms with NEADS.

Also interesting is the somewhat slanted review of the alert protocol that 
can be found at http://www.ringnebula.com/Oil/911/air_defense_911.pdf     --  
This protocol may have been changed further, since this was discussed on 
this website.

BTW some interesting press releases on NORAD, including some information on 
actual scrambles can be found at:  http://www.norad.mil/News/index.html

Should prove to get interesting for us in the Western Massachusetts area 
when the 104FW comes on line in early January 2010 as mission ready!

Ken
Springfield MA Monitoring Area