SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. – The U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca signed an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA) with the Southeastern Arizona Communications Center (SEACOM) to provide part-time emergency dispatch services, including the handling of 911 calls.
After more than two years of negotiations between the entities, Garrison Commander Col. M. Dervan Hughes, and Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, signed the agreement on Thursday, Aug. 6, inside the SEACOM Conference Room.
“This is going to be a huge benefit to Fort Huachuca, and we really appreciate the collaboration, the expertise, the opportunity to build efficiencies and maintain the teamwork we have with Cochise County and SEACOM,” Hughes said. “Thank you to everybody who touched this, …this is not just for the safety of our personnel, but also the readiness of our mission.”
SEACOM will provide the Fort with part-time emergency dispatch services Monday through Friday from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., as well as 24 hours a day on weekends and federal holidays.
Before the agreement can be fully implemented, the Fort and SEACOM will continue working together to integrate their systems to include coordinating radio frequencies, establishing interoperable radio communications, and making sure 911 calls from the Fort are received and processed by SEACOM.
“We are working very closely in partnership with [Deputy Fire Chief Keith Reed] and [Fire Chief Adam Montoya] and the radio individuals on the Fort to establish radio communication [at SEACOM] so that we can take on those duties,” said Tammi-Jo Wilkins, SEACOM director. “In addition, we’re working through the 911 system to upgrade [the Fort’s] switch to be able to switch those 911 calls to [SEACOM].”
Dannels said it’s “incredible” to bring the Fort on as a partner and described the agreement as “community policing at its best.”
“This is huge for public safety,” he said. “…especially in a rural county beyond many people’s expectations.”
IGSAs were established through the National Defense Authorization Act in 2013 as a way for the Army to achieve win-win partnerships with their local community.
“IGSAs are agreements between the Army and a local or state government that serves the best interests of both parties and improve installation support services for mission, Soldier, and family readiness,” said Ben Rix, director of the Plans, Analysis & Integration Office. “These agreements strengthen relationships between the installation, public partners and surrounding communities.
The Fort currently has six IGSAs with local partners and four with regional partners. According to Rix, the agreements are typically 10 years, renewable each year, but cannot be for more than 10 years.
Rix said the agreement with SEACOM has a one-year term, renewable annually for up to nine additional years.
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Fort Huachuca is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, 2-13th Aviation Regiment, Electronic Proving Ground, Joint Interoperability Test Command and more than 48 supported tenants representing a diverse, multiservice population. Our unique environment encompasses 946 square miles of restricted airspace and 2,500 square miles of protected electronic ranges, key components to the national defense mission.
Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca is an Army installation with a rich frontier history. Established in 1877, the Fort was declared a national landmark in 1976.
We are the Army’s Home. Learn more at https://home.army.mil/huachuca/.
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