In my last article on The Last Mile, I looked at the unique communications challenges that exist at the northern border between the U.S. and Canada, which is increasingly important right now with the border closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s not the only border in need of

Earlier this month, in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19, the United States and Canada took the unprecedented step of shutting down the border between the two countries. While this sounds like a reasonable and rational step towards stemming the spread of a disease that has —

As government agencies across the United States respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are several new and existing sources of funding to support these rapidly evolving, multi-agency efforts where communications will undoubtedly play a key role.  Earlier this week, the Senate passed a new emergency funding package totaling $340 billion,

The arrival of dedicated public safety broadband networks like FirstNet means that the adoption of mobile technology can begin in earnest. Nearly 9,000 public safety agencies across the country have already signed on to FirstNet, and more than 750,000 mobile devices are now connected to these networks. With smartphones and

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are flying high above today’s battlefields, special events, and disaster zones to provide critical situational awareness to tactical teams on the ground. But what happens when that military intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) mission or wildfire survey lasts days at a time? Untethered drones can only stay

The past few months have been witness to a number of devastating natural disasters with no end in sight.  Australian firefighters are still battling against a “mega blaze” that has burned more than 12 million acres of land and killed over 800 millions animals. On January 7, Puerto Rico was

For teams using ATAK and other apps for situational awareness, goTenna Pro and Pro X mesh networking devices are now becoming a standard part of their communications equipment load. Once paired with a smartphone or other end user device, goTenna Pro’s mesh networking technology allows teams to maintain core mobile

As we’ve discussed in previous articles on The Last Mile, natural disaster and emergency response situations are not only devastating for their victims, they can be challenging for first responders. This is especially true in wildfires – which move unpredictably and quickly – and hurricanes – which are seemingly increasing

Ask the average millennial or member of Gen Z to find you something on a paper map. If you do, I hope you’re prepared to wait for a while. Millennials have been accused of killing everything from chain restaurants to the diamond industry. And I’m certainly not trying to jump

In my home state of Texas, we’ve experienced three “five hundred year floods” in just the past few years. And that’s a similar story to what we’re hearing across the country, where flooding, wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters are seemingly increasing in frequency. But they’re not just happening more