Executive Order  No. 8: Civil Defense Communications System

WHEREAS, by Executive Order No. 3, issued October 18, 1950, the governor established a Communications Division within the Civil Defense Agency of the Commonwealth, assigned the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, as the sponsoring agency for said Communications Division and directed that each local organization for civil defense include, in so far as practicable, a Communications Division; and

WHEREAS, by said Executive Order No. 3, the Governor also established nine regions within the Commonwealth for the purpose of administering the civil defense plan and program, created the post of Regional Director for each region and provided for a Board of Regional Co-ordinators for the Communications Service in each region; and

WHEREAS, the President of the United States, on December 16, 1950, did proclaim a state of national emergency and thereafter on the same date the Governor did proclaim that a state of emergency exists for the reason that the peace and security of the Commonwealth are endangered by the imminent threat of belligerent acts of enemies of the United States; and

WHEREAS, it is essential to provide for prompt and complete dissemination of any air raid warning received from the United States Air Force and to provide an efficient communications system for the civil defense forces in the Commonwealth:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Paul A. Dever, Governor of the Commonwealth, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1950, chapter 639 and all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order to cope with the existing state of emergency and as part of the comprehensive plan and program for the civil defense of the Commonwealth.

1.  The following agencies of the Commonwealth are assigned as supporting agencies to assist the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, as sponsoring agency for the Communications Division of the Civil Defense Agency of the Commonwealth, in the performance of such functions of said Communications Division as may be related to the existing powers and duties of such agencies:

• Department of the Adjutant General
• Department of Conservation
• Department of Public Utilities

2.  The Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, utilizing its existing facilities, shall receive, from the United States Air Force, any warning, alarm or alert intended for any city or town in the Commonwealth and shall transmit said warning, alarm or alert to all cities and towns in the Commonwealth for which said warning, alarm or alert is intended.

3.  It shall be the responsibility of each city and town in the Commonwealth to provide adequate radio facilities for the reception from the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, of any such warning, alarm or alert and to provide adequate means for the dissemination thereof to the populace of said city or town.

4.  The Communications Division of the Civil Defense Agency of the Commonwealth and of the local organizations for civil defense shall prepare to furnish operational communications facilities in event of disaster or catastrophe.

5.  Each Regional Director, with the assistance of his Regional Co-ordinators for the Communications Service, shall advise and assist the local organizations for civil defense in providing means for the reception and dissemination of any air raid warning, alarm or alert, and in preparing to furnish operational communications facilities in event of disaster or catastrophe.

6.  All references herein to air raid warnings, alarms or alerts shall be deemed to include test or practice air raid warnings, alarms or alerts.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston this twenty-fourth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and seventy-fifth.

By His Excellency the Governor, Paul A. Dever

Edward J. Cronin
Secretary of the Commonwealth