TACAMO TACAMO ( Take Charge and Move Out ) is a U . S . military system of survivable communications links designed to be used in nuclear war to maintain communications between the decision makers ( the National Command Authority ) and the triad of strategic nuclear weapon delivery systems . Its primary mission is to receive , verify and retransmit Emergency Action Message s ( EAMs ) to US strategic forces . It does this by maintaining the ability to communicate on virtually every radio frequency band from very low frequency ( VLF ) up through super high frequency ( SHF ) using a variety of modulations , encryption s and networks . This airborne communications capability largely replaced the land based extremely low frequency ( ELF ) broadcast sites that became vulnerable to nuclear strike . Components . There are several components to the current TACAMO system . The main part is the airborne portion , the US Navy Strategic Communications Wing One based at Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma which flies three Fleet Air Reconnaissance squadrons ( VQ - 3 , VQ - 4 and VQ - 7 ) equipped with Boeing IDS E - 6B Mercury TACAMO aircraft . As well as the main base there is a west coast alert base at Travis AFB , California and an east coast alert base at NAS Patuxent River , Maryland . History . The acronym was coined in 1961 and the first aircraft modified for TACAMO testing was a Lockheed KC - 130 Hercules which in 1962 was fitted with a VLF transmitter and trailing wire antenna to test communications with the fleet ballistic missile submarine s . The Naval Air Development Center developed the required technique of ' stalling ' the trailing antenna to achieve the long vertical antenna needed . The VLF system is currently known as VERDIN ( VERy low frequency Digital Information Network . ) The program was expanded from 1966 using modified C - 130 s designated Lockheed EC - 130 G / Q carrying a VLF system built by Collins Radio Company . The first two squadrons were established in 1968 : VQ - 4 was initially operating from Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center in Maryland and VQ - 3 was initially formed at Agana , Guam but later moved to NAS Barbers Point , Hawaii . System known as TACAMO ( from ' take charge and move out ' ) has been operationally deployed in 1969 . TACAMO consisted of twelve Lockheed EC - 130 Q aircraft equipped with VLF transmitters using long trailing antennas . VLF system was repeatedly upgraded to improve signal strength . By 1971 TACAMO IV incorporated a 200 kW transmitter and dual antenna . Actual transmission power and capabilities remain classified . Airborne ELF was tested but considered infeasible . The aircraft were upgraded to the E - 6 Mercury beginning in 1990 , and the E - 6A was upgraded to the dual - role E - 6B from 1998 . The E - 6 aircraft is based on the Boeing 707 . The wings and tail were redesigned to meet new wing loading characteristics . The cockpit was copied from the Boeing 737NG commercial airliner , and the landing gear was modified to handle the added weight . Larger fuel tanks were installed and the fuselage was extensively modified to accommodate the 31 antennas , including the trailing wire antenna and reel assembly . After the upgrade to the E - 6B , the TACAMO aircraft – with the addition of an Airborne Launch Control System ( ALCS ) – took over the Looking Glass mission of the USAF . Other operators . The French Navy operated four Transall C - 160H aircraft using the Rockwell / Collins TACAMO gear from the E - 6 . Squadron was : 01 . 059 " Bigorre " , disbanded in August 2001