The nation-wide radio warning system in case of enemy attack is called CONELRAD for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation and every radio station in this country, including KBOA is a part of it.

Briefly the plan is that if all radio stations were operating on the same frequency or spot on the dial, an enemy could not listen to a station and use it to find a particular city by radio direction finder and a guided missile could not be set to a certain frequency and be led to that city by its radio station signal.

Under Conelrad, all stations go off the air at the first warning of attack and switch to either 640 or 1240 on your radio dial at reduced power. Then only civil defense information is broadcast in short bulletins directing the population according to the local C-D orders.

This system works. It has been tried on a nation-wide basis and test alerts are sent regularly.

Source: Daily Dunklin Democrat, Monday, July 15, 1957