The Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting (CoE) utilizes TAK with a cloud-based server when Internet connectivity is available and is evaluating commercially available radios and deployable networks that enable the TAK app to function without a full Internet connection. When disconnected from the Internet, TAK can either transmit basic data (such as position reports) directly between radios, or utilize a small server physically deployed at the incident to relay maps and more complex data. The CoE has deployed TAK at public safety incidents in Colorado since 2018, as well as with Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control fire crews, to gain an operational perspective on the system.
In 2020 the Team Awareness Kit was awarded as part of the "Best of What's New" from Popular Science for its use in disaster response by the CoE and other agencies, and its open sourcing by the TAK Product Center. The CoE will continue to foster development and deployment of TAK through collaboration with military and civilian TAK stakeholders and partner public safety agencies. The U.S. Forest Service awarded a grant to the CoE in late 2020 to develop a TAK capability for wildland fire and conduct a pilot project deployment of the technology on a wildland fire. The CoE stood up a TAK server that ties all TAK users together and integrated this server with the Enterprise Geospatial Portal, a federally developed website containing fire maps and other intelligence.