[Ares-races] PARTNERSHIP PAYS OFF IN HUNDREDS OF HAM RADIO EMERGENCY TRAINEES

[BillLennox@aol.com]

From:  www.arrl.org  
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The ARRL Letter
Vol. 21, No. 49
December 20, 2002
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==>PARTNERSHIP PAYS OFF IN HUNDREDS OF HAM RADIO EMERGENCY TRAINEES

The $33,000 grant from Hartford, Connecticut-based United Technologies
Corporation (UTC) announced last spring has fueled a more than 20-fold
increase in the number of trained Amateur Radio emergency communicators in
Connecticut. In just six months, 258 Connecticut hams have completed the
ARRL Level-I Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course tuition-free,
thanks to the grant.

"UTC has helped us lay the groundwork for taking this training
nationwide," said ARRL Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller,
K3UFG. "The grant from UTC was worth far more than a dollar amount."

Before UTC offered its support last June, just a dozen Connecticut hams
had become certified via the Level I emergency communications course. The
number certified now stands at 270. "We've learned from the experience in
Connecticut and will be able to move ahead quickly and effectively to roll
out the national program," Miller said.

Some of the Nutmeg State's newest trained ham radio communicators found
themselves put to the test November 17, when an early ice storm clamped
down on northwestern Connecticut. The ice storm cut off power to more than
130,000 residences and businesses. For Jim Ritterbusch, KD1YV, an ARRL
emergency coordinator, the way hams handled themselves in their roles as
emergency communicators during the storm was a direct result of the ARRL
Amateur Radio emergency communications training subsidized by the UTC
grant.

"The value of the training was apparent in many of the operators who had
taken Level I," he said. "The nets ran more accurately and efficiently
than we have seen in the past." As an example, he pointed out that during
the ice storm, several specific-purpose nets were in operation rather than
the single multi-purpose--and sometimes chaotic--nets of the past.

The partnership between UTC and ARRL has served as a model for
dramatically expanding Amateur Radio emergency communications courses. So
far, nearly 1700 amateurs nationwide have gone through at least one of the
three emergency communications course levels since the program's inception
in December 2000. ARRL offers three emergency communications
courses--introductory, intermediate and advanced.

ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, said the League hopes
UTC now will approve a three-year grant to help fund further expansion of
the Amateur Radio emergency communications course program to the national
level. "A second grant from UTC for a national scale program will enable
ARRL to certify 5000 radio amateurs in Level I, II or III of the emergency
communications course, and have an even greater impact on homeland
security and disaster relief efforts," she said.

More information on the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
Program is available on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html>.



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