[BCVHFA] Fwd: ARLB010 League files opposition to BPL reconsideration petitions

[K8CM]

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>SB QST @ ARL $ARLB010
>ARLB010 League files opposition to BPL reconsideration petitions
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>ZCZC AG10
>QST de W1AW
>ARRL Bulletin 10  ARLB010
> From ARRL Headquarters
>Newington CT  March 24, 2005
>To all radio amateurs
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>SB QST ARL ARLB010
>ARLB010 Huge mass casualty exercise will put Amateur Radio under
>scrutiny
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>Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members in Connecticut and
>elsewhere in the Northeast are poised to take part in what's being
>characterized as the most comprehensive terrorism response exercise
>ever conducted in the US. Sponsored by the US Department of Homeland
>Security as a realistic test of the nation's homeland security
>system, the exercise--TOPOFF 3--will run Monday through Friday,
>April 4-8. Approximately 100 ARES volunteers primarily will support
>the American Red Cross. While governmental agencies will comprise
>the majority of those taking part in TOPOFF 3, Amateur Radio's
>cooperation with, and assistance, to the American Red Cross will be
>under scrutiny.
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>''We've been assigned evaluators and judges who will be watching what
>we do and how we do it to determine our suitability for such things
>in the future,'' explained Connecticut Section Emergency Coordinator
>Chuck Rexroad, AB1CR. ''So we do hope that this will show that we are
>very relevant in responding to a disaster situation.''
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>The TOPOFF 3 scenario will depict a complex terrorist campaign
>beginning in Connecticut and New Jersey and leading to national and
>international response that will include Canada and the United
>Kingdom.
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>The only nongovernmental organization with a formal role in the
>recently released National Disaster Plan, the Red Cross has main
>responsibility for mass care. Rexroad anticipates that ARES will be
>providing its traditional ''backbone'' communication support among Red
>Cross mobile feeding stations, the organization's temporary
>stationary facilities and other Red Cross units. ARES also will be
>ready to provide back-up communication support the Connecticut
>Office of Emergency Management, he said.
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>Rexroad and Connecticut Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC, have
>been gearing up for TOPOFF 3 for more than a year. Both hope the
>ARES role in the drill will provide graduates of the ARRL Amateur
>Radio Emergency Communications courses a chance to put into practice
>what they've learned--on a national stage.
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>With the drill just days away, Rexroad said he still needs
>volunteers from the region who will comfortable with a high-security
>environment, realistic-looking ''injuries'' and military aircraft
>flying overhead. Due to security requirements, all volunteers must
>register with ARES in advance. Information on the exercise and how
>to volunteer is on the Connecticut ARES Web site, www.ctares.org.
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