[CVRC] Homeland Security Training Grant

[Dick Creley]

ARRL Receives Homeland Security Training Grant

NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 18, 2002--The ARRL will receive a $181,900 homeland
security grant from the US government to train Amateur Radio operators in
emergency communication. The League was among several dozen nonprofit
organizations designated to receive some $10.3 million in federal money to
boost homeland defense volunteer programs. The grant, from the Corporation
for National and Community Service <http://www.cns.gov/> special volunteer
program, will provide free ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Course <http://www.arrl.org/cce> training to 5200 volunteers nationwide,
starting in 2003.

"ARRL is the national association for Amateur Radio and is the national
leader in emergency communications by volunteers who operate their own
equipment on their time at no cost to any government, organization, or
corporation," said the announcement today from Homeland Security Director
Tom Ridge. The ARRL plans to revise and update the emergency communications
curriculum to incorporate additional elements of emergency preparedness and
homeland security.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said he was extremely pleased by the news.
"This adds legitimacy to the public service work Amateur Radio has been
doing for years," he said.
ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, applied for the funding
in May, inviting the Corporation for National and Community Service to
become "a partner with the nation's oldest volunteer radio communications
organization."

"I think this is an extraordinarily exciting day for Amateur Radio that the
role of Amateur Radio in homeland security is recognized at the highest
levels of government," Hobart said when learning of the grant. The League's
grant application characterized Amateur Radio as "the bedrock of
communications when other outlets fail."

Hobart cited Amateur Radio's response in the aftermath of the September 11
terrorist attacks and said the federal grant "will help continue our work in
providing public service and to protect lives, homes, businesses and our
frequencies, as we have for decades."

The League had sought a three-year grant of $541,750. The $181,900 grant
covers the first year's direct program costs. The proposed budget includes
the cost of a project coordinator who would be responsible for overall
fiscal management of the grant.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was pleased that
the League would be able to extend its Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications program to thousands of amateurs who might otherwise not be
able to afford the program. "We hope all who are interested will get on
board," he said.

The grant announcement said that "expanding the opportunities for Americans
to participate in meaningful volunteer service" is at the heart of President
George Bush's USA Freedom Corps, of which the Corporation for National and
Community Service is a part.

"We are deeply grateful to Tom Ridge and to the Corporation for National and
Community Service for providing Amateur Radio with a unique opportunity to
serve our country," Hobart said.

In June, the ARRL and United Technologies Corporation announced a
partnership to provide free ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Course training for up to 250 Connecticut amateurs.