[FARC] Re: ... ARES/RACES Courses

[Bob Moroney]

Took the words right out of my mouth, Roy.  ;-) 

Thanks & 73,

Bob K9CMR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roy Bates wrote:
> AD K9CMR,_et_al_ = Please excuse me for replying. The question was
>  addressed to you, but my leaky memory has info that may help:
>
> Open Letter To:  Allen, KB3OMO
>
> 1. To belong to ARES, it is necessary to have a valid Ham license,
> and to register with the ARES Emergency Coordinator for the
> jurisdiction in which you wish to serve. In Frederick County MD,
> that's Jeff Fishman, KB3FIO [ljfish at mindspring.com]. ARES, the
> Amateur Radio Emergency Service, has units that are part of the
> Field Organization of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).
>
> The ARRL Field Organization is composed of Divisions and Sections
> that are under administration of the national Field Organization
> at ARRL HQ in Newington CT. It is *not* necessary to belong to ARRL
> to be a member of ARES, but any EC can establish requirements for a
> local ARES unit. KB3FIO is the source for what you need to have to
> be a part of the unit he manages here in Frederick County.
>
> How you register with Jeff is something you need to ask Jeff. He is
> appointed to his position as EC in FredCo by the Section Manager of
> the Maryland/District of Columbia Section of ARRL (MDC). MDC is part
> of the Atlantic Division of ARRL.
>
> If you wish to volunteer for service during an emergency, you are
> now required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive Number Five
> (HSPD-5) to have a certificate showing that you have successfully
> taken Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) courses IS-100 and
> IS-700. From your earlier e-mails, I infer that you have these
> certificates.
>
> HSPD-5 requires *ALL* emergency responders in the USA, territories,
> and protectorates to take IS-100 and IS-700. If you roll bandages
> for your local rescue squad auxiliary or stuff food baskets for the
> Salvation Army, you are still required to take those courses. You
> already have them so I won't go on about what happens if you don't.
>
> 2. MEMA is Maryland Emergency Management Agency, located at Fort
> Fretterd, near Reisterstown (northwest of Baltimore). MEMA offers
> training to volunteers from time to time, schedules some exercises,
> and conducts a statewide emergency communications (EmComm) drill
> called CommEx on the second Tuesday of each month. Usually there's
> no CommEx in June, July, and August.
>
> 3. Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) units are government
> agencies staffed by volunteers with Ham licenses. Any government can
> establish a RACES unit, pursuant to the provisions of Part 97, Code
> of Federal Regulations, which authorizes and describes RACES. In this
> County, the Office of Emergency Preparedness has established a RACES
> unit. Jim Devilbiss, WA3FUJ [wa3fuj at msn.com], is the RACES Radio
> Officer (RO) and he has two Assistant ROs: Eric Hvozda, N3MYM, and me.
>
> Jim keeps a copy of a volunteer communicator registration form with
> a copy of each volunteer's Ham license, Driver's license/Sheriff Id,
> and IS-100/-700 certificates on file in the locked radio shack at the
> County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Montevue Lane in Frederick.
>
> 4. Requirements: IS-100 and IS-700 are required for all volunteer
> service during emergencies; you've got 'em.
>
> 5. Recommendations: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course-1
> (ARECC-1) has a lot of good info on what we do and how we should do
> it. It is available online from ARRL. I took ARECC-1 and it cost $45
> but it might be more expensive now. ARECC-2 mostly covers how ARRL's
> Field Organization works. I got tired of it and quit, so I don't know
> what's covered by ARECC-3.
>
> ARRL publishes the Public Service Communications Manual (PSCM). If
> you belong to ARRL, you can download it. If you don't belong to ARRL,
> you should - not because it's so great - but because, in the USA, we
> have the best government that money can buy. And...only ARRL has a
> rep in Washington spending money to support Ham radio. You might be
> able to download the PSCM without membership. You can find it at
>
> http://www.arrl.org
>
> 6. FEMA has promulgated a new message form that we are all trying to
> learn how to use. There are no published procedures for this form and
> many jurisdictions have published their own versions of the form since
> it lacks the usual control data required for military and ARRL forms.
>
> 7. For at least 20 years, we have encouraged dual-enrollment in ARES
> and RACES here. In some parts of the USA ARES and RACES people don't
> speak to each other. ARRL's unstated policy is that RACES isn't needed,
> and should be abolished. "Governments are desirous of governing", so I
> doubt that RACES will go away. Part 97 states that, when a national
> emergency is decreed by the President, only RACES units will be allowed
> to operate in the Amateur Radio Service. So...if you're *really* hot to
> go in EmComm...enrolling in both is a good idea.
>
> 8. When Al Caho, KA3DYL, and I worked at Volunteer Frederick, he put
> together a form with some of my ideas that provides for EmComm people
> to record their affiliation with *ALL* EmComm services. It is linked
> to the FARC and MADXRA WebSites. Since I participated in making that
> mess, I'm willing to answer questions about the form if you have any.
>
> Thank you for your interest in EmComm.
>
> 73
>
> Roy
> ___BATES
> N2CSQ
> RACES ARO FRED
>
>
>   
>> Bob,
>>
>> What is required for  AIRES?  and what does MEMA stand for?  Thanks.
>>
>> 73 allen  KB3OMO
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 5/15/2008 11:19:33 AM Eastern Daylight  Time,
>>     
> windbrkr at erols.com writes:
>