[FPARC] Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day

[wa4aw at juno.com]

ARMAD Information Nets Scheduled

Beginning Sunday, January 22 at 2030 Eastern Time, 0130 UTC there 
will be a nationwide (worldwide??) tri-weekly information and 
planning net scheduled in preparation for "Amateur Radio Military 
Appreciation Day" which will take place on Saturday, May 27. The 
purpose of the nets will be to assist individual amateur radio 
operators, clubs, and any other interested group with any information 
that they need on how to participate and get involved.

If you and or your club wish to get involved with ARMAD or just want 
more information you can check into the net in the *ARMAD* EchoLink 
Conference, or connect to node 146670, 52301, 106819 or 241401 and 
check into the net beginning at 0130 UTC on January 22nd. Also if you 
know of a friend or relative in the military services or a civilian 
working with the military that is an amateur operator, be sure to let 
them know about EchoLink and this net so we can help them get 
involved. You can also get your local American Legion, VFW, DAV, 
AMVETS, & etc involved in ARMAD.

Real RF radio is the primary tool used for ARMAD and EchoLink, IRLP, 
and other modes are used to tie it all together and make it all 
possible. Many troops as well as civilians overseas cannot have any 
sort of ham shack set up even a simple HT because of where they are, 
local laws, distance from repeaters, and so forth. However many can 
get computer and internet access to use EchoLink with their 
callsigns. This can allow them to connect to an EchoLink node on 
their local repeater back home and talk to folks as if they were 
there using a radio through the local repeater. This works both ways 
as we can also use our RF modes through EchoLink to send our 
greetings and talk to them from baseball fields, shopping malls, and 
any other location by connecting from our radios to an EchoLink 
enabled repeater or simplex link and talking to them on their 
EchoLink computer node.

For more about ARMAD visit: Armad.Net

Listen to an interview with Emery McClendon here: Emery's Radio 
Interview 1-8-06

Following is a history of ARMAD and what it is all about.

Amateur Radio Operators have begun a unique way of showing support 
for our Military Veterans, and Active Duty Members. Emery McClendon, 
KB9IBW, founded ARMAD - Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day as a 
way to allow the people of communities worldwide to express thanks, 
and appreciation to those that serve in the military.

Since the inception of ARMAD in May 2004, ARMAD has grown, at a rapid 
rate, with Amateurs joining in from locations around the world to 
spread messages of support during this "LIVE" forum.

It all started when Amateurs from Two local clubs decided to hold an 
event during Memorial Day weekend at a local Baseball stadium. 
Amateurs were able to set up radio stations inside and around the 
stadium to allow the fans a chance to say thanks to military members, 
and to show support to their families during the game. The idea took 
off with over 25 other Amateur radio groups from around the US, and 7 
International groups joining in the effort after hearing about the 
idea. The Fort Wayne, Indiana event at the stadium drew a crowd of 
over 6,600 people. Contact was made to several military bases, ships, 
and foreign military units serving as part of the Coalition Forces. 
ARMAD 2005 involved over 100 locations worldwide, and troops from 
Iraq were on the air to listen to the members of our communities say 
thank you. These troops also responded, and let the world know how 
much it meant to them to hear our LIVE voices. Emails and letters are 
great, but through the gift of Amateur Radio those that serve heard 
expressions of appreciation LIVE, and were also able to respond back 
with joy, and thanks to us. ARMAD expects to continue to grow, and 
invites amateur Radio Operators, Clubs, local community members, and 
Military Amateur Operators to participate in future events. Amateurs 
can help to bring awareness to our hobby by spreading the word about 
ARMAD, and setting up for these events at public venues. Together we 
can "Ham It Up For The Troops."

The next main ARMAD event will be on May 27, 2006. For more 
information please visit Armad.Net, and get involved. Please post 
this information for your organisation members, and consider a link 
to the ARMAD web page on your web sites.

If you are a member of the media (radio, television, newspaper, 
magazine, etc) or know of someone that is and find this event worthy, 
please also consider an interview to help us spread the word about 
this FREE public service event.ARMAD.NET