ARES
From Megawiki
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service [ARES] a corps of volunteer emergency radio operators in the United States and is the field arm of the Amateur Radio Relay League [ARRL]. The League deals with all aspects of Amateur Radio, including legislation, licensing, and contests; the ARES branch specifically handles field communications, particularly during emergencies. When you hear in the news that Amateur Radio operators were part of a search and rescue operation, assisted in getting aid to a ship in trouble at sea, or provided communications for a Red Cross shelter, you're hearing about an ARES function.
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How to join
You become an ARES amateur radio operator by joining ARRL, but a "Ham" does not need to be a member of ARRL to participate in ARES. If you become an Emergency Coordinator [EC], you do need to join the ARRL.
Local emergency coordinators
- The emergency coordinator for Kenosha County is Cathy LaFaive-Markstrom, KC9EOW
- The emergency coordinator for Racine County is Jim Markstrom, KB9MMA
Meetings
The Racine and Kenosha County ARES groups meet at the American Red Cross Building, 5421 Taylor Avenue, Racine, WI on the last Tuesday of every month at 7:00PM.
Activities
The ARES Practice net is held every Wednesday night at 8:00 PM on the Lakeshore Repeater on 147.270 MHz +600kHz. The net is simulcast on the K9RI repeater 224.800MHz -1.6MHz with a PL tone of 127.3 Hz. All hams capable of using either repeater are encouraged to participate.
The ARES communications class is held weekly on Thursday nights at the Volunteer Center of Racine at 6216 Washington Avenue - Western Village Suite G in Racine WI at 7:00 PM. All hams are invited to attend.
The Racine and Kenosha county ARES groups often participate in any amateur radio related activity that can serve as training. Often these groups will work in conjunction with other groups or clubs in the area such as the Racine Megacycle Club and the QCWA Local Chapter 162.
Organizational structure
In southeastern Wisconsin, ARES groups are organized by county, and are made up of volunteers from each area. The only requirements to join ARES are a willingness to serve and an Amateur radio license.
The section emergency coordinator
At the top of the command structure is the Section Emergency Coordinator, or SEC. This person is a member of the Section Managers' Cabinet, and is responsible for emergency communications in his section. A Section is a geographic administrative area of the ARRL. It is either a state, or in more densely populated areas, a portion of a state.
District emergency coordinator
The next level of command up is the DEC, the District Emergency Coordinator. This person is generally in charge of the operation of several local county or city ARES groups, and reports to the Section Emergency Coordinator.
The emergency coordinator
The local groups are organized by an Emergency Coordinator (EC). The EC is the tactical commander, and maintains full responsibility for organizing the local groups and serving as their leaders during operations. The EC is an ARRL member, and is the point of contact for those wishing to join ARES.
The assistant emergency coordinators
The AECs (Assistant Emergency Coordinator) are appointed by the EC and assist in certain areas, such as the SKYWARN storm spotting network, Net Managing, Training Direction, and Public Information.
Memoranda of understanding
ARES has memoranda of understanding with:
- American Red Cross
- National Weather Service
- Department of Homeland Security
- Citizen Corps
- Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International
- National Communications System
- National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers Inc
- Salvation Army
- Society of Broadcast Engineers
- Quarter Century Wireless Association, Inc.
- REACT International, Inc.
External links
