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   Reid Tillery, K9RFT, of Melrose, Florida, asks why we would want to grow the   
   ranks of amateur radio licensees. He answered his own question: "In my view,   
   the primary reason is we need more hams to provide public service and safety,   
   primarily via    
   emergency communications and secondarily for supporting events such as bike   
   races, parades, and so on, with radiocommunications to facilitate logistics   
   and public safety."   
      
   It is worth noting the very first rule in Part 97, the FCC's regulations for   
   the amateur service: "Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur   
   service to the public as a noncommercial communication service, particularly   
   with respect to    
   providing emergency communications." [emphasis added].   
      
   Tillery observes "there are quite a number of hams keen to volunteer for an   
   incident or event as long as (1) they can be made to feel needed, (2) we can   
   show them exactly how they can fit in, and (3) we train them from start to   
   finish." He believes the    
   first part of that training involves helping students attain their initial   
   license: "This means we need to continually offer classes in our area."   
      
   How to recruit students? Tillery recommends appeals on social media: "Starting   
   a month or so ahead of the class, I post periodic announcements on Facebook's   
   word of mouth." Other students will come just because they hear about it   
   somewhere else, club    
   meetings for example, Tillery indicates.   
      
   Once students are licensed, ARES leaders â-" Emergency Coordinators, Assistant   
   ECs â-" help them become part of the local team by assisting with putting   
   together a good 2-meter FM fixed and/or portable/mobile stationâ-"the bedrock   
   of an emergency    
   communicator's assets--with an efficient antenna mounted as high as possible   
   and encouraging them to join in on weekly ARES nets. "We encourage them to   
   register in ARES and join the area club(s), where they will meet dynamic,   
   enthusiastic practitioners    
   and become part of the emergency service community, learning even more as they   
   go," says Tillery. With these approaches, "we'd expand the ranks with more   
   volunteers for emcomm's basic functions and service at the EOC and shelters."   
      
   Gordon Gibby, KX4Z, a regional and nationally-recognized leading light, says   
   while there has been progress on these objectives, "a very small percentage of   
   licensed hams are willing to participate in ARES." And, "an even smaller   
   percentage are both able    
   and willing to leave their homes to participate and serve the greater county   
   â-" we typically have only six to eight volunteers â-" barely enough to   
   support the missions requested by the county government's emergency manager."   
      
   Gibby says that an assignment/deployment service can often mean you are on   
   your own wherever you are assigned. So merely knowing how to press a mic   
   button is generally not sufficient for efficient, effective response. As a   
   result, "I concluded that the    
   mission of ARES training has to be far broader to include just about every   
   niche of amateur radio, so that the team is competent at a much larger array   
   of skills, since they could easily find themselves on their own to   
   troubleshoot a variety of issues on    
   a deployment."   
      
   "In our large county, we teach a zillion different skills to foster a wider   
   knowledge base. We get people into radiocommunication exercises, in contests,   
   and many more things," he says. "As a result, the team has grown considerably   
   together in skills and    
   knowledge, and most importantly, in getting along with each other, a challenge   
   under the duress of deployment in any incident or disaster response." Gibby   
   continued, "Also, we spread leadership skills and responsibilities around as   
   much as people are    
   willing to take; there are open slots for leadership at almost every one of   
   our events."   
      
   Tillery suggests a first priority is imparting basic emergency communications   
   service skills, focusing on backup capabilities for the large county's   
   communications infrastructure and functioning. ARES members have served well   
   at both the EOC and in the    
   field. The county is serving the community by giving its citizens more ways to   
   call for help and to pass ground truths to county staff and officials.   
      
   The County ARES Net   
      
   The county ARES net is a center of activity and indispensable. Tillery said,   
   "During the last hurricanes, it was good to know we could reach out and touch   
   the EOC through the net at almost any time. We were the voices of our   
   neighborhoods, reporting    
   ground truths and critical needs."   
      
   Ideas for ARES Groups   
      
   â-¢Develop a robust 6-meter net and practice with it to send messages not only   
   around the county but also out of the county via interfacing with HF operators.   
   â-¢Help new and veteran hams alike develop effective portable/mobile emcomm   
   field stations by teaching what to procure and train on to be a field   
   operator. Hold antenna parties to help them erect efficient, high-gain   
   antennas.   
   â-¢Through nets and other outlets, help hams become competent at traffic   
   handling: for example, learn to reliably relay messages county-wide by 2-meter   
   simplex. Have more hams with HF capability send messages out of the area, by   
   Winlink, for example.   
   â-¢Practice interfacing with General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Family   
   Radio Service (FRS) operators to get their messages out of their areas and on   
   to their destinations.   
   â-¢Have ARES work with all county fire stations to pre-place two-meter   
   antennas, install a radio(s), and have several operators assigned to operate   
   them when needed. It could happen, especially if we are recruiting and   
   training more hams in basic emcomm,    
   and giving fire officials the idea.   
      
   Another benefit: These types of activities foster getting along with one   
   another, team spirit and the camaraderie that is so critically important to   
   any successful endeavor.   
      
   [Reid Tillery, K9RFT, earned his Technician-class ticket in 2003 and Amateur   
   Extra-class license in 2021. He is a member of Alachua County ARES, one of the   
   leading groups in the country.   
      
   Gordon Gibby, KX4Z, is a nationally-recognized amateur and ARES    
   ractitioner/instructor; and Alachua County program whip. â-" Ed.]   
      
   Dayton Hamvention(R) EmComm Programs Not To Be Missed   
      
   Dayton Hamvention(R) [ https://hamvention.org/ ] is coming up fast, May 16-18.   
   Groups are invited to display their communications trailers, vans and trucks   
   or other displays. Here are a few of the EmComm-oriented programs:   
      
   Friday, May 16   
      
   3:10 PM-4:00 PM â-" APRS-State of the Union   
   4:10 PM - 5:00 PM â-" 100 years of MARS   
      
   Sunday, May 18   
      
   10:30 AM - 11:30 AM â-" ARES - Building Relationships in Public Service   
      
   K1CE For a Final: 2025 Florida Statewide AUXCOMM Exercise   
      
   I participated as an ARES operator at a "shelter/point of distribution (POD)"   
   site in southern Columbia County, Florida, along with fellow operators Darren   
   DeMarino, KO4DLN, and Randy Hare, KQ4NRK (see photo above). We learned a lot   
   by responding to the    
   injects over the course of the three-hour exercise, and our after-action   
   reports will be forthcoming. But my own experience confirmed my belief that   
   the bedrock of any ARES group's deployment begins with a solid mobile/portable   
   2-meter FM station with    
   confirmed access to the county's EOC (where county EC Brad Swartz, N5CBP, was   
   stationed) via repeaters and ideally some simplex channels.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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