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RACESBUL.124 DATE: July 2, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES I.D. CARDS A recent published report on a disaster echoed long standing problems in some areas. "Lack of credentials." "Police and fire personnel at the crash site often had no idea what an ARES or RACES identification signified." "Hams should have some sort of national identification card." This is not a problem in those jurisdictions around the country where the following premises are accepted and steps taken: A RACES unit is part of a specific local government. When a RACES person is on duty they are an unpaid employee of that one government. (Note: NOT multiple governments!). Since a RACES person is a member of that government when/while on duty, they are issued that government's identification card. They may also be required to wear whatever outer garments, headgear, and or observe other dress code requirements of their government. In short, they look and act as if they are employees and belong. All RACES duty is performed under the direction of competent authority. RACES personnel do not "self dispatch" unless they are specifically covered by written orders. The suggestion for a "statewide identification card" surfaces regularly in California. The reason this is not practical is that it would simply be unmanageable -- thousands of identical cards requiring preparation, recording, renewals, etc. It would simply resurrect the generic national 1950 civil defense card; OK for card collectors but useless at the roadblock. We recommend government ID cards, issued only after a satisfactory six month probation period, and good for three years. Specifically NOT recommended is any insignia on cards and outer garments that is not universally recognized and accepted within the community in which the volunteer serves. In the majority of the country today this includes the old RACES logo, civil defense insignia, association and club logos. We welcome your questions by return packet if we may help you in any way in this regard. ---KH6GBX RACESBUL.125 DATE: July 9, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 1/9 If it's worth doing right, write it up. Local governments and hams frequently ask what a RACES Radio Officer is supposed to do. The series of Bulletins that follow will address this subject. Variations of this job description have been used by civil defense and emergency management agencies for over thirty years. In some jurisdictions the Radio Officer coordinates only the Amateur Radio operators for the agency. In others, the Radio Officer coordinates all of the communications volunteers in government service (COMVIGS) such as the hams, Civil Air Patrol, Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), and citizen banders. In most cases the Radio Officer is a volunteer and reports to a paid staff person. The latter is usually the communications officer or agency director. Too often, an agency doesn't have a clear understanding of what a Radio Officer could or should do. This can lead to the "Don't call us, we'll call you" syndrome or, worse, the undirected "loose cannon". Neither situation, of course, does justice to the volunteers. That is why written job descriptions help both the agency and its volunteers. The Radio Officer is expected to personally accomplish all the tasks described in the position description. The Radio Officer should be a good manager who delegates tasks and assures that the objectives are met. A County Radio Officer is featured in this series. It may be applied to municipal and state governments with obvious and appropriate modifications. In all cases the government is the appointing authority of Radio Officers. Position or job descriptions help both paid and volunteer staff to better understand the who, what, why, when, and where of being a Radio Officer. A printed copy of the position description for either a City Radio Officer or County Radio Officer is available for a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. (To be continued. ---KH6GBX) RACESBUL.126 DATE: July 16, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 2/9 POSITION TITLE: County RACES Radio Officer REPORTING ORGANIZATION: County Government IMMEDIATE MANAGER: (as specified) BROAD FUNCTION: Coordinates all RACES activity within a county jurisdiction. Serves as the county's principal point of contact for all matters relating to Amateur Radio. RESPONSIBILITIES: - Maintain a valid Amateur Radio license. - Be cognizant of FCC rules and regulations as they relate to Amateur Radio activity. - Develop and maintain a state approved county RACES plan. Review and approve city RACES plans. - Promote the RACES program through participation in meetings, public appearances, conferences and other appropriate communications media. - Coordinate efforts to recruit and train personnel for the RACES program. - Insure that all communications volunteers serving the jurisdiction are registered Disaster Service Workers in accordance with the requirements of the California Government Code and guidelines of the State Office of Emergency Services. - Supervise appropriate Amateur personnel as required to satisfy directed mission requirements. - Coordinate RACES mutual aid within the county and with OES Region and adjacent counties. - Maintain close working relationships with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, public safety communications organizations, the Civil Air Patrol, Military Affiliate Radio System, Red Cross and other volunteer and government communications agencies. - Insure that RACES activity reports and recommendations are reduced to written form and distributed through appropriate channels. - Provide other assistance in support of the RACES program as may be directed by responsible authority. (To be continued) RACESBUL.127 DATE: July 23, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 3/9 POSITION DESCRIPTION RACES RADIO OFFICER (RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE) 1.0 POSITION This position description is for the RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) Radio Officer for the County of _____________. The terms RACES Officer and Radio Officer are commonly used and are interchangeable. The Radio Officer reports to the coordinator of emergency services for the county. The Radio Officer is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the OES Coordinator and is this agency's principal point of contact in all matters relating to the Amateur Radio Service. The Radio Officer shall appoint necessary staff, including assistants to serve during the Radio Officer's absence. 2.0 SCOPE 2.1 RACES personnel are unpaid volunteers assigned to the _____(County office of emergency services or as specified)______. 2.2 RACES personnel provide radiocommunications where and when required by or through the (name of office here). 2.3 RACES personnel may be used to install, modify, remove, or operate Amateur Radio communications equipment of their own or others. 3.0 RESPONSIBILITIES This position is responsible for: 3.1 the supervision of all Amateur radio personnel permanently assigned to or temporarily serving at or for the (name of county Office of Emergency Services); (To be continued) RACESBUL.128 DATE: July 30, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 4/9 3.2 the recruiting and training of such personnel; 3.3 furthering the goals and mission of the RACES through meetings, public appearances, conferences, training, written and radio communications; 3.4 scheduling Amateur radio operators and technicians to meet mission requirements; 3.5 serving as the liaison between this office and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES, an activity sponsored by the ARRL), Amateur radio organizations and individuals, other local government telecommunications personnel, and the State OES Region RACES Coordinator/Communications Coordinator and Region Radio Officer; 3.6 providing a periodic RACES net to disseminate information and guidance in a timely manner; 3.7 maintaining a list of current list of RACES personnel; 3.8 planning exercises, drills and meetings to maintain proficiency and interest; 3.9 keeping the RACES Plan and attachments current; 3.10 recommending program policy and direction to the (title of director or coordinator); and 3.11 assuring that the weekly State RACES BULLETINS are delivered to the [name of the county or city emergency services office] Coordinator; 3.12 other related duties as may be required. 4.0 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 4.1 A current Amateur Radio license issued by the Federal Communications Commission higher than Novice. (To be continued) RACESBUL.129 DATE: Aug 6, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 5/9 4.2 A full understanding of the RACES program and the FCC Rules and Regulations governing Amateur Radio. 4.3 Adequate time and interest to perform the duties with enthusiasm. Ability to carry out the duties in a professional manner that reflects favorably on the office at all times. 4.4 The incumbent shall not be enrolled in the Amateur Radio Service activity of any other local government. * * * * * DUTIES OF A COUNTY RADIO OFFICER No single individual can or should do the following tasks alone. It requires a staff of competent and dedicated assistants to share the workload and to provide round-the-clock shift management during major incidents. The governmental jurisdiction appoints the Radio Officer. The Radio Officer, in turn, appoints Assistant Radio Officers and staff. Typical RACES program management duties and responsibilities of the jurisdiction and its RACES staff include: 1.0 PLANNING 1.1 PRIORITY: Complete (or update if more than 2 years old) a County RACES Plan in accordance with the new "Santa Luisa County RACES Plan" model format. 1.2 City RACES Resources. Encourage city radio officers (if any) to maintain a resource file of specialized resources applicable to RACES mutual aid; i.e., portable packet terminals, ATV, portable/mobile HF-SSB radios, portable VHF/UHF-FM repeaters, portable packet digipeaters, and strike teams. The County Radio Officer should have a good idea where such resources are available. (To be continued) RACESBUL.130 DATE: Aug 13, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 6/9 1.3 RACES Plan survey: 1. Obtain a copy of each city RACES Plan. 2. List all cities by plan (Yes or No?) and the date it was last updated. 3. Concentrate effort on preparing plans where none exist; request and assist jurisdictions to update any plan over 2 years old. 2.0 OPERATIONS 2.1 Staff and operate the County RACES facilities for training nets and during actual incidents and exercises. Train shift supervisors and operators to maintain 24-hour operations. 2.2 Respond RACES resources to field incidents, as authorized, to support operations. Develop voice, data (packet), television (ATV), CW and other modes to support the mission. The success of the RACES is based upon frequent callouts to provide service; whether it be only one, a few or all of the RACES unit. Whether or not the RACES involvement is critical to the success of a given incident should be a secondary consideration; the opportunity to train and exercise the resource is primary. 2.3 Training 1. Job orientation. The RACES personnel should receive orientation on its government's policies and procedures, departmental mission and organization, communications systems, Incident Command System, communication standard operating procedures and other subjects the office may deem necessary. 2. Exercises and drills may be any activity requiring or requesting Amateur Radio participation that is approved by the jurisdiction. 3.0 STAFFING 3.1 The Radio Officer is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the jurisdiction. (To be continued) RACESBUL.131 DATE: Aug 20, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 7/9 3.2 Recruit and assign assistants, some or all of whom will be capable of serving as your alternate in your absence. Delegate duties and workload without losing responsibility. Provide written job descriptions; assistance is available from State OES Headquarters. Some management areas to be considered are training, operations, plans, technical services, administration (records, personnel, etc.), MARS liaison, CAP liaison, and CB or REACT liaison. 3.3 Radio Officer Roster. Compile and maintain a list of your staff and all city and adjacent county Radio Officers, their home and work telephone numbers, pagers (if any), and alternate means of contact or alerting (via Sheriff's dispatch, etc.) You and your assistants (alternates) should carry this with you at all times. 3.4 City RACES Rosters. Request that all city radio officers provide you a roster of their RACES personnel every quarter. [Note. We do not generally recommend the creation of new city RACES organizations for reasons outlined in an earlier RACES management position paper available from the State RACES Coordinator.] 4.0 DIRECTION 4.1 The Radio Officer directs the County RACES and other volunteer communications staff assigned to County OES. 4.2 The Radio Officer reports to the position designated by the OES Coordinator. In most counties it is the emergency services coordinator. In others it may be the sheriff, fire chief, the county communications officer/coordinator/director, or other position specified and authorized by the OES coordinator. 4.3 Training. On-going, but not burdensome, training is essential for all volunteers and professionals. Since RACES section personnel are volunteer employees of the county, it is reasonable to expect them to be briefed in such matters as ICS, county government organization (names and titles, broad responsibilities), speakers from other agencies, training available from CSTI, expected conduct and deportment, familiarity with county radio systems and codes (if any), OES programs and how they fit into the "big picture", a clear understanding of when they are authorized to be on duty, proper clothing and equipment, proper and improper use of the ID card, etc. (To be continued) RACESBUL.132 DATE: Aug 27, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 8/9 5.0 COORDINATION 5.1 RACES. The Radio Officer coordinates with the State Region OES Radio Officer, city radio officers within the county, and adjacent county (and sometimes city) radio officers. 5.2 ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). Maintain liaison and coordination with ARRL Emergency Coordinators to (a) encourage all ARES members to become enrolled in a RACES (State, county or a city) unit and (b) to request support of ARES if all timely RACES resources are exhausted. RACES managers are reminded that unregistered Disaster Service Worker volunteers must first sign up on the OES Form 99 for temporary coverage during the particular incident and that there is often no provision to do so; hence offers from such unregistered volunteers may be declined under those circumstances. This is why it is so important that Amateurs to satisfactorily complete the RACES enrollment requirements in advance. 5.3 Meetings and coordination with city Radio Officers and/or their assistants; attend RACES meetings within their own and adjoining jurisdictions to maintain a close working relationship for assistance and mutual aid. 5.4 County Radio Officer and staff meet on a periodic basis to exchange information, receive training and guidance from County OES staff and to maintain close working relationships. It is strongly recommended that the RACES staffs from any cities, and the adjacent county radio officers, be included. (To be continued) RACESBUL.133 DATE: Sep 3, 1990 SUBJECT: RADIO OFFICER P.D. - 9/9 5.5 Speak at Amateur Radio club meetings and civic groups to describe and promote the RACES program. 5.6 Internal Communications. County Radio Officers prepare periodic mailings, as required, to all county RACES members and city radio officers to provide continuity, maintain interest, share information, and to demonstrate concern for the RACES program on behalf of the county OES staff. The county Radio Officer demonstrates a leadership role at every opportunity in a tactful and proactive manner. 5.7 Mutual Aid. Establish and oversee RACES mutual aid procedures within your county, between cities within your county, and between you and adjoining counties. Assure that all know how to properly use the OES communications resource order form. 6.0 REPORTS 6.1 Radio Officer will submit periodic written reports to their supervisor as may be required. 6.2 Records. Radio Officers maintain a file for every city RACES within their county. Each file contains the RACES Plan, reports, resources, correspondence and other significant records. All files will be turned over intact to any successor. 7.0 BUDGETING 7.1 Submit budget requests for review within the office to update and replace communications equipment, supplies, service and travel to support the county RACES program. * * * * * RACESBUL.134 DATE: Sep 10, 1990 SUBJECT: REPORT: FEMA REGION 8 ARES/RACES WORKSHOP IN OREGON - 1/3 At the recent Northwest Emergency Amateur Radio workshop sponsored by the State of Oregon and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dr. J. Michael Dunlap, W7MYU, Amateur Radio Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, presented "Getting Emergency Managers and Amateur Radio Operators Together." Dunlap said: "Why does and should the Amateur Radio Service compliment the public safety radio services? Because Amateur Radio is a flexible radio service with extremely high resiliency capable of bouncing back very quickly. "Oregon has merged ARES and RACES as one. We see that RACES can be executed at the state or local level. RACES management, however, is not by vote or consensus; it is similar to corporate management. "The State EOC will soon have an ARES bulletin board (BBS). It will include all of the Emergency Management Division (EMD) public information bulletins for any county or individual to pick up." He described a callsign problem when they change operators. This problem was created when the FCC did away with the unique RACES station callsigns. A participant suggested that an EOC or agency use an available club station callsign or a tactical callsign all of the time; in the latter, on voice or data, the operator uses a tactical call and signs with his own call to meet the FCC requirements. Dunlap described how the State checks into a lot of different radio nets to let them know they are there. "Professional operators can and must gain access to your EOC if that is where they are assigned. We require that they be a Technician Class licensee or higher. Our State RACES operators are trained and may be pulled to operate a non-ham radio channel if necessary. The State RACES role is to provide communications support to the State wherever and whenever needed. "We support the philosophy that the main goal of the RACES (anywhere) is to provide tactical support communications -- not health and welfare messages. To get a good Radio Officer, look for a successful manager. The staff you recruit will often be used as managers of all the previously non-aligned volunteers that will come out of the woodwork in a disaster. Your volunteer key staff cannot have divided loyalties; if you need them they must not beg off because of some other volunteer commitment. (To be continued) RACESBUL.135 DATE: Sep. 17, 1990 SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - Part 2/3 Dr. Dunlap continued: "Characteristics to look for in Amateur Radio operators: Try to recruit as many as you can within walking distance of the EOC; it may be the only way they can get to to work. Look for flexibility. Cool head. Appropriate class of radio license. They must be capable of listening for eight hours and saying nothing. Ability to take orders. Precision is absolutely essential. Skill and experience in message handling; all messages must be written or printed before being sent and after they have been received. Recruit people whose type of work allows them to take time off for emergencies and meetings. "Exercise and drill your hams -- the more the better! When a local jurisdiction has a drill, some State RACES operators should be on duty at the State headquarters, too, to drill with them. It is really appreciated by the locals who had to turn out for their drill, particularly on a working day. "Amateurs must have access to their EOC. Access equals functionality. Nothing kills a program faster than denying access to your volunteers. Paid staff may be eight to five but not the volunteers. Ninety-five percent of their work is done after hours. Encourage your hams to come in and use the equipment at any hour. Just because someone is a ham radio operator doesn't mean they can sit down and operate all ham radio equipment -- far from it. All the emergency communications centers should be staffed 24 hours a day during each annual ARRL Field Day. "Provide as much training as your budgets will permit. "Have your Amateur Radio operators install and maintain the (RACES) equipment and antennas at the emergency communications centers." In the question and answer period that followed Dunlap fielded questions on what kind of message forms should be used (ARRL if not prescribed by the agency); and how to deal with counties that refuse to use hams. (To be continued) RACESBUL.136 DATE: Sep. 24, 1990 SUBJECT: OREGON ARES/RACES - Part 3/3 Fred Molesworth, Volunteer Packet Coordinator, Oregon State Emergency Communications Center, gave a report on the growth and plans of their statewide Amateur Radio packet system; "Organizing Packet Networks - The TOPS Story". "TOPS - The Oregon Packet Society - is about six months old now. It includes almost all the node operators, the BBS sysops, the traffic handlers, and the ARES group. Four of the eight TOPS directors are from the ARES. No one will stress the packet system more than the ARES and RACES; that is what exercises are good for -- to drive design improvements. "We have learned that keyboard to keyboard doesn't cut it when we installed a BBS at the Oregon State EOC. Our autoprint is always turned on so that any person at the State EOC can receive a message at any time. "We're going to set up district bulletin boards (store and forward mailboxes) to use auto routing capabilities without undue loading problems. Our goal is to have a BBS in every (36) county EOC with a 24-hour dedicated BBS. We can setup the forwarding times to anything we want -- not once an hour as in normal packet networks. We want to go between any two counties or the State EOC in a matter of minutes. "There are about one thousand active packet radio users in the state of Oregon." Question and answer period followed: - How do you train those who setup county EOC bulletin boards? "We (State volunteers) go to the counties and provide them the training. In this way they all get the same training and learn the same do's and don'ts." - How are these ARES BBS's different from regular Amateur Radio bulletin boards? "We do not carry any 4SALE, AMSAT, ALLUS and similar messages." There were over 80 Amateur Radio and CAP emergency communications and emergency management leaders invited to this workshop from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. The conference was judged a complete success and long overdue. RACESBUL.137 DATE: Oct. 1, 1990 SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - Part 1/2 Here are some recent questions and answers at a multi-state ARES/RACES conference: Q: "Our county government won't even talk to us. How can we make them set-up a RACES program?" A: This is always a sticky issue with no single or simple answer. Here are some answers I have picked up around the country: 1. Too often a ham group has approached a local government, "Here is what WE are going to do for YOU." They may also infer that it will be done on their terms. They don't ask, "What can we volunteers do for you?" This is a sure way to turn a government off to volunteers. (Of course it helps to have done some local government homework so that you can have some professional suggestions based on local conditions -- not generalities based on distant suggestions or fill-in-the-blanks agreements.) 2. Headstrong or inflexible volunteer leadership may feel their perceived authority threatened if they feel they must answer to and be responsive to a higher local authority. This can preclude the coming together between the volunteers and the government in the first place, or it can kill a new, trial program early on. The "us and them" syndrome has split apart more governments from their volunteers than anything else. 3. Government leadership is just as often at fault in this regard by saying, in effect, "I don't have time to fool around with the volunteers (or, I don't know how) and I don't want a volunteer on my staff. If I need those hams I just call in such- and-such group." Do you do that regularly? "No, because they don't know how we do things around here." Do you give them any training? "No, don't have time." Lip service. 4. A government official may say, in effect, that "We just spent 2 million dollars for a brand new professional two-way radio system with all the bells and whistles. What do we need you amateurs for?" Regrettably, that official is unaware that in a major emergency there will NEVER be enough radio communication circuits to support their needs for an unknown period of time. (To be continued) RACESBUL.138 DATE: Oct. 8, 1990 SUBJECT: SOME GOVERNMENTS WON'T USE VOLUNTEERS - Part 2/2 5. A disaster management official had a run in with a tipsy ham volunteer. Ergo, all hams must be tipsy and obstreperous, right? Even though that official changed governments, the official has resisted all efforts to be provided Amateur management personnel that are above reproach. In cases like this where ANY Amateur Radio service program within the government is rejected, the alternatives are limited: a. Bring political pressure to bear from supportive higher authority within the same government. This has its obvious after action pitfalls -- unless you can find another department within the same government that wants and is willing to administer a RACES type program for the unwilling civil defense director. This is perfectly legal (FCC) since the CD director will or has delegated this CD function to one of the line departments. The CD director (or by whatever local title) may not be aware that he or she can do this. The official may be tickled to delegate the "unknown world of Amateur Radio" to another official! This has worked successfully in hundreds of jurisdictions. b. Do nothing other than to wait for the responsible official to retire, be promoted, be transferred or be otherwise replaced. 6. "If I have to use Amateurs it will make me look bad." 7. "I don't have the time." Either the role of the trusted volunteer called a Radio Officer hasn't been accepted or, if it has, the concept is rejected. Try the suggestion to delegate the ham radio communications program to another department; see 5a above. Q: "Can't the state bring pressure to bear to make this county have a RACES program?" A: No, not in most states. In our state the State can provide guidance and recommendations but it cannot tell the counties what to do, nor can we invite ourselves in to make suggestions. The county governments can invite the State to attend informational meetings with them and the hams or present a one-day RACES seminar. The local hams often make this possible by persuading the county CD agency to conduct such an information meeting or seminar. Salesmanship is the operative word. No local government HAS to have an Amateur Radio program; we simply show them why it is to their distinct advantage to have one. ---KH6GBX RACESBUL.139 DATE: Oct. 15, 1990 SUBJECT: MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES The following management priorities have been put forth by COL Ernie Pearson, commander of the California Wing Civil Air Patrol. These are goals worthy of any government, organization, and its volunteers: RESPECT THE INDIVIDUAL / APPRECIATE EACH OTHERS CONTRIBUTION / BELIEVE IN PEOPLE / HELP OTHERS SUCCEED / PROMOTE A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT / GROW IN SELF-ESTEEM / PRACTICE INTEGRITY / MAINTAIN OPEN COMMUNICATION / RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MISTAKES / PRACTICE PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT. Characteristics of a good meeting: SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE / LEADER HAS A PREPARED AGENDA / A SPECIFIC START TIME AND DURATION / ALL ATTENDEES ARRIVE ON TIME AND ARE WELL PREPARED / LEADER HAS CONTROL AT ALL TIMES / MEETING OUTCOME IS CLEAR / ESTABLISHED DUE DATES / MEETING MINUTES ARE ISSUED PROMPTLY AND IN WRITING / DECISIONS AND TASKING ARE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL ATTENDEES. RACESBUL.140 DATE: Oct. 22, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - Part 1/2 The RACES BULLETINS are written by and for people in the RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). They are available to individuals and organizations via: 1. The Amateur Radio packet radio bulletin board service throughout the United States, Canada, and Pacific rim countries. 2. First class mail. Camera ready. Four at a time in your business size SASE. Starts upon receipt of your SASE supply. Expiration reminder inserted when last SASE envelope is used. The published Bulletins frequently contain additional information, articles, diagrams or cartoons not available to the packet radio or diskette versions. 3. All the BULLETINS from 1985 forward are available to you on your one IBM formatted 3 or 5 inch diskette, in ASCII. Direct all mail to RACES BULLETINS Dept. PKT, State OES, 2800 Meadowview Drive, Sacramento, CA 95832. The BULLETINS are intended for all emergency management offices and their communications volunteers in government service. The latter is anyone who provides (or may be interested in providing) a state or a local government such service, as an enrolled volunteer member of that government, and serves in a manner prescribed by that government. As suggested by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in 1988, the BULLETINS went into national distribution via the Amateur Radio linked packet radio bulletin board system. They are also carried by the CAP and MARS packet radio networks. (To be continued) RACESBUL.141 DATE: Oct. 29, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - Part 2/11 The RACES BULLETINS are addressed to the emergency management officials for delivery by their Amateur Radio operators. This strengthens the communications and bond between the professional staff and their volunteer communicators in government service. The delivery of and discussions with the paid staff by their volunteers delivering these BULLETINS provides a regular and beneficial contact. Volunteers must remember that "Out of sight is out of mind." The majority of the BULLETINS are written for the benefit of the non-ham paid staff with whom the volunteers work. If you or your agency ever have a question please write or packet a message to us. They become the basis for all BULLETINS. They are written or suggested by people across the nation and Canada. If it is a lengthy topic we will section it into two or more consecutive weekly BULLETINS. The BULLETINS are then read over the air of many ARES, RACES and other Amateur Radio nets. They also appear in some Civil Air Patrol and MARS PBBS. Important note: The remainder of the RACES Bulletin INDEX series will NOT, repeat NOT, be in a consecutive series via packet. Regular bulletins may be interspersed between Part 2 and Part 3 and so forth. A printed index is available for a SASE. WILLIAM MUSLADIN, N6BTJ STANLY HARTER, KH6GBX Chief State RACES Radio Officer State RACES Coordinator RACESBUL.142 DATE: Nov. 5, 1990 SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE FOR TRAINING PURPOSES - Part 1/2 A recent incident utilized about 40 Amateur Radio operators for over a week. Observations were collected from staff and participants following the incident. Both served agency managers and their volunteers may benefit from the findings in your future training, meetings, and in the preparation of standard operating procedures. 1. Proper clothing is necessary for an extended stay. This means appropriate attire for both day and night. Since this was a wildfire incident, this means boots or heavy duty work shoes. Not sneakers and never thongs. 2. Use tactical calls. This is still the hardest thing for Amateurs unfamiliar with tactical emergency communications. It must be stressed in training and Standard Operating Procedures so that it will be natural in an incident or even scheduled nets and rollcalls. Short place names are usually used to identify locations. Functional names may be used for individual positions. Note again that it is the position that is important and not so much the individual holding down that position at any given time. If a callsign is not known, don't hesitate to call anyone on any radio by their given name. An individual's regular callsign is really unimportant during an incident and that includes Amateur's, too. When one location calls another location it is to establish two way radio communications by using tactical callsigns readily understood by anyone for the duration of the incident or net. Again, that net might last 30 minutes or 30 days. The FCC Rules for the Amateur Radio Service state that an Amateur Radio STATION shall be identified with its ham call at least once in every ten minutes of transmission. We have seen an awful lot of time wasted in real operations and exercises when a ham, wanting to talk to ANYONE at a given location wastes a lot of air time by repeatedly calling an individual's ham callsign instead of the proper tactical callsign. Ham radio operators will come and go but the tactical callsign will remain unchanged. The tactical callsigns are all important, the individual ham callsigns are not. We are told that this wounds a few egos but that is simply the way Incident Command System communications are conducted. Our hams bring their expertise, equipment, and willingness to serve the served agency in the manner the served agency wants and should leave their egos home. (To be continued in Part 2.) SUBJECT: OPERATIONS CRITIQUE - Part 2/2 3. Closely coupled with the comments in part 2 above is the fact some volunteers report for duty with little or no prior training in the what and why they are there. Sometimes volunteers pick up all the necessary training in the several days of real duty and they really shine. There are a few, however, who challenge the very mission of the Amateur Radio operators to be there in the first place. Those few, for example, have questioned why they support the fire information officer's role on a wildfire incident. To ask such a question, of course, is indicative of no prior training being received by that person. This bulletin will not attempt to define that role but it will be addressed in future bulletins for information purposes only -- not an attempt to replace the classroom training that is required of any volunteer serving in the RACES and the Department of Forestry's programs. Once a volunteer understands his or her expected role -- up front and ahead of time -- they can decide whether to roll with the team or head for the door. As program managers it is our role to provide sufficient briefings and training so that any volunteer can determine before an incident whether or not tactical government service communications is their cup of tea. Out on the line is too late. 4. Determine in advance who can read maps and who cannot. Some people simply cannot. This is no disgrace. One who cannot read maps, however, should not be sent into a strange area alone. These critique comments were collected by Stan Harter KH6GBX, Les Ballinger WA6EQQ, and Charlie Jakobs KC6LKC. RACESBUL.144 DATE: Nov. 19, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 3 1985 STATE RACES BULLETIN INDEX Those messages that referred to dated announcements of meetings or events no longer of interest have been removed. A copy of any message (or a complete set) is available to any governmental jurisdiction at no cost. Copies are available to individuals, four at a time, in return for an SASE; complete sets for $5 check payable to STATE OF CALIFORNIA to cover postage and reproduction. Call or write for details. They are also available at no cost by providing us one 3" 720K diskette or two 5" floppys. RACESBUL. Title 85-1 Lack of communications creates misunderstandings 85-2 State RACES Net. 30 Meter band added to RACES. Volun- teers must be registered Disaster Service Workers. 85-3 Surplus equipment available. 85-4 Amateur TV demonstrated. 85-5 Frequency barriers between ARES and RACES are gone 85-6 The RACES Plan. Many are out of date. 85-7 RACES Coordinator's travel plans. 85-9 Technical: Portable Radio Batteries 85-10 Request to read Bulletins on VHF/UHF radio nets. 85-12 Ojai forest fire and other news. 85-13 San Jose World Police & Fire games; State OES recruiting. 85-14 Questions and answers. 85-15 RACES cannot be used for only one department. 85-16 Do federal agencies have RACES? 85-17 Does the RACES provide equipment to radio Amateurs? 85-18 State OES recruiting hams for Sacramento, L.A., Pleasant Hill, and Redding. 86-20 Amateur Radio is major topic at National APCO conference 86-21 The Emergency Broadcast System and Amateur Radio 86-22 RACES seminar to be held in Mariposa 86-23 Surplus property available 85-25 Antenna restrictions and FCC's PRB-1 85-26 Storm Preparedness/Flood Awareness Week 85-27 FCC Form 610 85-28 Mexican earthquake briefing by Richard Andrews 85-29 Rainfall report to date 85-30 Packet radio is operational at State OES HQ 12/2/85 85-31 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) 85-32 Mexico City earthquake (To be continued) RACESBUL.145 DATE: Nov. 26, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 4 1 9 8 6 Number Title 86-1 Antenna Safety 86-2 Packet radio. Siskiyou County RACES/ARES meeting. 86-3 Technical: Underwriters Labs over/under voltage device 86-4 Definition of "RACES" 86-5 Weekly State RACES Net 86-6 Uses for the RACES - Part 1 86-7 Uses for the RACES - Part 2 86-8 Critique (of an earthquake exercise using hams) 86-9 Floods 86-9X Floods 86-10 CB Linear Crackdown 86-11 Kern County RACES 86-13 Who activates the RACES? 86-14 One-hour exercise question 86-15 El Dorado County RACES 86-16 Portable repeaters 86-17 Radio Officers 86-18 Family Care 86-19 HF Radio is Very Important 86-20 Yes, Non-Hams Can Join Too! 86-21 Earthquake Alarms - Part 1/2 86-22 Earthquake Alarms - Part 2/2 86-23 Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 1/3 (To be continued) RACESBUL.146 DATE: Dec. 3, 1990 SUBJECT: COMM RESOURCES ORDER FORM - PART 1/2 To assure that any volunteer on a mutual aid mission is properly covered with insurance and instructions, we use a written form. This protects the volunteer portal to portal, not just while he or she is at the incident. People can and do get hurt en route or returning home. This is why it is mandatory in California and other states that volunteers be preregistered disaster service workers. We call it the "Communications Resources and Personnel Order" form and encourage its use by any state and local government wherein mutual aid is practiced. We cannot reproduce the form in its actual size in this bulletin but we show all of the line items. Since we adopted this form in 1987, all of our RACES personnel responding to incident assignments report total acceptance by road block law enforcement personnel. Several public safety agencies are impressed and wish that all responders had such paperwork. Such things as badges, identification cards, jackets, caps, or other paraphernalia with logos or alphabet soup seldom carry much weight at roadblocks on large scale incidents. The form items will be in Part 2/2 of this bulletin. RACESBUL.147 DATE: Dec. 10, 1990 SUBJECT: COMM RESOURCES ORDER FORM - PART 2/2 COMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL ORDER [NAME OF GOVERNMENT] 1. Date/Time 2A. Other's Order number [This may be from forestry or some other agency] 2B. OES number [This is your agency's mission number] 3. REQUESTER (AGENCY AND NAME) 4. WHAT (type of equipment and/or operator required): 5A. WHEN? 5B. UNTIL approximately what date or time. 6. WHERE? 7. ROUTING INSTRUCTIONS: [i.e., how to get there.] 8. EN ROUTE FREQUENCIES 9. UPON ARRIVING, REPORT TO: [name and/or Incident Command title] 10. ESTABLISH/MAINTAIN WHAT POINTS OF COMMUNICATIONS? FREQUENCY? CALLSIGNS?: 11A. WHO SENT? 11B. CALLSIGN(S) 11C. ADDRESS 11D.RES.PHONE 11E. IN WHAT AGENCY DSW REGISTERED? (Use reverse side to enter the same information for any additional personnel responding on this Order) _____Check here if applicable. 12. BRIEFING: [each one of the following items must be checked off by the government official giving the briefing] Briefed on safety and hazards? Reminded to take adequate equipment, supplies, appropriate day and night clothing, money and medications. Sleeping bag/blankets. Drive safely, defensively, headlights on. 13. ORDER PREPARED BY (PRINT) TITLE DIVISION REGION/OFFICE SIGNATURE 14. DATE/TIME ORDER ACCOMPLISHED OR PERSONNEL ENROUTE: 15. HOME OES AGENCY NOTIFIED: RACESBUL.148 DATE: Dec. 17, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 5 1 9 8 6 Number Title 86-1 Antenna Safety 86-2 Packet radio. Siskiyou County RACES/ARES meeting. 86-3 Technical: Underwriters Labs over/under voltage device 86-4 Definition of "RACES" 86-5 Weekly State RACES Net 86-6 Uses for the RACES - Part 1 86-7 Uses for the RACES - Part 2 86-8 Critique (of an earthquake exercise using hams) 86-9 Floods 86-9X Floods 86-10 CB Linear Crackdown 86-11 Kern County RACES 86-13 Who activates the RACES? 86-14 One-hour exercise question 86-15 El Dorado County RACES 86-16 Portable repeaters 86-17 Radio Officers 86-18 Family Care 86-19 HF Radio is Very Important 86-20 Yes, Non-Hams Can Join Too! 86-21 Earthquake Alarms - Part 1/2 86-22 Earthquake Alarms - Part 2/2 86-23 Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 1/3 (To be continued RACESBUL.149 DATE: Dec. 24, 1990 SUBJECT: RACES BULLETIN INDEX - PART 6 86-24 Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 2/3 86-25 Rubber Duck Antennas - Part 3/3 86-26 Bill of Rights for Volunteers 86-27 Richter Scale 86-28 ARES and RACES. Earthquake activation Riverside 86-29 Earthquake Preparedness List for Home and Family 86-30 Packet Expanding 86-31 ATV Antenna on Aircraft 86-32 Earthquakes 86-33 RACES History - Part 1/2 86-34 RACES History - Part 2/2 86-35 ARRL, ARES and RACES 86-36 Photocopiers (warning on potential eye damage) 86-37 Proper Communications Channels 86-38 Packet Tips 86-40 California SAR 1985 Statistics Released 86-41 Packet Recommended for Every OES/CD Agency 86-42 RACES Program Guidance Policy 86-43 What is a RACES Station? 86-44 Portable Radio Tip 86-45 New State OES Callsign 86-46 New Year's Greetings! (To be continued) Merry Christmas to all! RACESBUL.150 DATE: Dec. 31, 1990 SUBJECT: (reserved for Webb)