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- Subject: Races Primer
-
-
- RACES PRIMER
-
- Some facts, policies, and recommended practices in the statewide RACES
- program:
-
- o All volunteers used by any OES must be registered Disaster Service Workers.
- A receipt (not an ID card) should be given to all registrants.
-
- o Not all DSW registrants are necessarily given a government ID card.
-
- o A government ID card is issued for a limited period of time to volunteer
- "employees" of that agency. DSW registration is a prerequisite for an ID
- card.
- An ID card is given to volunteers committed to that specific government
- (State, county, or municipality).
-
- o An Amateur can be enrolled in only one government (RACES). Anyone
- enrolling with the State should surrender any/all other jurisdiction's RACES
- ID.
-
- o The RACES is a section of a State or local government's civil defense
- office in compliance with Federal Communications Commission regulations. The
- civil defense ("OES" in most of California) may, in turn, delegate the RACES
- function to another department within the same government that has a civil
- defense role.
-
- o The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) is a non-governmental association
- that represents about 20% of the U.S. ham radio interests. ARES (Amateur
- Radio Emergency Service) is a special interest group within the ARRL that
- attracts an estimated 6-10% of all Amateurs. There are 60,000 Amateurs in
- California.
-
- o ARES members are not automatically RACES personnel and vice versa. The
- first is private, the latter is government.
-
- o State OES and the ARRL policy is to encourage all ARES members to enroll in
- a RACES unit.
-
- o Not all ARES people are willing or capable of being in the RACES.
-
- o Not all RACES personnel are in the ARES, the ARRL or a radio club.
-
- o OES does not enter into written agreements with ARES groups or radio clubs
- in California. The structure for the use of Amateur Radio operators is
- provided by the RACES.
-
- o Not all Amateurs are members of clubs or the ARRL. A government should not
- confine recruiting efforts to those groups; it is improper to imply that
- RACES personnel must come from a club, the ARES or the ARRL. RACES personnel
- are individually qualified and committed Amateur Radio operators who choose to
- affiliate with a State or a local government RACES as their primary volunteer
- emergency communications interest.
-
- o Any person in a jurisdiction's RACES may serve with or assist any other
- jurisdiction's RACES when not required by or possible to serve with his/her
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- primary agency.
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