ARES® and AUXCOMM IN NORTH CAROLINA
ARES® is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League as a public service activity that encourages amateur radio operators to use their skills and equipment in community based events. ARES® has been in existence for over seventy-five years but its importance and usefulness varies considerably across the country.
In some parts of the country, severe weather events and large scale emergencies are relatively infrequent, meaning there are few opportunities for amateur radio operators to participate in emergencies. In other areas, unfortunately, disasters occur often and the need for trained communicators to effectively assist Emergency Management became increasingly apparent. However, ARRL® for decades did not have a uniform training regimen that prepared amateur radio operators to operate with the emergency management community. Often, due to the limited or non-existent training and a lack of an ongoing relationship on the part of amateur radio groups with Emergency Management, many emergency managers have been reluctant to use ARES® volunteers during emergencies. ARES® groups across the country may not be included when State Emergency Operations Centers are activated because ARES® groups have not engaged in training or built effective partnerships.
Recognizing that ARES® had become increasingly out of touch with the expectations and training requirements in the Emergency Management community, ARRL® in January 2019, adopted the ARES Strategic Plan to chart future improvements to the ARES® program. However, FEMA ICS training remained optional for Level 1 (Basic) participants and only high-level leaders were urged to complete certain FEMA training courses but no deadlines were established for completion. In 2018 ARRL published an ARES Position Task Book to record skill sets and courses taken by the ARES® member. No state or territory recognized the ARRL ARES Position Task Book as meeting the training requirements that are part of the National Incident Management System.
The ARRL® recently made additional changes in the ARES® program and Task Book to more closely align ARES® to the expectations of the Emergency Management community. ARRL® adopted the 2024 ARES Plan which can be found at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ARES%20PLAN%2024(2).pdf .
AUXCOMM is a public safety program created by the Department of Homeland Security to insure that there are adequate numbers of trained communicators available to assist Emergency Management when needed. Large scale disasters involve the disruption of normal communications such as cellular, wireline telephone and internet. Emergency managers stated they want a go-to pool of trained personnel they are familiar with and who understand how emergencies are handled and who have demonstrated the ability to work within the Incident Command System. Homeland Security developed the AUXCOMM program to provide Emergency Management with personnel capable of quickly placing in service alternate capabilities when normal communications are disrupted as well as being able to establish disaster communications in the field.
Keys to the usefulness of AUXCOMM to NC Emergency Management include the following:
a. AUXCOMM has a standardized organizational structure that insures that communications personnel effectively operate within the Incident Command System in conjunction with other public safety agencies during emergencies.
b. There are standardized operating practices that insure common terminology and practices across the United States.
c. A formal nationwide training curriculum that is taught by qualified and credentialed instructors who offer a standardized 20 hour curriculum.
d. A credentialing system that provides documentation of training, demonstration of skills and records of experience during exercises and actual emergencies.
On May 11, 2005, Governor Michael Easley proclaimed the National Incidence Management System as the standard for use by emergency agencies in North Carolina. In 2010, State ARES® leadership was informed by NCEM that amateur radio would comply with ICS or be dropped from the North Carolina Emergency Operations Plan. NC ARES® leadership made the decision to embrace the ICS training requirement and remain as a partner with NCEM despite ARRL HQ staff insisting that ARES® did not and would not involve a mandatory ICS training requirement.
In the two decades since the Governor’s proclamation, tens of thousands of North Carolina emergency responders have completed and have documented training in the Incident Management System. Over 900 North Carolina amateur radio operators have completed and submitted documentation of the same ICS courses taken by fire, police and EMS personnel.
The bottom line is that North Carolina Emergency Management has incorporated AUXCOMM into its communications plans and activates AUXCOMM during each state-level standup of the State Emergency Response Team. AUXCOMM is integrated into Emergency Support Function 2 along with other communications professionals including 911, cell and wireline companies and broadband providers.
Groups that do not embrace the ICS training will not likely be activated during a declared disaster. Local ARES® volunteers without ICS training are typically limited to non-emergency roles.
The training requirements include completion of the following on-line courses which are available at no cost at https://training.fema.gov/is/ :
ICS 100, ICS 200, ICS 700 and ICS 800
The NC AUXCOMM database contains training records for hundreds of licensed North Carolina amateur radio operators who have completed the required ICS courses. Some also have completed the advanced ICS 300 and 400 Incident Command courses. Approximately 200 North Carolina amateur radio operators have completed the 20 hour classroom-based AUXCOMM course taught by DHS credentialed instructors or federally-trained state sponsored instructors.
In September 2019, North Carolina became the first state to adopt the Homeland Security AUXCOMM Position Task Book. Shortly thereafter, North Carolina adopted a state supplement that requires that NC credentialed AUXCOMM operators have demonstrated skills in use of the statewide VIPER 800 MHz communication system, using Winlink on SHARES channels to pass traffic to the State EOC, as well as using the WebEOC Resource and incident Management software. Currently, approximately over 100 amateur radio operators are working on obtaining full national and state credentialing as AUXCOMM communicators in preparation for them being activated by NCEM in emergencies. Over half of the fifty NC credentialed Type III COML personnel are AUXCOMM members.
Any amateur radio operator who has completed the four ICS courses is invited to register in the NC AUXCOMM database and become a part of NC AUXCOMM. There is no discrimination within AUXCOMM towards any club, group, or individual who is willing to complete the required training. Registered AUXCOMM operators will be notified and invited to enroll in the AUXCOMM courses that are offered at locations around North Carolina. Completing the training is necessary for ham radio operators to be recognized as part of the statewide ESF-2 public safety communications team.
Any amateur radio operator who completes the mandatory training is welcome in NC AUXCOMM. Any radio amateur who does not wish to participate in Auxcomm may apply for membership in ARES® through the Branch Auxcomm and ARES Coordinators listed below.
April 14, 2025
|
Marvin K. Hoffman, WA4NC, COML NC ARRL Section Manager |
Tom A. Brown, N4TAB, COMC, COML NC Auxcomm and Section Emergency Coordinator |
North Carolina Emergency Management Areas
NC ARES Information
Effective April 15 2025
Tom Brown N4TAB
NC ARES Section Coordinator (SEC)
Subject: Clearly outlining the CURRENT REQUIREMENTS for
holding an ARES EC or other ARES Appointment in North Carolina as well as required ARES Activity
Reporting.
Background. For a number of years, the ARRL has been working to
bring the ARES program in-line with National EMCOMM Training and Experience
requirements as espoused by SAFECOM and the National Council of SWICS.
Also, during this period, some ARES groups have become intermittent in reporting the activities of their local organization that demonstrate AHJ support and a continued training program as well as relevance to the local AHJ and other agencies.
New Procedures. As recently outlined by the ARRL and the ARES program there are new procedures that are mandatory for ALL ARES jurisdictions in NC. There are also clear outlines for required training of ARES Emergency Coordinators and their staff and members.
All EC’s must meet the standards as listed in the document set out by ARRL which is linked below.
https://www.arrl.org/files/file/ARES PLAN 24(2).pdf
Reporting. Similarly, all all NC ARES organizations must, not later that the 5th of each month, visit the ARRL site by logging into your ARRL member account at the ARRL website, navigate to the ARRL ARES Form 2 as discussed in the Form 2 section below. After the 5th of each month, the SEC will visit each EC submittal, approve it and pass it to the ARES data section at ARRL via the coupled ARES SEC Form 4.
Form 2, How To Complete and Submit:
Go to https://www.arrl.org/ and log-in with your username and password.
In the Keyword search field, enter: ares form 2
Arrive at: Public Service/Field Services Forms
Scroll down to: ARES Form 2: Monthly DEC/EC Report and follow the link to the form
Fill-in the data and SAVE. Review/correct as needed and SUBMIT when you are satisfied with the entered data.
Additional information may follow which reflect changes/revisions made by ARRL.