Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) TDEM Homeland Security Conference April 2011

ARES is recognized as an Emcom Partner At National and Local levels we have MOU’s with: Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency National Communications System American Red Cross Salvation Army National Weather Service Association of Public Safety Communications Officials ARES

Amateur Radio has responded to: Examples of disasters Amateur Radio has responded to: West Texas Fires –- April 2011 Port Arthur Oil Spill –- January 2010 Hurricane Ike –- September 2008 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita –- August 2005* Hurricane Isabel -- September 2003 Northeast blackout -- August 2003 Shuttle Columbia recovery effort -- February 2003 (300 hams!) Wildfires in Colorado -- June 2002 World Trade Center / Pentagon terrorist attacks -- September 2001 Flooding in Texas -- October 1998 Jarrell, Texas – May 1997 * Recognized in Federal reports as a “What went right” In South Texas, there were 39 reported emergency operations. Most were weather related. ARES

American Radio Relay League Nationwide – 650,000 hams (51,000 in Texas) Field Organization consists of: 15 Divisions 71 Sections Texas has 3 sections (North, South, West) Over 3000 registered and trained ARES members in state Amateur radio is growing by about 30,000 new licensees a year. ARES

Texas ARRL Sections ARES

ARES Organization There are four levels of an ARES organization ARES

Division Vice-Director West Gulf Division Director Dr. David Woolweaver K5RAV ARRL Field Organization Supervisor Steve Ewald W1VX West Gulf Division Vice-Director John Robert Stratton N5AUS Emergency Response and Preparedness Manager Mike Corey W5MPC North Texas Section Manager Jay Urish W5GM South Texas Section Manager Lee Cooper W5LHC West Texas Section Manager John Dyer WE5B Public Information Coordinator Mike Manshack AD5OG Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Whiteside N5TW TxDPS CCG Amateur Radio Chief … ASEC Operations ASEC Task Force Operations ASEC HF Net Operations ASEC Logistics District Emergency Coordinator District Emergency Coordinator District Emergency Coordinator District Emergency Coordinator District Emergency Coordinator … County Emergency Coordinator ARES

ARES Contact Information: County Emergency Coordinator (EC) or District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) www.arrlstx.org for contact list ARES

ARES Contact Information: County Emergency Coordinator (EC) or District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) www.arrlstx.org for plan ARES

ARES Contact Information: http://www.westgulfdivision.org/ ARES

ARES capabilities: Voice – Local (VHF/UHF) and Distant (HF) Radio email – Local (VHF/UHF) and Distant (HF) Radio and Internet Linked repeaters Other High Speed Multimedia (HSMM) APRS - GPS location /Tracking Our operators have both the capability of working locally with VHF or UHF or we can bounce signals off the ionosphere using HF frequencies to work greater distances. Texas amateurs maintain 1500 repeaters around the state that can be used in emergencies. Some use RF or Internet linking to support long range communications. These days, a large percentage of emergency communications is via amateur radio email. This is real email that can be addressed to any address and supports attachments like spreadsheets or ICS forms. These are the capabilities most commonly in use by ARES. In addition to those, we have other capabilities like HSMM where we can operate WIFI links or mesh nodes to provide high speed links. APRS provides position tracking of deployed assets. ARES

ARES Missions: Mobile Task Forces to DDC/SOC County /Local to DDC (EOC to DDC) Shelters PODs Hospitals Other as needed * HF and Linked nets may be run as cross organizationorg nets The ARES inclusion in the Texas RRTF has led to the creation of actively drilled teams of amateurs to support this mission. This has really been a formalization of existing mutual aid plans and is a natural way to link up with amateurs operating in EOCs, shelters, PODs hospitals etc in an affected area. HF or linked repeater nets connect all these groups in a disaster. ARES

ARES Missions: We have standardized our railroad gauges and can communicate with voice and amateur email seamlessly. ARES

ARES Missions: Skywarn The National Weather Service conducts spotter training classes across the United States, and your local National Weather Service office should be consulted as to when the next class will be held. Severe Weather Nets – These are Amateur Radio nets that are held by NWS trained spotters to report a severe weather condition in progress. These reports are then relayed to the NWS. ARES supports the NWS through their Skywarn program. Most of our members are Skywarn trained. ARES

ARES Missions: Disaster Intelligence Gathering Weather Reporting Damage Assessment Monitoring Critical Resources Monitoring Critical Infrastructures Another contribution that amateurs make is disaster intelligence gathering. Some of the first information out of an affected area can be by amateur radio. The recent Haiti earthquake is a good example. They can provide timely information about weather conditions, damage and resources such as power and phone service. We can act as a “force multiplier” for resource strapped local agencies – Amateurs can be tasked with watching and reporting water levels in a flood thus freeing up police officers for more critical duty. ARES

Linked Repeater Systems Services / Capabilities: Linked Repeater Systems ARES

Linked Repeater System ARES

Winlink Email via Radio Services / Capabilities: Winlink Email via Radio ARES

South Texas ARES Winlink South Texas Winlink Local VHF/UHF Servers 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 18 40 54 62 63 71 The number of these local RMS Packet stations has quickly grown from a small number to 71 stations today. Everywhere you see a server, there is at least some local client Winlink infrastructure in place. Local hubbing concept and RRTF servers. ARES

South Texas ARES Winlink Texas EMCOMM Winlink HF Servers 2006: Harris County Williamson County 2007: Cameron County Harris County 2008: Cameron County Guadalupe County The number of HF Winlink EMCOMM servers has increased from 2 in 2006 to 5 operating currently today. At this point, we are not trying to expand this list as this gives us plenty of bandwidth at present. There are many other stations further out that can be used but local stations using NVIS techniques and bands that are not being used can handle a lot of traffic with minimal interference – like using 80M during the day…

On-Line Equipment Database One of the first thing that we do when deploying mutual aid teams to an area is to get all the information we can about existing amateur infrastructure installed there before the disaster. That gives us an idea where to look for local ARES nets and how to tie in with or support local Winlink email gear. To improve this process, we have created a database of installed amateur equipment and have made access to this database available to the CCG. ARES

On-Line Equipment Database The database has lots of flexibility in listing assets over the scope of a county or district or section and for what type of asset we are looking for. Repeaters for example. ARES

Member Database ARES ARES In South Texas, we have added a section member database and it has lots of flexibility for queries. This example would provide the list of all ARES members with full HF privilege licenses that have completed the base FEMA course set and have HF mobile capability. ARES

Texas ARES Demonstrated Commitment Example : South Texas Section ARES 2010 Statistics: 30,000 Training hours reported 15,000 Public Service hours reported 1,300 Emergency Operation hours reported 46,300 Total hours reported! 39 separate Emergency Operations reported I receive reports each month from all the county ECs. These are statistics compiled from these reports. You can see in the South Texas section alone, we had almost 50,000 volunteer hours – this number would be at least doubled if North and West Texas numbers were included. Even though we took no direct hits from hurricanes in 2010, we logged 1300 hours of emergency operations from 39 separate incidents. This does not include all the time and money that goes into maintaining those 1500 Texas repeaters or the money we spend on personal equipment. A sizeable percentage of the Winlink email infrastructure is user funded and this adds up to tens of thousands of dollars as well. You’re welcome! ARES

Support requirements What support and coordination is needed for volunteer group from the supported organizations ? Operating space /locations (especially tower space) Integrated training with agency Inclusion at table with ongoing planning efforts Inclusion in Agency Emergency Response plans Consideration for grant monies for “High Dollar” items. Regular meetings /reviews to identify opportunities ARES

Thanks for the opportunity! Tom Whiteside N5TW South Texas ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Assistant South Texas Section Manager n5tw@arrl.net ARES