How We Will Accomplish Our Mission

1. Work within U. S. Government regulations We will provide communications as per Title 47 Telecommunication, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter I Federal Communications Commission, paragraph 97 Amateur Radio Service, Subpart E Providing Emergency Communications, 407 Radio amateur civil emergency service.
2. Work with state and local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) organizations Some of RACES's mission is similar to some of ARES' mission.  ARES can provide training because their mission has a larger scope than RACES.  Operators with duel membership have greater opportunities to participate in actual events and training exercises. While duel membership is not required it is encouraged.
3. Work with other volunteer organizations needing radio communication While we will not perform their duties, we should understand their missions and plan for their operations, or lack of operations, during civil emergencies and war. We should maintain liaison with the National Traffic system (NTS), American Red Cross (ARC), Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN), Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), Civil Air Patrol (CAP), and all of the certifying civil defense's emergency organizations.
4. Maintain cadres of RACES operators We must ensure the number and quality of RACES officers and operators meet the needs of our mission. This may require us to reach out to the existing amateur radio community and to enlist new amateurs to complete our mission.
5. Provide resources to the Wyoming Homeland Security Operations Center (WHSOC) – We must maintain qualified RACES operators to meet the needs of the permanent and remote state operations centers. We will train on state equipment and provide technical guidance on procuring communications equipment that we will use to save lives and property.
6. Maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all amateur radio emergency communication organizations Working along side ARES and other organizations, we will maintain a plan for emergency radio communications that use the amateur radio spectrum. This plan should be in such detail that it could guide operators of all organizations during emergencies.
7. Train We will train by taking courses as requested by certifying agencies and state RACES.
8. Provide technical assistance to state and local governments Working with others, will provide technical assistance to the certifying agencies at their request or to their benefit. We will provide guidance documentation on procuring, maintaining, and operating the certifying agency’s amateur radio equipment located in their EOC or wherever. We will provide a preferred standard of amateur radio equipment in the EOCs.
9. Technical expertise to government requests We will assist our certifying agencies when they are responding to requests from other government agencies. We will consult other amateur radio organizations when time permits.
10. Certifying agency/amateur radio community liaison We will communicate the certifying agency’s concerns to the amateur radio community and inform the certifying agencies of the concerns on the amateur radio community.

County RACES Officers

County and other certifying civil defense organizations will appoint their RACES officers and approve their control operators as per 47 CFR 97.

Lessons Learned

Questions have been asked about how to do emergency communications if an incident came up.  On Nov. 4, 2005, Laramie County had a countywide exercise. It was set up as a terrorist act that resulted in a train being derailed and a major chemical spill of an undetermined item (later verified to be chlorine gas) and a bomb.
The following basic sites were set up.

• Union Pacific had a command car set up since this was on their property. (Brian McNutt, KD7KXD, is ARES/RACES amateur in charge and he made the various assignments).An amateur operator was assigned to this center.
• Laramie County Mobile Emergency Center was moved to this incident location and was also manned by an amateur. This position became the net control, but this will change in the next situations.
• The fire department was in charge and took over this site at the Union Pacific train derailment. They also set up a portable weather station. This location was where the incident commander was in charge of dealing with the problems.
• The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was in the basement of the police station. The county EMC was at this center as was the Public Information Officer (PIO). Two amateurs were manning this position. (This is where the net control operator position will be in the future to facilitate more direct communications).
• Another amateur was sent to the Cheyenne National Weather Service where the Sky Warn amateur station was located. (Since the fire department had a portable weather station at the incident location, we didn't expect to need information from here. We were wrong.).
• An amateur was assigned to the Red Cross. The Red Cross set up shelters and we were prepared to send hams to each shelter.
• A ham was assigned to the Salvation Army canteen that was set up too near the incident center (more hazmat concerns).
• The hospital was set up as a decontamination point and a treatment center. A ham was placed at the amateur station that was at the hospital.
• We had a team of amateurs located at the only barricades required for this incident.
• There were two teams of roving hams set up to go where ever directed, and more hams alerted that they might need to become roving hams. One of the teams was inadvertently sent into an area suspected to have chlorine gas blowing into that area.(Shows the need for hazmat training.)

Here are suggestions on what should be set up for an exercise.  If you already have a comparable list, use your list because you know the needs of your area much better than I would.

• Consult with your county EMC to see what he/she wants hams to do.
• Advise your team to have a 24-hour and a 72-hour call-out kit. Information and suggestions are available on ARRL(www.arrl.org) website.
• Prepare a call-out list and give it to appropriate people and your team members (EMC, etc).
• On a call-out make sure amateur team members know where to go.
• Man every site that EMC wants covered.
• Man sites that might be important (don't trespass or enter areas without their ok) to an EMC so that if he/she comments they could use information from those locations, you can provide that information quickly. (Do not force this information and service on the EMC).
• Have some roving teams of more reliable hams so you can flexibly and competently provide previously unidentified service needs.
• Follow strict net protocol. Be professional.
• Evaluate after the exercise to see where improvements could be made.
• Enjoy providing this service to the public.

RACES membership status and validation

We have received a number of inquiries in the past few years regarding RACES membership status. In order to help members verify status, we will list the call signs on this website in the future. In addition, we are planning to validate current information by sending the information we have on file to members for correction and update. Some additional information is required on the new applications, including email address and a self-appraisal of fitness to work in various environments. The state RACES officer now has the past applications.

The state will conduct a background check on RACES officers only. Individuals without a background check may be denied access.

To update information, download the application (Microsoft Word version or Adobe pdf version), complete and return it to the address on the application.  Please remember to include a copy of your current license with your application.

Mail the completed form to your certifying civil defense organizations. Operators living in Campbell, Laramie, Sweetwater and Washakie Counties should send their completed form to their local County Coordinator, see list here. Applicants living elsewhere should send their form to Jim Archerd, State Communications Officer. If you have additional questions, please address them to:

Bill Thompson, KI0IN
Wyoming State RACES Officer
198 Arrow Street
Douglas, WY 82633
State at Bill, WY

State RACES plan

We will also be working along side other amateur radio groups in developing a statewide ham emergency communications plan. References to that plan will be posted here in the future.

Regional RACES officers

We may form additional state teams to meet the needs of the state's Regional Emergency Response Teams (RERT). The 2004 legislature authorized these teams to provide specially trained personnel and equipment that might not otherwise be available to individual jurisdictions.  Below is a map showing the new regions.

It was decided to reorganize the RACES regions the same as the RERT regions in order to reduce confusion. Because of this reorganization new regional RACES officers will be appointed.  Specific procedures are still being developed, but at this time the intention is to solicit applications for these positions, and then have the county homeland security coordinators and county RACES officers in the region make a recommendation to WOHS and the state RACES officer for the appointment.

Training Resources:

Training will helpin providing emergency communication. There are many ways to train including participating in exercises, contesting, and formal training. Listed below are some of the formal courses.  Many courses will help in providing emergency communications and in understanding the organizational structure of the organizations served. Here are some recommended and useful courses.

• Federal Emergency Management Agency Independent Study Courses
  Recommended courses are:

• IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS-200 (ICS 200) ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
• IS-800 National Response Plan (NRP), An Introduction

• Federal Emergency Management Agency Independent Study Courses
  Useful courses are:

• IS-22 Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness
• IS-317 Introduction to Community Emergency Response Teams

• ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Courses
  Useful courses are:

• EC-001 Level I Emergency Communications Course
• EC-002 Level II Emergency Communications Course
• EC-003 Level III Emergency Communications Course

All FEMA independent study courses are free, and college credit and retirement points for military reservists may be available. See the FEMA web site for details.