Marathon County ARES/RACES: News

Paul Harvey, March 19, 2003

America's quiet warriors are the legion of ham radio operators, 700,000 of them, who are always at ready for backup duty in emergencies--amateur, unpaid, uncelebrated, civilian radio operators, during and after floods and fires and tornadoes. After the 9/11 attacks, hams were indispensable in reuniting friends and families. Most recently it was they who expedited the search for debris after the disaster to the space shuttle Columbia, and right now, at this moment, they are involved in homeland security to a greater degree than you would want me to make public.

Annual Enrollment period has begun

In order to keep our roster up to date, all Marathon County ARES members are asked to fill out an annuall enrollment form. This form collects your name, address, credentials and capabilities. Over the past few years we've found that phone numbers and emails change; so submitting an enrollment form on a annual basis will ensure that the ARES team has your most current contact information. The enrollment form can be accessed by clicking this link.

More importantly, starting January 1, 2009 all ARES/RACES members must have the IS-100 Incident Command System and IS-700 National Incident Management System training. These trainings are required for all volunteers who wish to work with government agencies. If the ARES group is called out by local Emergency Management or even Wisconsin Emergency Management, they will insist that we have the required NIMS training. The training is provided online free of charge courtesy of the FEMA Emergency Management Institute. If you don't have the training and wish to be a member of ARES, please take the time to get it. It doesn't take long and will help you become a better radio operator.

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100A.asp

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700.asp

Any questions about the NIMS training requirements or the annual ARES enrollment may be directed to Michael Martens, KB9VBR.

Marathon County ARES/RACES Photo Gallery Online!

With the 2008 SET behind us, we have added a photogallery to showcase our efforts in Marathon County. If you have any photos from Marathon County ARES/RACES events (SKYWARN included,) send them to W9HDG - AEC Marathon County for inclusion in the site.

You can view the site and all the current photos by clicking the gallery button at the top of the site, or by clicking on this link.

Northest WI District ARES/RACES Website

Have you checked out the new Northeast WI. district ARES/RACES website yet?

If not, I encourage you to follow this link to check it out! This is your source for all the events, training and announcements that are happening in the Northeast District.

Would you like to contribute your thoughts or opinions so others in the District might benefit from your experiences?

Just fill out the registration and jump into the FORUM and become an active member to your immediate and surrounding communities! Hope to hear from you soon!