Who you gonna call? Texas Emergency Management Conference. San Antonio, TX 3/27/13

Communications Coordination Group (CCG) Created by Texas Legislature Coordinates all requests for communications assistance during emergencies Combines State, Federal, Private Sector and VOLUNTEER communications providers Supports local authority (DDC)

CCG Modified ICS Structure CCG INCIDENT COORDINATOR OPERATIONS SECTION PLANNING SECTION FINANCE GROUP LOGISTICS AMATEUR RADIO GROUP SATELLITE GROUP IT GROUP RADIO GROUP PRIVATE SECTOR GROUP

Amateur Radio Volunteer Groups within the CCG

PRIMARY Roles and Responsibilities MARS PRIMARY MISSION IS TO SUPPORT THE TEXAS MILTARY FORCES Supports the CCG and TDEM as requested RACES PRIMARY MISSION IS SUPPORT TO/FROM DISASTER DISTRICT OFFICES (DDC) AND THE STATE OPERATIONS CENTER (SOC). STAFF SOC RACES STATION. ARES PRIMARY LEAD ON MULTIPLE MISSIONS: EVACUATION AND SHELTERS (STX Hurricane lead) LOCAL (CITY, COUNTY) EOC S LOCAL TO DDC COMMS HOSPITAL /CATRAC (ARCHES Program) NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE *ALL PROVIDES SITUATIONAL AWARENESS TO EMCOMM MANAGERS

Amateur Radio Group Guidelines Coordinate Amateur Radio response to the affected area Organize Amateur Radio assistance to responding TDEM units Determine which organization can best meet need Use any mode available

Capabilities Each volunteer Amateur group brings specific tools and skills to the mission Some tools are used by all three groups which adds to the overall interoperability of Amateur Radio; some are organization specific

Next: Representatives from each organization will describe their skills and tools so that when a disaster requires Amateur Radio assistance you will know Who you are gonna call.

TEXAS ARMY MARS

ARMY MARS Military Auxiliary Radio System DOD sponsored programs managed separately by Army, Air Force and Navy. Licensed amateur radio operators using military frequencies and military message procedures. Provide long-range contingency communications for military and governmental agencies both at the state and national levels.

Texas ARMY MARS Provide long-range contingency digital communications for the following served agencies in Texas: Texas Military Forces (TxMF) Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) FEMA Region 6

Unique Capabilities Members are licensed by NTIA not FCC, so Part 97 rules limiting agency employment do not apply. 36 of the 90 members in Texas Army MARS are Warrant Officers in the Texas State Guard MARS Detachment. TxSG military picture ID Criminal background check Salary during deployment Per diem during deployment Worker s Compensation Insurance during deployment Required NIMS ICS training (100, 200, 700 and 800) Monthly participation requirements Four daily one-hour training nets year-round

Technical Capabilities All traffic nets operate simultaneously in both voice and digital modes, streamlining the movement of traffic. Primary traffic mode for served agencies is longrange radio e-mail. One-half of the membership own or have been issued special modems to facilitate the efficient relay of MARS radio e-mail using either the MARS Winlink system, or point to point relay termed Peer-to-Peer. Texas Army MARS trains in the long-range relay of all traffic by radio-only means to overcome potential internet and other public communication system failures. Texas Army MARS also uses a number of tactical digital modes including several MIL STD modes to maintain net connectivity across Texas during almost any ionospheric propagation condition.

MARS Radio E-mail Gateways

MARS Radio E-mail Traffic Note: This scanned ICS-213 has a signature. Size of this document is 7 KB, easily transmitted by HF radio in Pactor 3 mode.

Attachment Size Limitations Word Documents (ICS-213, etc.) Rich Text Format (.rtf) Size Reduction factors of 5 Can also convert to.pdf Photographs GIMP/CutePDF Technique Reduction factors > 50 Example below from 2.2M to 36 KB MS Word Rich Text File

Served Agency TxMF -1 HF/VHF digital station Auto-tuned NVIS HF & VHF Antennas 12 KW Diesel

Served Agency TxMF -2 Joint Operations Command (Camp Mabry, Texas) Texas State Guard (Camp Mabry, Tx)

Served Agency TDEM State Operations Center (Austin, TX) Communications Coordination Group (Camp Mabry, TX)

Served Agency FEMA

RACES Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

With apologies to Ray Parker If there s something strange in your neighborhood Who ya gonna call? If there s something weird And it don t look good Who ya gonna call?

Things to consider Size and scope of event: Local, Regional, State-wide, or National Who needs to talk to whom, and where Has the DoD, FEMA or State Civil Defense Organization issued an activation

RACES To operate in RACES Service, an amateur radio station must be certified by and registered with a Civil Defense Organization. Today, RACES uses Amateur Radio Licenses to operate. In Texas, the Civil Defense Organization is the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) under the Department of Public Safety (TDPS). There are fewer than 250 remaining unique RACES station licenses. They were issued from the WC#XYZ call sign block such as WC1AAA. They ve been assigned to certain civil defense organizations, not to individual operators. The FCC stopped issuing new individual RACES licenses in 1978, and it will not renew existing ones.

RACES o RACES is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and acts as an auxiliary communications group for the government. Registered members of RACES are authorized to respond when the civil defense organization requests amateur radio assistance. Typically these activities occur during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods or wildfires. RACES stations may only communicate with specified stations [47CFR 97.407(c), (d)] o It is important to recognize that the amateur radio stations participating in RACES are certified by their local civil defense organizations for a Specific Purpose. The operators provide a valuable resource, pro bono, that provides emergency communication capabilities to their community. Civil defense organizations establish their own training and certification standards.

RACES Texas State Operations Center (SOC) Has a Radio Room With MARS, and RACES Stations. RACES stations are being installed at the DDC offices. The SOC Maintains Situational Awareness of Statewide RACES EMCOMM traffic. RACES Members enter data on Web EOC, Viewable Statewide. RACES Stations Talk to RACES Stations. However, because RACES members have Amateur Radio Licenses, many Dual Qualify with both RACES and with ARES. RACES Is Responsible for Auxiliary EMCOMM Between Texas Disaster District Committees (DDC) Around the State to/from the SOC In Texas, the Communications Coordination Group (CCG) located at Camp Mabry, has Representative Liaison Volunteers from ARES, RACES, and MARS to Try and Ensure All Three groups Have Access to Necessary Information. Unity of Effort, ICS 800

Dallam Sherman Ochiltree Hansford Lipscomb Who you gonna call? El Paso Hartley Oldham Deaf Smith Moore Roberts Hemphill Hutchinson Potter Carson Gray Wheeler DRO 1 Amarillo Randall Donley Armstrong Collingsworth Parmer Castro Swisher Briscoe Hall Childress Hardeman Hale Motley Cottle Wilbarger Bailey Lamb Floyd Foard DRO 3 Wichita Wichita Clay DRO 22 Red Lubbock Cochran Falls Cooke Sherman Hockley Crosby Dickens King Grayson Lamar River Knox Archer Montague Fannin Baylor DRO 5, Mt DRO 2 Delta Bowie Pleasant Lubbock Yoakum Terry Lynn Garza Kent Stonewall Collin Hunt Titus Haskell Young Jack Wise Plea Hopkins Cass Throckmorton Denton DRO 4 Camp Rockwall Rains Wood Upshur Marion Gaines Dawson Jones Shackelford Hurst Fisher Palo Dallas Borden Parker Tarrant DRO 4 Scurry Stephens Pinto Garland Kaufman Van DRO 6 DRO 7 Harrison Zandt Tyler Ellis Gregg Abilene Hood Johnson Smith Andrews Martin Howard Mitchell Nolan Taylor Callahan Eastland Erath Somervell Henderson Panola DRO 9 Rusk Loving Winkler Midland Hill Glasscock Bosque Navarro Cherokee Ector Coke Coleman Comanche Midland Sterling Runnels Brown Anderson Shelby DRO 11 Hamilton Freestone Nacogdoches Waco Hudspeth Culberson Ward Tom McLennan Limestone San Augustine Crane Mills Upton Reagan Green Concho Coryell Houston Angelina Sabine DRO 8 Reeves Irion DRO 23 Falls Leon McCulloch San El Paso DRO 10 Lampasas Waco DRO Saba Robertson San Angelo Bell Trinity Madison 14 Lufkin Jasper Menard Newton Schleicher Jeff Pecos Burnet DRO 13 Milam Walker Crockett Mason Llano Williamson Bryan San Polk Davis Tyler DRO 9 Brazos Jacinto Sutton Kimble DRO 12 Burleson Montgomery Fort Hardin Gillespie Blanco Austin DRO 15 Stockton Lee DRO 16 Terrell Kerr Travis Washington Conroe Beaumont Bastrop Liberty Orange Presidio Brewster DRO Hays Waller Val Edwards Harris 18 Kendall Fayette Austin Jefferson Verde Real Comal Caldwell DRO 16 Colorado Chambers Bandera Houston Kinney DRO 18 Guadalupe Lavaca Fort Bend DRO 16 Galveston Uvalde ALT Gonzales Pierce DRO Medina Bexar DRO 24 Brazoria Wilson DRO 16 17 Victoria Wharton Texas City Del Rio DeWitt Jackson Maverick Zavala Frio Atascosa Karnes Matagorda Victoria Goliad Live Calhoun Dimmit La Salle Oak McMullen Bee Refugio DRO 20 Aransas Corpus Christi San Patricio Webb Jim Wells Duval Nueces DRO 19 Laredo Kleberg Grimes Proposed RACES District Boundaries District Numbers = DDC Numbers Franklin Boundaries = DDC Boundaries Morris Zapata Jim Hogg Brooks Kenedy Starr Willacy DRO 21 DRO 21 Alt Weslaco Weslaco Hidalgo Cameron As of 020813

Texas Disaster Districts

Texas Councils of Government

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Primary Assignments Evacuation and Shelters Local (City and County) EOCs Local to DDC Comms Hospitals National Weather Service Situation Awareness

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Part of the National Association for Amateur Radio (American Radio Relay League) Largest membership of the 3 AROs State level organization North Texas South Texas West Texas Basic operational unit is the County (ARES Emergency Coordinator or EC)

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Events tend to be local Minimum Amateur License VHF/UHF Voice direct or through local repeaters Portable mobile cross-band repeaters Common denominator functionality All MARS operators are hams All RACES operators are hams

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Digital Capability Linkage into standard Internet email Local email servers WITHOUT Internet Long range email WITHOUT Internet Limitation: Attachments Less than 100K!!!

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Voice Capability VHF/UHF locally HF Regionally, Statewide, Nationally Disciplined Traffic Handling

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES CW Capability The Ultimate HF get it through method HF Regionally, Statewide, Nationally Disciplined Traffic Handling

Amateur Radio Emergency Service ARES Operator Qualifications FCC Licensed Many have ICS-100, 200, 700, 800 Local training by ARES organization Local, wide area, state voice net training

AUXCOMM Focuses on auxiliary communications interoperability, and the relationship between the COML and the volunteer Amateur Radio Operator COML can request support from AUXCOMM personnel to complete or assist with any task that needs to be done.

AUXCOMM Auxiliary Emergency Communications (AEC) is not yet an official position within the National Incident Management System (NIMS) The Incident Commander has the final authority as to where the AEC personnel will reside within their command

AUXCOMM Prerequisites: Completion of ICS-100, 200, 700 and 800 General class FCC amateur radio license or above Past experience in auxiliary emergency communications A desire to learn how to work with COMLs in a NIMS/ICS environment

AUXCOMM The certification is meant to be Amateur Radio affiliation neutral Auxiliary Emergency Communicator (AEC) typically reports to the COML AEC determines what Amateur Radio resources are available in the area of the incident

AUXCOMM - Training Who you gonna call?

AUXCOMM - Training AEC will complete ICS forms to be submitted to the COML ICS-217 Resource Availability Worksheet ICS-204 Assignment List ICS-205 Communications Plan ICS-213 General Message Form ICS-214 Activity Log ICS-309 Communications Log

AUXCOMM - database DHS has added contact information for trained AUXCOMM operators to the SWIC portion of the www.publicsafetytools.info website DPS retains list of certified Operators Allows the SOC/CCG to have Access to the list of trained Operators

AUXCOMM October 2012

AUXCOMM The first Texas AUXCOMM course was offered at DPS in October, 2012. 25 AUXCOMM operators completed the course and were certified AUXCOMM Train the Trainer Coming soon! Texas was chosen by DHS to host the pilot!

Questions? Karla Jurrens, DPS Karla.jurrens@dps.texas.gov Lee Cooper w5lhc01@gmail.com Lew Thompson w5ifq@att.net Rik Chapman K5RIK@arrl.net Jim Russell jim@russell-texas.com