September is fast approaching and that means it’s Simulated Emergency Test time. Each of our ARES groups should formulate and hold a simulated exercise. This is an important annual event to test our capabilities with communications outside of our usual shacks. Cole County has submitted examples of their 2022 SET Handbook and After Action Report. The SET handbook can be found here and the After Action Report can be found here. These two documents provide excellent guidance on how to plan and hold a SET.
As all can see, activity reporting by the section ARES groups continues to decline. Reporting your county’s ARES activities is part of the job as an EC. Please send in your reports to your DEC or in the case of Districts H & I , your SEC. In the monthly report, show the number of ARES members in your group and the activities performed along with the hours spent performing those activities. Submit zeros in the categories’ if you have not had any activity but please report your membership numbers so we know your group is alive. The section leadership needs to know our membership strength if we are called to do emergency communications!
District News and Comments:
District A: Richard Fretwell, W0KRF, DEC
- Benton Co. – BC ARES Members participated in the following nets: MTN, MESN, ARES, Region A Healthcare, and various club nets.
- Clay / Platte Cos. – John Britton KD0NBH has taken on the role of ARRL EC for Clay County filling the void left by Dennis Carpenter KA0SXY, Dennis retired after serving as ARRL EC for 34 years. Dennis reviewed some of the highlights of an interesting career in ARES service. A certificate of appreciation was presented to Dennis for his years of service. John invited members to share their Go-Kits and explain the methods used to assemble the contents. Following the recommendations in the NL ARES Deployment manual along with personal additions each presenter reviewed their Go-Kits.
Below of the statistics reported for the ARES activity in the month of August 2023:
73,
Jeff KB3HF
Missouri Section Emergency Coordinator