Positioning ARES for Serving in Todays World

Providing service to others (e.g. Public Service communication support) requires adaptation to the evolving needs of those being served.

In his Positioning ARES for Serving in Todays World article (a free preview from the September 2018 issue of QST Magazine), ARRL Communication Manager David Isgur, N1RSN, writes:

With the advent of more uniformly functioning public safety organizations across the nation, more requirements imposed upon agencies and organizations assisting them, and the development of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS), ARRL was challenged to align the standards of ARES with current needs of our served partner agencies.

Without implementing such changes, ARES runs the risk of losing its status as a full participant and a valued partner in emergency and disaster relief situations. ¹

N1RSN’s article discusses how the ARES organizational structure will be brought into alignment with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS)—and how ARES standards will be brought into alignment with the needs of served agencies—through the implemententation of a new strategic plan including:

• Guidelines to ensure that ARES remains an organization of organized, trained, qualified, and credentialed Amateur Radio operators who can provide public service partners with radio communications expertise, capability, and capacity
• An on-line volunteer management and activity reporting system to streamline ARES operations and facilitate better coordination with other national emergency and disaster response organizations
• A new Mission Statement
• A Vision Statement
• Identification of the expertise, capabilities, and capacity of the ARES organization as related to its role in emergency communications
• Standardization of training requirements for participation in ARES
• Proposed levels of training requirements which would correspond with levels of responsibility within the organization