ARES – NTS Synergy
Te following is a letter which was sent to all ARRL members in Iowa. I’m posting it here so it is available for reference.
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QST to all amateur operators in Iowa.
I’m sending this to everyone as I want you all to hear the words coming from me; not hearsay. I took office on April 1, 2025. Belated Happy Anniversary to me. I didn’t expect to hear congratulations from anyone else!
Most of you have no visibility of my activities. I’ve put a lot of effort into being SM. An astounding number of questions and issues have come from clubs. That was not expected. Unfortunately, many are personal problems, not technical or organizational. I’m happy to (try) to help as best I can. My door isn’t open, but my phone is. Call if you think I can help. Venting is best done by opening an 807. (only old guys will get that)
Over the last few months, as I’ve talk to and interacted with active amateurs across the state, I hear from two main groups: ARES and NTS. The DXer’s know I can’t edit LOTW to give them more countries, so they leave me alone. Luckily, the POTA folks are apparently able to find their way home from the parks ok. Keep up the good work guys! Don’t call me if you get lost or forget your park number.
For Reference Only
I know what amateur radio USED TO DO. In the late 1960’s, I went to Charles City with a group of hams from ISU. The city was ravaged by a very damaging tornado. There was no telephone service. We had 2 stations passing written traffic. One incoming and one outgoing. The outgoing station was flooded with messages from local residents to loved one across the USA. Amateur operators were well suited to the tasks.
I also want to tell you that in the early 1970’s, during the Vietnam War, I volunteered in the USAF MARS station at Hickam AFB and ran hundreds of phone patches from ‘nam to the mainland. Many calls contained sadness and grief, but were genuinely appreciated. MARS also passed hundreds of messages via HF RTTY. It was a rewarding experience to be actively involved in the golden age of amateur radio. My intention is not to brag, rather to let you know that I understand passing traffic. It is important that you know I recognize the efforts amateur operators put into supporting their communities.
In this letter, I’m going to be honest. Some of what I say may not be well received. I acknowledge that, but what I have to say is intended to make amateur radio work better and be more valuable by improving our skills and capabilities to meet the current needs.
We all listen to nets which have rather poor communications discipline. Operators provide reports which are useless: heaving wind, raining hard… With no location. This is not valuable information and is a distraction to the net. Everyone wants to talk whether they are helpful or not. Reports of pea sized hail, regardless of the instructions regarding minimum reporting criteria of quarter sized hail. Simply talking is not a useful contribution.
I point out these instances, not to insult operators, but to point out that most ops need to have better discipline and skills (giving pertinent reports in a standard format).
ARES
Recently, my attention has been focused on ARES as there have been a lot of changes this year. ARES went from being minimally active, to return to an active and capable organization.
Clint KØGR SEC, has recently held the ARES leadership meeting. He reports, and I also see locally, the EMA is much more interested in their local area with minimal interest in communicating with Des Moines. More on that later.
Clint is very active and I recognize his commitment and enthusiasm. His plan, which I endorse, is to create a corps of trained and skilled communicators. Let me contrast this with many previous ARES events which focused on just turning out a respectable size group, with minimal qualifications. This is typical for local charity walk type events, where little skill and discipline is required.
Clint is working closely with EMA and Iowa Homeland Security and advocating that ARES members complete the FEMA ICS-100 and ICS-700 training to maximize their utility to served agencies. The training primarily exposes you to the structure of EMA. I highly recommend these courses. They are not difficult, require only an evening of time and provide you with good qualifications.
To be completely clear, I believe operators need training to be valuable to their local club, ARES and supported organizations, like EMA and Red Cross. This training is not only procedural, it is also providing enhanced discipline to the ARES members.
Why? Because the value of untrained random amateurs showing up at a disaster is not what it was 50 years ago.. Even if there is a major loss of communications, hams still need to fit into the EMA structure to maximize our effectiveness. ARES should not be a standalone function. We need to be part of something bigger. I see many hams taking the CERT training to be valuable assets with recognized capabilities. In some areas CERT groups using GMRS are supporting EMA with no interest in amateur radio support. This points out we are replaceable.
To maximize amateur radio operators value today, we need to be more integrated with the served agencies. We need more synergy with them. We need to understand their rules and how they operate.
NTS
The other major group I hear from are the NTS folks. NTS truly goes back to the origins of amateur radio and the ARRL. While I’ve not been directly involved with NTS recently, I understand and recognize your contributions. Thank you for your service.
Today, do not expect formal traffic to be knocking on your door and handing you a Radiogram. Those days are gone. NTS operators need to be active participants in local VHF nets to be integrated into the amateur community.
Very recently, there has been interest by the Red Cross regional office in Omaha. They wish to communicate with their local offices in Iowa. While there are only a few local offices, all operators should be aware of the formal agreement that ARRL will support the Red Cross. You may have a disaster which will result in the Red Cross sending resources to your town. There may be a need for communications from the field team to Omaha. NTS can support this mission. More details will be coming on what is needed to support this mission.
SYNERGY ?
Yes there is a ‘?’. Today ARES and NTS operate almost totally independently, due to the variety of interests by amateur operators. I hope to bring some synergy to that relationship.
Being a volunteer organization, I can not issue orders to operators, whether ARES or NTS. I completely understand this relationship. Therefore, I can only request your support and Thank You for assisting.
I request that ARES and NTS work together in a more cohesive manner with the goal of improving amateur radio capabilities across the state. This can happen in a reciprocal manner.
1. I request that all EC’s make contact with NTS stations in your local area. This may be via contacting local hams known to participate in NTS nets. ARES nets should solicit checkins by NTS stations and acknowledge them If you have no knowledge of NTS stations in your area, I can help with that as lists exists with station callsigns and locations.
2. I request that all NTS stations establish contact their local EC’s. Your club may be able to assist in pointing you to the local EC. You can also look at the ARRL.ORG list of appointments. If you need help, I can provide it. NTS stations should become active participants in local ARES nets. Please state that you are an NTS member and able to assist.
3. To the few EC’s with local Red Cross offices, stay tuned for more information regarding their expectations. However, in the event of a disaster, the Red Cross may provide mobile support anywhere. All ARES and NTS stations should be aware of they may be requested to pass traffic to Omaha. The expectations of individual offices may not be uniform across the state. Please stay tuned.
4. During ARES Simulated Emergency Tests (SETs), I request that each EC, as part of the SET send a message via NTS to me with some details of the SET: Location, SET scenario, number of stations participating. Integrate NTS with ARES.
5. I request that announcements of Iowa ARES SET exercises, statewide and local, be passed to Dave K9DCR Section Traffic Manager (STM), or a local NTS operator. I request that he arrange to have an announcement made on the 75m nets. This will increase awareness for all stations regarding the SET.
6. The Sunday night 75m ITEN has brought up some questions and comments. This net is a carry over from the prior SM that did nothing to integrate the two groups. With the improved cooperation of ARES and NTS, a specific ITEN is not required. I have requested that Dave K9DCR STM and Dave KØDPL Net Manager, change the Sunday net to a regular NTS net. If disaster response requires more specific activity, an announcement will be made via the net control stations.
As I hope you will recognize, these requests are to establish a strong link between ARES and NTS. This is not a shotgun wedding. It is a rejoining of groups which specialized in different areas of interest.
This is a sincere request for you all to participate in a more integrated operating environment. Think SYNERGY and Cooperation. Please
Thank you to all ARES and NTS stations for your contributions. You are the face of amateur radio to the general public. Please, continue your good work.
This has taken way more words than I intended, but amateur operators need to understand that our domain (comm) is a piece of a much larger pie. We need to learn and adapt to today’s’ needs to remain relevant.
I am available to participate in discussions at ham events and club meetings. I want to make amateur radio better for ourselves and for those we serve.
Barry Buelow WØIY
Iowa Section Manager