AICC, VOAD, and the NLE11

By J.M. Rowe, N5XFW - Section Manager

Hello all:

Last week was a very busy time for me! I attended the two and a half day Arkansas Interoperable Communications Conference (AICC), and the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) meeting. Luckily the AICC was ending just as the VOAD was begininng, and I had to drive fast from West Little Rock to Camp Robinson to make it on time.

There were several workshops and presentations at the AICC, and I got to sit on a panel discussing the response to the Albert Pike Flood. The people involved in the discussion all had good things to say about the capabilities of ham radio, as well as the hams themselves. One comment in particular struck me: it was brought out how flexible hams are; from problem solving to being a net control to joining a search team that otherwise would not have had external communications. What a compliment!

The main topic of discussion at the VOAD meeting was the upcoming exercise. The National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE11), as you know, will be about the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This is a big deal, with 8 states in 4 different FEMA Areas participating. We are understanding the scenario calls for a total systems failure for at least the first 24 hours. Did I mention this exercise is going to be done in real time? And it's May 16-20, so in reality we have little time to get all the ducks lined up.

So, we need to restart the face-to-face DEC meetings to do some exercise-specific planning. DEC's and EC's will be receiving some messages from the SEC shortly about this topic. I can pass on that the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management is very interested in their ham radio capabilities, and in our ability to get messages to and from local authorities. Think about doing that for 24 hours straight! Net Managers will have to line up shifts of Net Controllers, for instance.

Any volunteer must see to the health and safety of their family before responding, and in this case it is easy to see this would be a long and difficult recovery. Plan now for your and your families' personal preparedness.

That's all I have for now.

73, and good luck.

J.M.