W2IK'S EMCOMM PAGES AND INFO
Includes the 140 page version of W2IK's "EMCOMM AND U"
First responder at WTC 9/11 "Ground Zero", Ex-OES, Ex-AEC, Hurricane Bob, Iniki, Andrew, LI Wildfires, "Storm Of The Century", New England Ice Storms, Flight 800 and countless other emergency events since the late 1960's. all rights reserved
ex-NNN0KSI, ex-NNN0GBY2 email: Alonestaryank@aol.com
W2IK (Bob Hejl) being thanked by President Bush for supplying emergency communications at "Ground Zero" during the 2001 World Trade Center disaster
THE DUMBEST PHRASE IN AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS:
"Agencies we serve..."
In emergency communications, groups providing vital communications support WORK WITH other agencies. Side -by- side. A waiter serves. A butler serves. We are a part of a team. Until this dumb mind-set is eradicated, amateur radio operators providing emergency communications support will always be thought of as less than the professionals we really are. We train. We prepare. We produce. We go where emergency communications are needed, sometimes in the "eye of the storm". We are part of an active TEAM, and not the water boy! Wake up ARRL, ARES and all of you who would think otherwise and continue to use this stupid term.
"Agencies we serve..."
In emergency communications, groups providing vital communications support WORK WITH other agencies. Side -by- side. A waiter serves. A butler serves. We are a part of a team. Until this dumb mind-set is eradicated, amateur radio operators providing emergency communications support will always be thought of as less than the professionals we really are. We train. We prepare. We produce. We go where emergency communications are needed, sometimes in the "eye of the storm". We are part of an active TEAM, and not the water boy! Wake up ARRL, ARES and all of you who would think otherwise and continue to use this stupid term.
Jump Team Cache Check
W2IK inventories several tons of jump team gear owned by the "Bexar Operators Group" and used for emergency communications work and during their yearly 3-4 day "Jump Team Boot Camp" class. Jump team cache includes several "man pack" - style portable vhf systems for search and rescue, portable vhf repeater, several complete HF stations, survival gear including a water purification system, three generators, 4 solar power generation systems, portable cooking/kitchen gear and enough sheltering for up to 10 people.
TYPICAL "JUMP TEAM BOOT CAMP" AD FROM A PREVIOUS YEAR:
(as an FYI: in the 5 YEARS I've run this program out of the 60+ participants only ONE person was an ARES member! - I guess they feel they know it all or are afraid to get their plastic badges or themselves dirty doing REAL training!)
W2IK and The Bexar Operators Group (W5BOG) located in San Antonio, Texas, will sponsor their annual “Jump Team Boot Camp” (date deleted) Friday morning and running through Sunday evening. This year’s “Boot Camp” will concentrate on the ways and means to get a “Jump Team” operational should there be a need to deploy far from your home and communicate in the aftermath of a disaster where nothing is standing. Just like the other “Jump Team Boot Camps” I’ve taught, this will be an actual drive-and-operate operation and NOT a desktop drill. This is the “no bs, real deal” of emcomm training and is as close as it gets to an actual disaster.
This is the only emcomm boot camp in the country! You will get very dirty. You will test your personal limits. You will leave with self-confidence in dealing with extreme emergency communications work. Instructors will include three emergency communicators with years of real-life experience and two U.S. Army survival specialists.
ECs and AECs from any group are especially encouraged to attend so they can bring valuable information back to their group(s) and so they are aware of what any of their members will be facing when you ask them to deploy to an extreme disaster area. This boot camp will also be of great help if any EC or group wishes to create their own “Jump Team” from scratch. I will also be available after this event should any attendees require additional help in forming their own Jump Team and I will even meet with your group to get you started or review your Jump Team plans. (This offer ONLY for those who have attended this boot camp.)
Participants for this session will meet at a central staging area in San Marcos, TX. Pre-deployment maps will be given out at this time, although due to the nature of real emergencies along any caravan route, driving directions may change due to “flooding” and other concerns so each vehicle must be equipped with 2 meter (simplex) capabilities.
When the destination has been reached, all participants will assist in the construction of shelters and operating areas. We will be teaching the proper way to do a site evaluation before any structure is erected in order to avoid problems which could be encountered should weather take a turn for the worse (additional rains and/or high winds). We will be supplying energy to operate using three types of power: gas generation, solar generation and wind turbine generation with instruction on the set up and safe operation each system.
Since it is important that every Jump Team member have a firm grasp of all aspects of setting up and operating during an emergency, special emphasis will be placed on the logical sequence of setting up (structures, power and antennas including NVIS antennas), meeting nutritional requirements (basic cooking and meal planning), station operation, message logging/handling (using BOTH NTS and Plain Text messaging), band propagation as well as the proper method to filter (local) water for emergency needs and how to interface with local government.
Also be aware that the actual destination will not be a local park so like an actual emergency communications deployment we will have to bring everything that we need including every ounce of water. This location will be a truly primitive site! Along with instructions during each phase of setting up and operation, there will be short lectures and discussions. We will check in to various HF nets during our operation and pass mock traffic (NTS and Plain Text) to stations who will be awaiting our messages. All communications gear, antennas, shelters, instructional booklets and food will be provided. Participants will be given a short list of what they need to bring (personal items, sleeping bags, etc). A special “Jump Team Boot Camp Manual/Workbook” will be supplied to each attendee. At the end of the boot camp, attendees will be given a certificate of course completion and an Emcomm cap.
This event will be limited in the number of attendees (10-12). Please be sure to read and study the section on “Creating A Viable Jump Team” located at: http://www.texasmars.com/ so you will have a basic understanding of jump team operation. Also be aware that the actual destination will not be a local park so like an actual emergency communications deployment we will have to bring everything we need or do without! This will be very rustic in nature. Cell phones, again this year, will NOT be allowed.
You do not need to be a member of any group to attend. We accept all groups or individuals regardless of experience. You DO need a sincere desire to assist during a disaster. Do not register if you think this is some feeble “Field Day” operation or to inflate your ego. Register to come only if you wish to learn how to properly operate as a team of emergency communicators and gain the confidence and skill needed in the face of any disaster. Register as soon as possible to avoid being cut off after the maximum number of registered attendees has been reached. DO NOT REGISTER UNLESS YOU MAKE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO ATTEND AS THE FUNDS SPENT FOR THIS EVENT, SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS, COMES DIRECTLY OUT OF MY OWN POCKET. IF YOU REGISTER BUT DO NOT SHOW, YOU MIGHT BE DENYING SOMEONE WHO WISHES TO ATTEND BUT ATTEMPTS TO REGISTER AFTER THE MAXIMUM NUMBER HAS BEEN REACHED.
(as an FYI: in the 5 YEARS I've run this program out of the 60+ participants only ONE person was an ARES member! - I guess they feel they know it all or are afraid to get their plastic badges or themselves dirty doing REAL training!)
W2IK and The Bexar Operators Group (W5BOG) located in San Antonio, Texas, will sponsor their annual “Jump Team Boot Camp” (date deleted) Friday morning and running through Sunday evening. This year’s “Boot Camp” will concentrate on the ways and means to get a “Jump Team” operational should there be a need to deploy far from your home and communicate in the aftermath of a disaster where nothing is standing. Just like the other “Jump Team Boot Camps” I’ve taught, this will be an actual drive-and-operate operation and NOT a desktop drill. This is the “no bs, real deal” of emcomm training and is as close as it gets to an actual disaster.
This is the only emcomm boot camp in the country! You will get very dirty. You will test your personal limits. You will leave with self-confidence in dealing with extreme emergency communications work. Instructors will include three emergency communicators with years of real-life experience and two U.S. Army survival specialists.
ECs and AECs from any group are especially encouraged to attend so they can bring valuable information back to their group(s) and so they are aware of what any of their members will be facing when you ask them to deploy to an extreme disaster area. This boot camp will also be of great help if any EC or group wishes to create their own “Jump Team” from scratch. I will also be available after this event should any attendees require additional help in forming their own Jump Team and I will even meet with your group to get you started or review your Jump Team plans. (This offer ONLY for those who have attended this boot camp.)
Participants for this session will meet at a central staging area in San Marcos, TX. Pre-deployment maps will be given out at this time, although due to the nature of real emergencies along any caravan route, driving directions may change due to “flooding” and other concerns so each vehicle must be equipped with 2 meter (simplex) capabilities.
When the destination has been reached, all participants will assist in the construction of shelters and operating areas. We will be teaching the proper way to do a site evaluation before any structure is erected in order to avoid problems which could be encountered should weather take a turn for the worse (additional rains and/or high winds). We will be supplying energy to operate using three types of power: gas generation, solar generation and wind turbine generation with instruction on the set up and safe operation each system.
Since it is important that every Jump Team member have a firm grasp of all aspects of setting up and operating during an emergency, special emphasis will be placed on the logical sequence of setting up (structures, power and antennas including NVIS antennas), meeting nutritional requirements (basic cooking and meal planning), station operation, message logging/handling (using BOTH NTS and Plain Text messaging), band propagation as well as the proper method to filter (local) water for emergency needs and how to interface with local government.
Also be aware that the actual destination will not be a local park so like an actual emergency communications deployment we will have to bring everything that we need including every ounce of water. This location will be a truly primitive site! Along with instructions during each phase of setting up and operation, there will be short lectures and discussions. We will check in to various HF nets during our operation and pass mock traffic (NTS and Plain Text) to stations who will be awaiting our messages. All communications gear, antennas, shelters, instructional booklets and food will be provided. Participants will be given a short list of what they need to bring (personal items, sleeping bags, etc). A special “Jump Team Boot Camp Manual/Workbook” will be supplied to each attendee. At the end of the boot camp, attendees will be given a certificate of course completion and an Emcomm cap.
This event will be limited in the number of attendees (10-12). Please be sure to read and study the section on “Creating A Viable Jump Team” located at: http://www.texasmars.com/ so you will have a basic understanding of jump team operation. Also be aware that the actual destination will not be a local park so like an actual emergency communications deployment we will have to bring everything we need or do without! This will be very rustic in nature. Cell phones, again this year, will NOT be allowed.
You do not need to be a member of any group to attend. We accept all groups or individuals regardless of experience. You DO need a sincere desire to assist during a disaster. Do not register if you think this is some feeble “Field Day” operation or to inflate your ego. Register to come only if you wish to learn how to properly operate as a team of emergency communicators and gain the confidence and skill needed in the face of any disaster. Register as soon as possible to avoid being cut off after the maximum number of registered attendees has been reached. DO NOT REGISTER UNLESS YOU MAKE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO ATTEND AS THE FUNDS SPENT FOR THIS EVENT, SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS, COMES DIRECTLY OUT OF MY OWN POCKET. IF YOU REGISTER BUT DO NOT SHOW, YOU MIGHT BE DENYING SOMEONE WHO WISHES TO ATTEND BUT ATTEMPTS TO REGISTER AFTER THE MAXIMUM NUMBER HAS BEEN REACHED.
PERSPECTIVE
Thoughts From The "Inside"
Not too long ago, I was watching a program on television, quite graphic in nature, about the 1996 Civil War in Liberia. At the time of the actual conflict, I was tuning around the ham bands when on 20 meters I heard what amounted to an emergency call to any US ham. I flipped on my amplifier and jumped in the fray (As most of you know I have a habit of doing). For the next several hours I relayed information from our embassy in Liberia to the US State Department in Washington concerning the health and welfare of our citizens who were bunkered down. It seems that the rebels had taken over the capitol and shut off all power and regular forms of communications. Our embassy was able to communicate to the outside world using amateur radio powered by a backup generator as hundreds of people were quickly herded into the embassy compound for safety. After a few hours, my communications services were no longer needed as other forms of communications came back "on line". I remember the event, but didn't think too much of it as I've helped with communications during emergencies before and after.
Progressing through time and supplying communications during seemingly endless hurricanes, wildfires, local and regional ice storms where I had to be dropped in by helicopter, plane crashes and on to September 11, 2001 ... Again, grabbing my radio gear, jumping into the fray and being a first responder at WTC "Ground Zero", I concentrated on doing the communications job at hand, all the while not worrying about what was transpiring outside my little emergency world. The nakedness of my knowledge and feelings outside the actual event arena hit home the other day when my wife was talking to me about what went on in our country during September 11th and for several days after. Doing my communications job at WTC "Ground Zero", I was unaware of the extent of the termoil felt by the entire nation during that sad chapter in our history. There was information coming out of the area, but none coming in. The country was in such a hectic state that my wife couldn't even get a phone call through to her Mom who lived just on the other side of town! The helplessness of the country as they saw the damage in New York and Washington must have been terrible.
I feel it now, as, after watching that TV program, I now feel what went on in Liberia in 1996, when I was doing my communications "job". In 1996 I had no idea of the senseless slaughter which was taking place in that country.
Perspective, during an emergency, is a strange thing. Something I thought little of in the past. During any emergency, we as volunteers are so focused at doing what needs to be done that we lose the actual history of each event and the myriad of emotions which the public was forced to endure as life at that time unfolded. As another example, during hurricane Inikki, I relayed health and welfare traffic from Hawaii to California. You know how propagation works... they couldn't hear each other, but I, from NY could help get the job done. I experienced the private joy when I relayed one piece of information that a college student who had gone hiking alone in a national park was found. Elation when I could pass that information to her folks who nervously awaited word in Arizona! But, I missed the event as the public saw it and felt it because for hours I was a small part of it. Yes, amateur radio has allowed me to help others a dozen times over, but I feel as if pieces of history have been stolen from me because each time I was on the "inside".
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THE NEXT FOUR PARTS OF THIS WEB SITE MAKE UP AN INTENSIVE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COURSE. ("EMCOMM AND U") CLICK ON THE SECTIONS AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE TO BE TAKEN TO EACH ONE. THEY REPRESENT OVER 140 PRINTED PAGES OF INSTRUCTION BASED UPON REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES BY W2IK AND OTHERS.
