Though not narrowly related to "emergency" communications, the AUXMON (Auxiliary Monitoring) Program is another example of Auxiliary support to CG HF Telecommunications:

From the Oct. 2006 "Up Top in Operations" ...

quote:

. .. Several programsare either underway or inadvanced planning stages. The AUXMON program is an example of a program that had its start in D5 SR, working with the CAMSLANT station in Chesapeake, VA. This program has a cadre of Auxiliary communications stations that provide monitoring and quality control services for the voice, weather fax, and NAVTEX broadcasts from the CAMSLANT stations in VA,
Miami, Boston, Georgia and New Orleans. It will soon be extended to the CAMSPAC stations in
Alaska, Seattle, California, Hawaii and Guam.

AUXMON is just starting in PACAREA, and the entire program will be more fully described in the April edition of "Up Top in Operation." (not yet published)

See what Sector Upper Mississippi is asking Auxies to do in regards to emergency comms.

Once they admit that "HF" is the way to go, it should only take a little longer to discover another legacy communications medium: CW !!!

RiverAux quoted the DirAux 8WR newsletter in a few threads.

There is an intriguing Comms reference in it also.

quote:

The TAIT programmable radios are taking longer to program and distribute then I
anticipated. The DSO-CM will continue to work toward this goal and get them out to
you as soon as possible. I apologize for the wait.

From what I can find Tait makes Public Safety (ie government) radios not Marine VHF FM radios. The reference to programming also suggests these are public safety radios not Marine radios. I wonder what 8WR has going on out there? Maybe a repeater system.

The ARRL Southern Florida (SFL) Section Manager (SM) posted her June Report. There is a section in there from the State of FL dealing with comms volunteers that Auxies might be interested in - especially since FL is the largest part of the 7th Aux District - the largest district in the Aux. BTW - an SM in the ARRL is positionally equivalent to a DCO. ARES is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service

Here is the news (italics, bolding (whatever) added by this poster):

quote:

ARES TRAINING
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR ARES MEMBERS

The following comments are clarification from John Fleming at the state EOC regarding training for ARES members and ARES leadership:

Here are the requirements for amateur radio operators to belong to the Florida State Emergency Response Team (FLSERT). These requirements are in compliance with the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security and of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and apply to all potential disaster responders, volunteer and professional. The listing below identifies the various categories of potential responders as they apply to amateur radio. ARES membership is preferred and recommended but is not an absolute requirement. We also have added the EMCOMM training of the American Radio Relay League. This is not in the DHS/FEMA guidelines but is a League recommendation and one that is being applied in nearly all states in the Country. Any person not meeting these requirements will not be eligible for deployment, participation, reimbursement, liability protection, etc.

quote:

Operators that will be deployed locally only or operating at home stations: ARRL EC-001 Level 1, NIMS IS 100 and NIMS IS 700.

Operators likely to be deployed away from their County, ARRL or ARES Officials at the local level (AEC, EC, RACES Officer), Gateway Station Operators, Local EOC Station Operators or Liaisons: The above plus: ARRL EC-002 Level 2 and NIMS IS 200.

ARRL or ARES Leadership at the District Level, Deployed Operators with Management or Supervisory Assignments, State or Federal EOC Liaisons: The above plus: ARRL EC-003 Level 3 , Revision 2, Plus, in FY 07, ICS 300.

ARRL or ARES Leadership at the Section, Division or National Level, State or National ESF-2 Representatives: As above, plus: FEMA IS 800.A National Response Plan, plus, in FY 07, ICS 400.

The background on the EMCOMM courses is at: http://www2.arrl.org/cce/courses.html

quote:

County agencies can do what they want for local volunteers but they are facing the same requirements as the state and if a local agency is not compliant, it will detrimentally affect their funding so I suspect that all Florida Counties will soon be in compliance.

The Aux would have trouble trying to deploy its watchstanders in FL with anyone but the CG since it has no equivalent to the ARRL EMCOMM courses - AuxCom doesn't even come close. AuxCom covers some material that an Amateur radio operator learns while getting his Technician or General class license.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FL51D7,

Although NACO Steve stated that the Aux is not a emergency first responder in the Proceedings article, I thought you still might want to follow some recent developments in the NIMS/ICS area. One of the reasons I follow the CAPTalk Emergency Services & Operations forum is they tend to take this stuff more seriously then the Aux. They are even better at it then most Amateur Radio sites.

So the new developments (brought to you via CAPTalk) are:

NIMS Five Year Training Plan V2 an 80 page document. There is a lot of good stuff in that document, but to call attention to one item on pdf page 6:

quote:

Personnel-qualification guidelines will provide a national standard model for credentialing organizations and will eventually be the foundation for a national credentialing system.6 While the NIC is in process of developing this national credentialing system, stakeholders hold the responsibility and authority for issuing credentials. However, once the NIMS implementation is mature (including a mature state for the National Training Program for NIMS), participation in national incidents will require credentials based on personnel qualifications that meet or exceed the NIC guidelines for personnel qualification.

Dig thru this document and the others to follow. See how often ICS300 is mentioned and then consider that the Aux plans on offering its own stripped down version. Sorry guys but that course will not cut it in a national credentialing system and the Aux will be SOOL for participation in national incidents. But it may not matter since NACO publicly stated the Aux isn't a first responding agency.

Draft Revised NIMS-August 2007

There are some items in here that could effect the Aux and might be some of the reasons NACO said the Aux wasn't a first responder. For example,

pdf page 20:

quote:

d. Personnel Qualifications and Certification

A critical element of preparedness under NIMS is the use of national standards that allow for the use of common or compatible structures for the qualification and certification of emergency management/response personnel. Standards will help ensure that these personnel possess the minimum knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to execute incident management and emergency response activities safely and effectively. Standards typically include training, experience, credentialing, validation, and physical and medical fitness. Federal, State, tribal, and local certifying agencies, and professional and private organizations with personnel involved in emergency management and incident response are encouraged to credential those individuals for their respective disciplines and/or jurisdictions. The baseline criteria for this voluntary credentialing will be established by the NIC and will detail the standards associated with the minimum thresholds for specific emergency management positions, allowing those credentialed personnel to participate, as needed, in national−level incidents.

Except for a very easy swim for boat crew and a slightly tougher swim for air positions the Aux does does not require any specific physical fitness standards for its memebers. It doesn't even enforce its own uniform rule ie- to wear the uni you must present a 'trim, military appearance'.

pdf page 24:

quote:

2. Interoperability
Communications interoperability allows emergency management/response personnel and their affiliated organizations to communicate within and across agencies and jurisdictions via voice, data, or video on demand, in real time, when needed, and when authorized. It is essential that these communications systems be capable of interoperability, as successful emergency management and incident response operations require the continuous flow of critical information among jurisdictions, disciplines, organizations, and agencies.

The Aux is busily building a VHF/UHF repeater system on CG frequencies. It is building an HF network on CG frequenies. It uses Marine VHF. Basically the Aux is interoperable with the CG and no one else. It even expired the MARS MOU which is moving toward interoperability in a big way. I guess that is another reason the Aux isn't a first responding agency - it isn't authorized nor does it have the frequencies to talk to anyone but itself and the CG.

pdf page 29:

quote:

Each emergency management/response personnel participating in emergency management and incident response activities should follow recognized procedures and protocols for establishing interoperability, coordination, and command and control.

The Aux has no standard procedures (check the manuals) in most areas for positon reporting, starting/terminating a patrol (surface or air). If there are written procedures (tried by AuxAir7) the procedures are ignored (listen to the radio and hear it) and nothing is done to bring the violaters into compliance. Until the Aux can standardize its own procedures and enforce them - it isn't ready for prime time or the big leagues of emergency response.

quote:

b. Common Terminology, Plain Language (Clear Text), Compatibility
The ability of emergency management/response personnel from different disciplines, jurisdictions, organizations and agencies to work together depends greatly on their ability to communicate with each other. The use of common terminology is about the ability of emergency management/response personnel to communicate clearly with one another and effectively coordinate activities, no matter what the size, scope, location, or complexity of the incident.

The use of plain language (clear text) in emergency management and incident response is a matter of public safety, especially the safety of emergency management/response personnel and those affected by the incident. It is critical that all those involved with an incident know and utilize commonly established operational structures, terminology, policies, and procedures. This will facilitate the achievement of interoperability across agencies/organizations, jurisdictions, and disciplines, which is exactly what NIMS is seeking to achieve. All communications, whether oral or written, between organizational elements during an incident should be in plain language in order to ensure that information dissemination is timely, clear, acknowledged, and understood by all intended recipients. Codes should not be used, and all communications should be confined to essential messages. The use of acronyms should be avoided during incidents requiring the participation of multiple agencies or organizations.

Policies and procedures that foster compatibility should be defined to allow information sharing among all emergency management/response personnel and their affiliated organizations to the greatest extent possible.

enough said about that

Just when you had completed ICS700 and ICS 800 they go and change it from the National Response Plan (NRP) to the National Response Framework (NRF)

Click thru to the site, since there are several documents available.

I still have some question in my mind as to the extent to which the CG Aux (or CAP) are bound by the NIMS requirements in the first place. About a year ago I was reading through the Presidents directives that made NIMS federal policy and I think there was a pretty broad exception for the military. If my interpretation was correct then both auxiliaries may be exempt considering that they would be participating in such responses under the auspices of the military. Now, that doesn't mean that they or their military supervisors couldn't decide to implement part of NIMs.

You may have some question but Commandant Collins certainly didn't question it. See ALCOAST 008/05: RELEASE OF THE NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN

The critical para to your concerns:

quote:

THE COAST GUARD WAS HEAVILY ENGAGED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NRP. BECAUSE OF OUR BROAD AUTHORITIES IN THE MARITIME ZONE AND SUBSTANTIAL RESPONSE CAPABILITIES, THE COAST GUARD PLAYS A VITAL PART UNDER THE PLAN, BOTH IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR CONTINGENCIES IN THE MARITIME DOMAIN AND IN A SUPPORT ROLE FOR OTHER EVENTS. THE NRP APPLIES ACROSS CG CONTINGENCIES AND COMMUNITIES. THE APPROACH TAKEN IN THE NRP IS CONSISTENT WITH MY DECISION TO CONSOLIDATE TO SECTORS.

Also see COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 16000.27: ALIGNMENT WITH THE NATIONAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN

quote:

5. DISCUSSION.
a. Commandant’s Intent. The Coast Guard will actively prepare for and, when necessary, respond in accordance with the NRP using our full suite of emergency authorities and capabilities. The Coast Guard will be ready to operate in accordance with the NRP and will complete all necessary planning adjustments by September 30, 2005, as required by Reference (c).

page 3. The reference section of the above document references other documents regards the USCG and NIMS/ICS. Rest your concerns - NIMS/ICS is fully appliable to the USCG and therefore the Aux - several Commandants have said so. The only known exceptions are some international treaties provide for a different structure and/or terminology for international serarches.

Whether NIMS/ICS applies to the USAF and CAP isn't someting I'm familar with.

Well, the things I read may have said Department of Defense in particular.

The directive you cite certainly indicates that we have just scratched the surface of requirements that will be imposed on the Aux to get in compliance with NIMs.