Requirements to be an “active” ARES® member | 2018 East Central Georgia District ARES

Step 1: Active ARES® membership

To become an active ARES member, you must complete three (3) activities:

(1) Fill out an application and

U.S. mail to John MacDonald, K4BR – 100 Tennis Court Cir – Waynesboro, GA 30830
or scan/email (.pdf only please) to john@k4br.com.

(2) Pass the “open book” Georgia ARES^® Basic Communications Test (free)
This test takes only about 45 minutes.
All info required to pass this test is in the study material. There is no time limit on the test.

The test may be found at http://arestest.org
The study material may be found at http://www.arestest.org/gwinnett_ares_basic_training.pdf

(3) Demonstrate participation by documenting at least three activities from any of the following within a 6 month period:

SET – counts for three activities
Checking into “The CSRA ARES® Net” on the 147.12 MHz (+600 KHz, 71.9 Hz tone) Wrens, GA repeater at 4:00 PM every first Sunday of the month.
Participation at a medical facility on a first Sunday afternoon – email john@k4br.com for info.
Check into a state net especially on first Sunday afternoons each month.
Attend the GA State ARES^®Meeting in Forsyth in January – counts for three activities
Possibly other activities of which you will be notified in the future.

Level 1 and Level 2 ARES^® members

The information on this page is applicable only for AROs in these Georgia and South Carolina counties: Burke, Columbia, Glasscock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Taliaferro, Warren, Wilkes and neighboring counties in the CSRA of South Carolina.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service^® (or just ARES^®) is a corps of trained amateur radio operator volunteers organized to assist in times when there is need for emergency communications.

Being an ARES^® member in the 21^st century requires a certain amount of training and also participation. There are two levels of ARES^® membership in the Georgia State Amateur Radio Emergency Service^® – Level 1 Operator and Level 2 Operator.

Level 1 Operator – Level 1 is the entry classification which is a prerequisite for attaining the Level 2 operator classification. If you’re not already an ARES member, we’ll make it easy for you to be a member at the bottom of this page and also help you achieve Level 1 status as soon as possible.

Here are the requirements for a Level 1 “op:”

Radio Amateur in good standing with valid Amateur Radio License (any class)
Willingness and ability to provide emergency communications.
Must complete an application for ARES^® member membership, sign the application and submit it to your county’s EC or the district’s DEC (john@k4br.com).
Know how to log into the Georgia State ARES^® Database at https://gaares.org/cgi-bin/login.pl
1. Each ARES^® member is responsible for keeping his/her contact information in the Georgia State ARES^® Database up to date.
2. Each ARES^® member is responsible for sending proof of training certificates (.pdf or .jpg only please or forward your confirmation email from the Georgia/Gwinnett Basic Skills Test) to his/her EC or DEC (john@k4br.com) for posting in the Georgia ARES^® Database. “If it isn’t in the Georgia State ARES^® Database, it didn’t happen.”
3. Each ARES^® member is responsible for checking the database periodically to ensure that all information is as they expect it to be.
A professional manner that includes exhibiting a professional appearance. While there are legitimate exceptions when shorts, t-shirts etc. may be appropriate, it should be assumed that business casual is the default manner of dress at any hospital, nursing home, EOC, etc.
Completion of one of these two courses:
1. the Georgia ARES^® Basic Emergency Communications Test (free)
  1. http://www.arestest.org/gwinnett_ares_basic_training.pdf for study material
  2. http://arestest.org to take the ARES^® Basic Skills Test
    or
2. the ARRL Emergency Communications Course EC-001 (Cost is $50).
Active registration with GHA911.org (https://www.gha911.org) and WebEOC.
See http://burkecounty.us/gha911-all-active-ares-members-must-register/ for instructions.
Participation in training, meetings, exercises and weekly training nets.
1. An ARES^® member with little or no activity in any 90 day period will be contacted by the EC.
2. An ARES^® member with little or no activity in any 120 day period will go on “inactive” status.
Knowledge of commonly accepted amateur radio practices.
Skill in acting as a net control operator.
Familiarity with passing traffic, both by voice and by digital means.
Active participation in one or more of the “1st Sunday of the month” Georgia ARES^® nets. See https://gaares.org/frequencies-gaares.php and click on “Net Schedules.”
Hospital operators only:
Completion of training in HIPAA Privacy guidelines (possibly every two years)

NOTE: #’s 13 & 14 have not been required of us.

Level 2 Operator – Here are the requirements for a Level 2 “op:”
1. Meet all requirements for Level 1.
2. Possession of a General, Advanced or Amateur Extra class license.
3. Qualified for the GA ARES badge.
4. Demonstrated skill in performing the stations’ full operational capabilities.
5. Participation in continuing education emergency operations training programs.

If you’re not already an ARES^® member, please join now!

We will make it easy for you… Just call our coordinator John MacDonald, K4BR, at 706-466-5646 and he’ll get you kicked off in the right direction.

John will:

email an application to you or you may download it here:
http://burkecounty.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/east_central-ga-ares-registration.pdf.
set you up in the Georgia ARES^® database including a login and password.
answer any questions you might have.
help you get started in the right direction in order to quickly attain Level 1 status.

Level 1 and Level 2 ARES® members

Level 1 and Level 2 ARES^® members