As part of upgrades to the ARES program, ARRL will phase out traditional hard-copy report forms in favor of an online system, ARESConnect-- a new volunteer management, communication and reporting system. The system will allow ARES members to log information for ARRL Field Organization handling but does not change how ARES serves partner organizations. ARES training also is due for enhancement.

Current Owen County ARES members should go to https://arrl.volunteerhub.com/lp/IN/ to register. Then notify Owen County Emergency Coordinator Jim Baughn K9EOH at k9eoh@arrl.net.

Goals include aligning the ARES organizational structure with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS). Emergency Coordinators (ECs) will continue to lead local ARES teams during an incident, with support from District and Section Emergency Coordinators.

Changes would encompass additional mandatory training to include ARRL Emergency Communications course EC-001 and the now standard FEMA NIMS/ICS courses IS-100, 200, 700,800 with IS-300 and 400 for higher levels. Other specialty training could include SKYWARN and agency-specific programs.

Training levels attained would dovetail with three new levels of ARES participation:

• Level One would be comprised of all entering the program with no training, while progressing through the ARRL emergency communications training and the FEMA Independent Study courses 100,200,700 and 800. Level One participants would be able to fulfill most ARES duties, with a target of attaining Level Two in 1 year.
• Level Two would be attained upon successful completion of these courses and would be considered the "Standard" level for ARES participants and would permit participant access to most incident sites and emergency operations centers (EOCs)
• Level Three would be attained upon completion of the advanced FEMA courses IS 300 and 400, which would qualify candidates for ARES leadership positions with full access as granted by the authority having jurisdiction. Both ICS 300 and 400 are delivered in a classroom only. These courses are not suitable for online training since they both require a high level of interaction among participants and completion of complex classroom activities in order to meet the training objectives.

ARRL Courses

Introduction to Emergency Communications (EC-001) - ICS 100 and ICS 700 prerequisites required.
Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs (EC-016) - The following prerequisites are required Skywarn Training, IS-100.b, IS-200.b, IS-700.b and IS-800.

Level Two attainment courses

ICS -100.C: Introduction to the Incident Command System - No prerequsits required.
ICS -700.B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System - No prerequisites required.
ICS-200.B: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents - ICS 100 and ICS 700 prerequisites required.
ICS-800.C: National Response Framework, an Introduction - No prerequisites required.