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Montgomery County ARES® / RACES (MCAR)
MISSION The mission
of MCAR is to provide auxiliary communications
in support of Montgomery County's Office of Emergency Preparedness,
Department of Public Safety, Communities and Public Service Organizations. VISION MCAR,
through its volunteer radio communicators, strives to be an effective partner
in emergency and disaster response, providing the citizenry and public
service partners at all levels with radio communications expertise, and
capabilities of professional communicators. PROGRAM Members of MCAR, (MCAR Operators) are Federal Communications
Commission Licensed Amateur Radio Operators from Montgomery County and
adjacent areas who are interested in serving the community. MCAR
encompasses the Montgomery County unit of the Amateur Radio Emergency
Service® (ARES®), a program of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), The
National Association for Amateur Radio®. ARES® is comprised of organized,
trained, and licensed Radio Amateurs who augment and support vital
communications on behalf of the public through partner agencies and
organizations during emergencies and disasters. ARES®, through its volunteer
radio communicators, strives to be an effective partner in emergency and
disaster response, providing the citizenry and public service partners at all
levels with radio communications expertise, and capabilities of professional
communicators. MCAR includes the Montgomery County Radio Amateur Civil
Emergency Service, (RACES), with the same leadership team. Nationally, RACES is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) of the United States government and is a part of the Amateur Radio
Service that provides radio communications for civil-preparedness purposes
only, during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies. These
emergencies are not limited to war-related activities, but can include
natural disasters such as fires, floods and earthquakes. HISTORY When Hurricane Agnes
struck Montgomery County in 1972, physical access and normal communications
to Pottstown, Norristown and many other Montgomery County Communities were cut off by the resulting flooding and damages. MCAR
operators staffed a trailer on the construction site of what is now the
Montgomery County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) providing vital Amateur
Radio communications until normal landline and other communications were
re-established. MCAR operators have
deployed to the EOC plus 20 Municipal EOCs during every Limerick Nuclear
Generating Station (LGS) FEMA/PEMA Evaluation Drill since 1986 by providing
primary, secondary and back up voice, data, video and internet
communications. MCAR operators were also
“On the Air” supporting Montgomery County and their communities during Super
Storm Sandy in 2012 and other numerous storms, power outages and hazardous
events. During the 2015 Papal
Visit to Philadelphia, MCAR operators deployed to multiple train stations and
provided the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety with live reports
of crowd, vehicular traffic, train capacity, arrival and departure times. MCAR has supported the Livestrong Challenge and numerous other Public Service
events. MCAR conducts an annual
Simulated Emergency Test, a monthly LGS Siren Report Net and weekly Nets to
check communications on multiple Amateur Radio frequency bands using voice,
data, internet and other communications modes. LEADERSHIP Richard Stewart, K3ITH,
District Emergency Coordinator, (DEC), RACES Radio Officer (RO) and
Montgomery County Auxiliary Communications System Radio Officer, (ACSRO) Chuck Farrell, W3AFV, Emergency
Coordinator (EC) Robert Griffiths, NE3I, Public
Information Officer (PIO), Past EC and RO Tom Nolan, W3EX, Asst. EC
Administration, MESH and IT, Past EC Rocky Pistilli,
N3FKR, Asst. EC Digital Comm and Training, Past EC Joe Frounjian,
W3OYJ, Asst. EC Net Manager Lou Marcelli,
K3EMG, Asst. EC, Technical Coordinator Al McCrae, Jr, KA3ODI, Asst. EC,
Technical Coordinator MEMBERSHIP Currently, more than 50 Amateur
Radio Operators licensed by the Federal Communications Commission serve as
Members of MCAR.
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