Indiana Amateur Radio
Emergency Service
ARES District 1
Serving Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, and Newton Counties.
FACT: Following an absence of at least five years, perhaps seven to ten, depending on the County and the recollection of knowledgeable people, Indiana Amateur Radio Emergency Service District 1 (ARES D1) was reestablished on September 22, 2020 in Merriville, IN when three Lake County-based Hams concerned about the need for Emergency Communications (Emcomm) in the five-County area met and agreed on a way forward.
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ARES D1 is not associated in any way with any person or people claiming to have been or are providing or planning to provide Emcomm, using Amateur Radio resources, in one or more Counties, but who are not ARES D1 members, affiliates or associated with well-respected and known Emcomm related nationwide organizations such as MARS, SATERN, and others.
FACT: Indiana Amateur Radio Emergency Service District 1 (ARES D1) is the only officially recognized contingency, emergency and supplemental (auxiliary) volunteer communications organization within Indiana’s Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper Counties operated in accordance with the boundaries and under the auspices of the ARRL and its Memorandums of Understanding with:
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Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO-International) (9-1-1 Center personnel)
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Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
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National Weather Service (SKYWARN)
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Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) (TV, Radio, Internet Service and Cellular Providers, etc.)
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Department of Homeland Security Citizen Corps
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American Red Cross
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Salvation Army
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Civil Air Patrol (CAP)
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National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)
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Boy Scouts of America
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REACT (Radio Emergency Associated Communication Teams) International Inc.
FACT: ARES D1 is not a Club. It is an organizational structure that exists to coordinate, train and retain like-minded people (“members” and “affiliates”) who volunteer and cooperate with each other to provide modern, reliable, interoperable, accurate, resilient and timely contingency, emergency, and supplemental (auxiliary) communications; real-time severe weather observation data; resource position tracking and telemetry, ground-truth intelligence (“eyes and ears”), and serve as “force multipliers” for eligible governmental and non-governmental organizations during emergency incident response and short-term recovery periods, exercises, severe weather and special (public service) events.
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Although not a club, ARES D1 offers many of the same benefits of belonging to a club. They include:
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The sense of belonging and fellowship with one another.
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The ability to make new friends and maintain relationships with others.
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Having an organizational structure to help guide and support you when or as you desire, and more.
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Learning new things; keeping up with technology; keep the mind engaged and potentially delaying the onset of dementia or other mental impairment; experimenting with new methods that have potential for providing contingency, emergency, or supplemental communications, or otherwise support the ARES D1 mission.
FACT: The use of the words “apply” and “register,” or the words closely associated with either are often used interchangeably. ARES D1 has a Registration Form, not an Application. Becoming a member or affiliating with ARES D1 is a registration process, not an application process.
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This distinction is made because there is no vote on a prospective member or affiliate and ARES D1 is not a Club. It is an organizations structure which allows like-minded people of good repute to come together during emergencies, disasters, severe weather, training, and exercises, whenever supplemental (auxiliary) communications are needed, and special events in service to the public, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations working for the common good.
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Membership or affiliation with ARES D1 is based on the reasonable certainty that most people are of good character and have stable personalities. Legal Counsel has advised that ARES D1 reserves the right to reject any potential member or affiliate or dismiss any current member or affiliate for any reason or no reason. ARES D1 is under no obligation to accept volunteer service from everyone.
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Registration with ARES D1 does not compel any volunteer to perform any minimum number of hours to participate. Nor does it compel them to take any training or meet any level of qualification. These things are highly encouraged (but not required) to ensure ARES D1 personnel and the organization can operate and perform at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness in the pursuit of helping bring order to the chaos that often exists during emergencies or disasters and help save lives and property.
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Registration provides some advance assurance that ARES D1 has the capacity (number of volunteers) and capability (training, qualification, equipment, modes, software, etc.) to provide its services to agencies and organizations when requested.