Auxiliary Communications Emergency Service

Burnside Bridge Antietam Battlefield

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ACES - You may have heard of RACES or ARES� but not ACES.  What is ACES, why did it start, what purposes does it serve and if I wanted to join how could I?  Just click on any of the bookmarks below.

WHAT IS ACES
WHAT IS ACES HISTORY
WHAT ARE THE PURPOSES OF ACES
HOW CAN I JOIN UP

What is ACES? ACES is a group of volunteer amateur radio operators (and perhaps FRS, GMRS or CB) operators who have joined together to provide a communications service when there is a need for auxiliary communications.  In the event that an emergency situation  causes the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to be activated AND assistance is requested RACES is activated and all appropriately trained operators are  subject to call up for assignment as directed by the officials in the EOC

What is the history of ACES? 

Historically ARES and RACES existed as separate organizations in Washington County, MD (that is still true in many jurisdictions).   In early 1990 Charles Anderson, NF3X was the Emergency Coordinator (EC) for ARES and William Datum, KA3LBF was the RACES Officer (RO).  On May 14, 1990  Mr. Datum resigned as RO and recommended that Mr. Anderson become the RO.  This recommendation was accepted and thus ARES and RACES became a unified team ARES/RACES.  At some point in time Mr. Gary Swales, N3FCC became the EC/RO.  In 1999 Mr. Swales resigned and Mr. Robert Long, KD3JK and Mr. Carlo Belella, K3ABH became joint ROs. In 2011 Mr. Eigenbrode, NI2W, became the EC/RO and the leader of ACES.

Mr. Long and Mr. Belella began a discussing the possibly of applying for grants from various sources.  The exploration  of grants found that they were usually granted only to organizations that have been approved for a  501(c)3 status by the IRS.   Our ARES/RACES organization did not enjoy that status, nor was it incorporated.  The process of incorporation and gaining 501(c)3 status was begun.   It was soon found that the expense  of incorporation was beyond the groups non-existent treasury.  In the middle of these considerations the ARRL made it known that amateur emergency response groups should not use a name that included the word "ARES".   The search for an appropriate name began.  It was determined that RACES was a name of a group of authorized amateurs who have been ACTIVATED by the local Emergency Service, so RACES was not a name to be used.  We also tossed out the word Amateur, as some first responders see that as a less than appealing group to think about using.  Finally, Carlo suggested Auxiliary Communications Emergency Service or ACES,.  That name has stuck

About this same time the Antietam Radio Association (ARA), an incorporated club which, promotes Amateur Radio its activities and growth, began the process of gaining a 501(c)3 status.   The ARA gained their 501(c)3 status during 2008.

Now ACES is a sub organization within the Antietam Radio Association (ARA).    As a sub group, we encourage all of our members to consider seriously becoming a member of the ARA, but such membership is not required.  It is through the ARA that we can now seek tax free donations and grants.

What are the purposes of ACES?

The ACES team works to provide:

• assistance to the ARA in the development of new amateurs in the region.
• recruit new members for ACES.
• training for amateurs in net protocol and message handling.
• encouragement to our ACES members to get the appropriate training in emergency response (ICS 100,200, 700, CERT, SKYWARN, and the AREC courses offered through the ARRL.
• information to agencies that are involved in emergency response, but who do not have an MOU with ACES.
• training for the staff and personnel of served agencies.
• communications to served agencies upon request.
• communications for special events (at present we assist the Ride for the Youth, Brierman Triathlon, a Duoathlon and Triathlon at Ft. Richey and the JFK Ultramarathon) which assists our members in reviewing and practicing its net operations skills.
• nets for our members to gain information and practice net skills as well as promote fellowship between the members.
• RACES activity for the State  COMMEX drills and local COMMEX drills.
• other services as called upon.

How can I join up?

  You can complete the application and send it to us  or come to an ARA meeting and request an application.

This page contains answers to common questions about getting into EMCOMM response

Send mail to [email protected] with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright � 2012 Washington County ACES

 This page was last modified on December 12, 2012