N1CC Volunteer Experiences

Amateur Radio and Emergency Operations go hand-in-hand as volunteer experiences that allow amateur radio hobbyists to
take part in the community, local and internationally. This page provides notes on N1CC's emergency efforts from 1956-2007.

	R.A.C.E.S Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service	My first experience with RACES was in 1958, and was in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service. I operated as K6SXX from the Forest Service Fire Command Post in Yreka California in support of the "Slate Mine Fire" by providing VHF-Forest Service Base Station operator and linking with other R.A.C.E.S stations under the command of the Siskiyou County Radio Officer (Ed-W6NQA). More RACES ...
	A.R.E.S. Amateur  Radio Emergency Service	ARES operation was training for our local ham group. I was first active in June 1959 in reporting a fatal auto accident near my home in Mount Shasta, California as K6SXX/M. I reported the accident and rendered aid to the occupants during the interval between my reporting calls on 75 Meter AM Phone, over my ARC-5 Heising modulated transmitter and a Gonset BC-Ham converter feeding a center-loaded whip, to a near-by amateur and the arrival of the California Highway Patrol. My ARES "Elmer" was Bill, K6ZZA - Sadly SK in 2007. More ARES ...
	M.A.R.S. Military Affiliate Radio Systems (Army)	In 1958 the MARS area coordinator was Hal W6JDN, he was the ARRL SCM also. and in his MARS role he coordinated the provision of operators to the Presidio of San Franciso MARS Station, A6USA during the Sacramento River floods of 1958. I was able to speed a week at A6USA acting as net control and traffic handling for messages that were official to health-and-welfare traffic from mobile MARS members in the flood area. My first MARS callsign was AA6SXX. More MARS ...
	U.S.C.G.A. United States Coast Guard Auxiliary	I was asked to form a USCGA Flotilla for communications in 1974. With a cadre of Dallas Amateur Radio Club members I became the first Flotilla Commander (FC) of Flotilla 5-12, named "Garza-Little Elm". With ten members, we were an almost "boatless" organization that set up remote bases on 156.8 for distress services, helped maintain safety markers, such as bouys in navigable waters (such as Lake Texoma and the Red River), performed VHF radio watches, maintained antennas and radios for other USCGA Flotillas, conducted Courtesy Motorboat Examinations (Primarily inspection of radios, power measurement, frequency measurement to compliance to rules and regulations in effect at that time. My USCGA Callsign was NA8BX (Later reassigned to the amateur radio service callsign pool) and we operated a 10-Meter net just outside of the FCC allocation and above the CRS allocation on SSB and CW for training. More USCGA ...
	C.E.R.T. Citizens Emergency Reaction Team	I joined the Coppell Citizens Emergency Reaction Team (C-CERT) in the fall of 2004. I completed the FEMA-outlined CERT training program along with NE5LL, and we participated in the final certification exercise in December 2004. We were then active members of C-CERT. No ham radio support for C-CERT was allowed N1CC or NE5LL as the City RACES officer did not want to have us on his team because he did not teach us Ham Radio. Along that line, our activity in CERT was minimal, and by the time we moved to Cedar Creek Lake in 2005 we had not been called out. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita came along, we could not provide support as we were not allowed to join RACES. Since living in Henderson County Texas now, I am hoping to help "spark" some interest in CERT, RACES, and ARES among the very small ham population and small town Volunteer Fire Departments, no luck with developing CERT here yet.