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1992-1994 RACES Bulletins

  • Starting in 1992, all of the RACES bulletins were classified into 1 of 6 separate topic categories: Management, Operations, Miscellaneous, Training, Technical, and Time-Sensitive (later deleted because their content is dated in nature).

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The Committed Volunteer (RB272-274)

5/3/1993

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The services of any volunteer group hinges on the success of appealing to and utilizing the skills of the individual, rather than stressing conformity of the whole into one rigid mold. This is more applicable to communications volunteers than to, say, law enforcement or fire suppression volunteers.
We have discussed previously the broad areas of specialization in which a communications volunteer may serve: administrative, operational, and technical.

As their administrator you may not be familiar with the three levels of activity in which your volunteers may choose to serve. It is our aim to describe these to you and discourage casting all volunteers in to one performance mold, so to speak.

The one common and underlying thread that motivates all dependable volunteers is a strong sense of duty. They will be the last to admit this to you, but it is a commitment to duty that motivates them. This is particularly hard to be understood by paid employees with no experience with volunteers; particularly by or among those employees who cannot understand why anyone would want to volunteer for work which they themselves do not particularly enjoy. The sad truth is that few people work day to day at something they really like and derive a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. The biggest single reason governments do not have a volunteer program is that the professional staff person does not understand, recognize, and subscribe to this concept. They, of course, seldom see these words (the RACES BULLETINS) because, if they have no volunteers, there is no delivery of these weekly volunteer program management bulletins.

Just as there are three communications service areas -- administrative, operational, and technical -- there are also varying degrees of activity from one volunteer to the next.

Some people are required to perform on what we will call a CONSTANT basis. A RACES Radio Officer, a CAP communications officer, or a volunteer CD communications officer puts in a lot of time. He or she does their work at your office, at home, and at their own office. It is not at all unusual for these administrative volunteers to put in 16-30 hours a week.

These same people plus another type of volunteer serve on a SCHEDULED basis. These are the people who are required to serve at a specific time and place on a repetitive and scheduled basis. This might be for weekly radio schedules, paper work at headquarters, training, and other frequently scheduled activities.


Other people may serve only when they are needed to perform INFREQUENT and usually unscheduled tasks. A few examples include extra operators for a major incident, installation or maintenance activity, computer programmers, special projects, etc. I use as an example one volunteer we have who is a computer communications program expert. If a terminal hangs up we may need his advice fast. One phone call and the problem is usually cleared in minutes. His advice is invaluable and priceless. He does not come in to the office and serve. He may respond into the field on an incident perhaps once a year. But you can see how it's impossible to put a price tag on his value to us without his having to meet radio nets or serve some expected hours per month.

You and, more importantly, your Radio Officer will know the capabilities and talents of each volunteer. It's your Radio Officer's responsibility to recruit enough people with the likes and skills to provide depth and redundancy.

As your Radio Officer's supervisor it is your role to motivate, lead and inspire. Let your volunteers be the best they can be --- and they will!

--- Stan Harter, KH6GBX
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    RACES Bulletins

    CA State OES began the Bulletins in the early 1950's to assist agencies and radio operators to become more familiar with RACES. They were issued periodically until 1985, at which time they began to be issued weekly over voice and digital radio systems of Amateur Radio and in print. Originally intended for California, increased demand, and a 1988 request by the ARRL for national distribution, led to their eventual worldwide distribution.

    Archives

    December 1994
    November 1994
    October 1994
    September 1994
    August 1994
    July 1994
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    January 1994
    December 1993
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    January 1993
    December 1992
    November 1992
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    August 1992
    July 1992
    June 1992
    May 1992
    April 1992
    March 1992
    February 1992
    January 1992

    Categories

    All
    1 Management Bulletins
    2 Operations Bulletins
    3 Miscellaneous Bulletins
    4 Training Bulletins
    5 Technical Bulletins
    ACS/RACES Plans
    Activation Of A Races Unit
    Administering The Flow Of Responders
    Agencies That Say NO!
    Agency Budget Planning By The Radio Officer
    Agency Mission Statement
    Archive And Additional Sources Of Bulletins
    Are YOU Trained Or Untrained?
    Bulletin Categories
    Bulletins-By-Topic Information
    Calling In Outsiders
    Comfort Is A Radio Officer
    Communications Shortfall
    Critical Incident Stress
    Declared & Undeclared Emergencies
    Demobilization
    Direction Finding In The Races
    Don't Ask Me To Do That -- I'm A Communications Expert!
    Do You Ham A Problem?
    Ema Assistance Available
    EMA /Volunteer Partnership
    Exercise Technique
    Familiarization And The Eoc
    Fcc Rules Part 97 Races
    Fema Funds Short Fuse
    Fire Training
    Follow The Chain Of Command
    Glossary For Communicators
    Helicopter Use
    How Hams Didn't Use Ham Radio
    How Long And How Soon?
    Information Unused??
    Is It True What They Say?
    Keys To Successful Operations
    Management Philosophy
    More Opportunities To Use Your Races
    Must A Radio Operator Own A Radio Station?
    New Amateur Radio Callsign For Ca State Oes
    Nifc Boise
    No Exercise Is EVER A Failure!
    Observations
    Official Relay Stations
    Participant Classification
    Policy: FEMA & The RACES
    Portable Radio Batteries
    Principles Of Management For The Radio Officer
    Protecting Digital Terminals
    Races Activation
    Races Cannot Be Confined To One Department
    RACES In Action - Non-Emergency Events
    Races Mission Varies With The Jurisdiction
    Radio Officer Category
    Radio Officer Liaison
    Radio Officer Or Races Radio Officer
    Responders And Their Vehicles
    Responder's Checklist
    Responding To A Call-Out
    Semantics
    Skill Categories For Communications Volunteers
    Skills Inventory By The Radio Officer
    Solution Or Problem?
    Solving The Impossible
    So You Want To Equip An EOC?
    So You Want To Help?
    Strengthening Your Emergency Services Staff
    Strike Teams
    Successful Races Units
    Team Building
    Teamwork
    Techniques
    Tell It Like It Is!
    The Buddy System
    The Committed Volunteer
    The Fcc One Hour Rule
    The Importance Of Planning
    The Manager's Resource Data
    The Mission Of The Races
    The Need To Inform Government Officials
    The Net Control Station
    The Radio Officer As A Manager
    The Use Of Outsiders
    Too Much Of A Good Thing?
    Traffic Vs Information
    Training Ideas
    Unit Activities
    Using Volunteers In Your Comm Center
    Volunteerism?
    Volunteers
    We Wait But No Calls!
    What Are Some Of The Problems With RACES Nets?
    What Is A Responder?
    What Leads Them To Serve?
    What Officials Need To Know
    What's RACES?
    Who Activates The RACES?
    Who Makes The Decision
    Why Not Multiple RACES Membership?
    Why Packet Radio?
    Why Simplex Frequencies?
    Wildfire Roles
    Wild Fire Volunteers

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