Those with backgrounds in a 'radio' service, such as the Civil Air Patrol and Amateur Radio, have certain traits of IMMENSE value to a jurisdiction; such as:
- a habit of helping those they have never met
- innovative and highly resourceful
- dedicate long, selfless hours in pursuit of excellence
- make mental associations others miss - a factor of critical importance in emergencies
- want to work in their local government emergency management agency and other Public Safety agencies in the broad communications-related field
- have a history of "finding a need and filling it." This has included such mundane roles as fax, copier, telephone and other system support, even equipment delivery and installa- tion in emergencies, including satellite.
- sometimes participants have extensively equipped personally owned vans they put make available in times of need
- natural problem solvers, often providing solutions to situations that seem impossible of solution, especially in emergencies.
For instance, where an OES communications unit could not maintain contact with its base through a mobile relay station over a hundred miles away. An ACS radio team was deployed to solve the situation. Enroute, the driver, a radio engineer, computed mental calculations for an antenna as he drove. An associate cut and assembled a makeshift wire antenna soldered with a small 12 volt soldering iron from his travel kit. At a local hardware they bought three 10 foot lengths of PVC pipe. On arrival they assembled a 30' pipe, taped the wire antenna (a vertical VHF-Low Band) on the pipe and put the PVC pipe on a second story roof of a nearby building. Result: 100% communications, designed and manufactured enroute by resourceful Amateur Radio licensees who were active in that government's on-going ACS program. It was no big deal, but it does illustrate the trait of resourcefulness.
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