www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

ARES
Amateur Radio Emergency Service

My experience on the Incident Management Team, the Emergency Operations Center, and Wildland Firefighting!     The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) states: "The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES)  consists of licensed amateurs who have Voluntarily  registered their qualifications and equipment, with  their local ARES leadership, for communications  duty in the public service when disaster strikes."

Jefferson County ARES
Region 1, District 6 (formerly D23)

Although I've always had an interest in ARES, and emergency communications in general (I was a Coast Guard Radioman in the 70s...), I didn't get involved until 2011 when Dave Rosenfeld (W7KJW/HP1XDR) invited me to a District 23 meeting in Jefferson County, Colorado. Although off to a slow start (thanks to my busy but fun travel and climbing schedule), during my first year I was able to participate in a radio alignment and repair workshop, satellite antenna alignment and test sessions, an amateur TV training class, and a variety of nets, meetings and other activities sponsored by D23. By the next year, 2012, I was certified as a Wildland Firefighter II and then, in 2013, I was accepted to the Jefferson County Incident Management Team. Due to some big life changes, and the passing of my friend Dave (mentioned above) in 2017, I withdrew from ARES in early 2018. Nevertheless, it was a grand experience I can't emphasize enough how dedicated, hard working and capable the hams R1 D6 are - they're always eager to provide service to our county and community and I'm very proud to have been associated with them!

Click Here for photos and information about my station...

Click Here for the International Morse code alphabet and phonetics

Click Here for my tribute to Morse Telegraphy!

Click Here for "Q" and "Z" signals

Click Here for my page about QRP and low power amateur radio!

NWCG Wildland Firefighter Training
(Natioanl Wildland Coordinatiing Group)
March 20, 2012 Field Day in Golden, Colorado

WBØJNR at NWCG Field Day

Okay, first for a clarification: I didn't get interested in ARES and wildland firefighting until I retired and completed the coursework at age 56. So, although I'm a rank novice when it comes to wildland firefighting I've grown extremely interested in it and am anxious to learn and experience a lot more. And, of course, I remain in deep admiration of those who have dedicated their lives to such work and mourn the loss of those who've died serving our communities. - Roger J. Wendell

Eyes in the Green, Head on a Swivel!

During my own training I was reminded of this life-saver countless times. It was also reinforced when I read this quote, in the August 2013 issue of Nature Conservancy (pp.26-27), when interviewer Courtney Leatherman asked Jeremy Bailey, one of the Nature Conservancy's top burn bosses, what it means; "The area where we do not want fire, we call it 'the green.' The area we are going to burn or recently burned is 'the black.' We remind [wildland firefighters] to stop looking at that beautiful fire. Youre head is on a swivel because you're always looking around for the next problem. When you're in the woods lighting fire or fighting it, you do not have room for error."

Me	Digging fire line	Trainees	Digging fire line	Practice fire shelters	Practice fire shelters
Brush truck	Brush truck	Brush truck	Brush truck	Pulaski	Flare gun

Radio Test Day

Once each year, before fire "season" starts, we get together to test, align, and repair
not only dozens of our own radios (usually Bendix King) but many for other departments
around the area as well. A big part of this, too, is the re-programming of radio channels
and frequencies to fit each agencies communications plan for the year. This particular
series of photos was taken in March, 2013 when we were still testing radios as the Colorado
State Forest Service's Golden Office - we have since moved this annual operation over
to facilities provided by Jefferson County...

Colin, Paul, Bill	Colin	Test gear	Dave, Jason	Scott, Colin, Stew
Chris, Scott	Paul	Chris and sons	Chuck (front view)	Chuck (rear view)
Bill, Scott, Nate	Colin, Paul	Victory!	The whole gang	Clamshells & Batteries

At the end of 2016 I had the pleasure of meeting former Hot Shot Brent Dawson at his home in Grand Junction, Colorado. I've been trying to twist his arm (a little bit!) to get some of the wildland firefighting stories he's been involved with and will post 'em here when they become available!

Training, etc.

The following ia s a rough log to help me keep track of
my ARES training, certifications, and related activities:

March 2015 - I completed the RT-130 Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher course at the Golden Fire Department July 2014 - I was assigned to the Emergency Operations Center team April 2014 - I completed the Severe Weather Spotter course(indtroduction and advanced) that's conducted by the National Weather Service March 2014 - I completed the RT-130 Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refrehser course at the Dakota building March 2014 - Assisted with VHF/UHF radio alignment and repair at Jefferson County's "Taj Mahal" February 2014 - I passed the "arduous" (45 minute/45 pound) pack test at the School of Mines' Steinhauer Fieldhouse in Golden February 2014 - Participated in JeffCo IMT spring training November 2013 - I assisted with the removal of EMWIN antennas from the Adams County Sheriff's Department September 2013 - I assisted, briefly, with flood response in Jefferson County September 2013 - I assisted, all day, with the Big Chili Cookoff in Evergreen, Colorado April 2013 - Completed S-158 RADO classroom training March 2013 - I completed the RT-130 Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refrehser course at the Golden Fire Department March 2013 - I passed the "arduous" (45 minute/45 pound) pack test at the School of Mines' Steinhauer Fieldhouse in Golden February 2013 - Participated in JeffCo IMT spring training January 2013 - Participated in the IDOT D-23/Jeffco IMT exercise on January 26th January 2013 - Accepted to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department's Incident Management Team January 2013 - Completed IS-100.b, IS-200.b, IS-700.a, and IS-800.b FEMA courses November 2012 - Assisted with EMWIN satellite system troubleshooting (through January 2013) October 2012 - Participated in ATV training at (and along the surrounding roads!) the Dakota building March 2012 - I passed the "arduous" (45 minute/45 pound) pack test at the School of Mines' Steinhauer Fieldhouse in Golden March 2012 - I completed S-130/190, I-100, L-180 for certification as a Wildland Firefighter II February 2012 - Assisted with VHF/UHF radio alignment and repair at the Colorado State Forest Service office in Golden January 2012 - Attended the D23 orientation meeting at the Dakota building

In April, 2014 I completed training as a severe weather spotter for the National Weather Service (NWS). And, just a few weeks later, in May, I became involved in live reporting as severe weather made its way through Colorado. The government's website described the weather spotter program this way: "The effects of severe weather are felt every year by many Americans. To obtain critical weather information, NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established SKYWARN® with partner organizations. SKYWARN® is a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service."

Some of my personal radio history:

Braggin' Rights: Who holds the Coast Guard's record for receiving Morse code?  - ME!
Coast Guard 40 wpm certificate. Armed Forces Day 25 wpm certificate. ARRL 20 wpm certificate. Ex - WN6CDA, at age 14, 1970 Ex - KH6JDO, Wahiawa, Oahu 1976 Amateur Extra Class license since June 1982 General Radiotelephone license since August 1990 Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit since 1995	WN6CDA circa 1971 (I learned the code at age 14 by memorizing it out of a dictionary!)
Click on this hand key to hear real Morse code! (227k .wav file) Coast Guard Speed Key Certificate Front Coast Guard Speed Key Certificate Back

Links:

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