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Home My WebLink AboutR.A.C.E.S. plan 1978 BRAZOS COUNTY, BRYAN, r COLLEGE STATION AND TEXAS A &M RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE PLAN (RACES Plan) E BRAtp t� . /�ry ' =i s 7 - d I ilIi\ ? ti # % am i (4.4 po DA,. A,. o f 6 tOlLECF v I '''' .., S \.. = OPERATIONS ,, • 1 t G TE XAS 4. N9 B R A Z O S C O U N T Y May, 1978 i BRAZOS COUNTY RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE PLAN OF OPERATION REFERENCES: Communications Act of 1934 - FCC Rules and Regulations - Section 97, Part F Brazos County Civil Defense Plan Bryan Civil Defense Plan College Station Civil Defense Plan Brazos County RACES Plan - General I. INTRODUCTION: In the event of a civil emergency, the commercial and governmental communications facilities within Brazos County would either be disabled or taxed beyond capability. Brazos County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is chartered by federal law to "Provide amateur radio operation for civil defense communication purposes . . . during periods of local, regional, or national civil emergencies." With this charter in mind, the amateurs of Brazos County must be trained and ready to assume their responsibilities. II. PURPOSE: This plan sets forth the specific manner in which RACES will provide communications to Brazos County in support of civil defense activities. III. GENERAL: There are four separate categories of civil emergency in which Brazos County requires RACES commun- ications support: County weather watch program Local disasters National disasters . National emergencies. -1- Any consideration about how to best provide required services must take into account the fact that within Brazos County there are three separate Emergency Opera- tion Centers (EOC), one each for the County, Bryan, and College Station. Depending on the situation, any or all of these EOC'S may require RACES communications. For example, routine weather watch activities would not require support to any of the EOC'S whereas an actual tornado strike would involve support to all three. Next to be considered is what specific communication services the community needs from RACES. There are two areas in which RACES is uniquely qualified to provide communications services: Short Range Mobile and Fixed Communications - Through the use of VHF equipment and the RACES repeater, reliable short range communications ranging from ten feet to one hundred miles are available for supporting a variety of contingencies. The Brazos County VHF RACES net is the central focus for this type of activity. State, Regional and National Communications - RACES, using HF equipment (fixed and mobile, regular and emergency power) can provide Brazos County with communications to any point in the state or country. Contact may be direct, or through nets established by the American Radio Relay League or the national RACES system. For example, RACES can provide the County Civil Defense Director and other officials direct contact with the State Department of Public Safety. Another important service available through this medium would be the handling of health and welfare traffic in the event of a disaster. The remainder of this plan will describe how RACES resources will be used to satisfy Brazos County's communications requirements. -2- IV. ASSUMPTIONS: For the foreseeable future, there will be three separate EOC's in Brazos County. Considering current capabilities, it is not feasible to have the Brazos County RACES Emergency Communications Center located in the Brazos County EOC. V. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS: (See Appendix II for net diagrams) General - The focal point of RACES activities will be the Emergency Communications Center (ECC). The Texas A &M University Memorial Student Center Radio Committee Club Station (W5AC) is designated as the Brazos County RACES ECC. With the exception of weather nets, the ECC will act as the primary net control station for all communications activities. The RACES officer will coordinate all communication services from this location. Interface with the three (3) EOC's and other local agencies, both fixed and mobile, will be by 2 meters either through a repeater or a simplex frequency. The W5AC repeater (146.22/82) is the primary RACES repeater. The back -up ECC is the home of the Brazos County RACES officer. The'back -up repeater is the Bryan Radio Club machine (146.07/67). Weather Watch Net - The Assistant RACES officer for weather (EC) is delegated the responsibility for implementing communications support to the Brazos County Weather Warning System. The weather net will use the W5AC repeater as primary, with the Bryan Radio Club repeater as back -up. The secondary back -up is 146.52 simplex. Appendix II, Figure 2 is the net diagram. In the event of threatening weather, the Brazos Valley Weather Warning System control operator will notify the EC. He in turn will notify the Net Control Station (NCS) operator and both will report to the TAMU Oceanography Build- ing. The NCS will bring a 2 meter radio, power supply, and -3- antenna. The EC will station himself in the radar room while the NCS goes to the observation tower. The NCS will immediately open the net and ask all stations to check in on standby status. The EC will monitor the situation and take action to bring the net to full alert status and direct the NCS to get reports and deploy mobile stations as require- ments demand. Requests for information will flow from the control operator to the EC to the NCS to fixed or mobile stations and return. Net stations will adhere strictly to good net procedure under the direction of the NCS. The NCS will keep a log of stations checked in and traffic passed. In the event of actual severe weather, the EC will immediately notify the RACES officer who will activate the overall RACES as needed to fit the situation. When the weather alert is over the EC will direct the NCS to secure the net. He or the NCS will provide the RACES officer with a copy of the net report. Appendix III shows current resources available within Brazos County and its environs which constitute the fixed and mobile capability of the net. Overall RACES Posture - Natural disaster or civil emergency - In the event of an impending or actual disaster or civil emergency the County Civil Defense Officer will notify the RACES officer. If he is not available, the Assistant RACES officer - HF will be notified. The RACES officer and NCS's will report to W5AC. Each EOC operator will report to his appropriate location. The VHF NCS will call up his net (essentially the same stations as the weather net). The HF NCS will bring his equipment to a state of readiness and stand by. The RACES officer will monitor the situation and provide communications as required by the Brazos County Civil Defense Officer. If there is a heavy volume of health and welfare traffic, the RACES officer will direct that a net be activated on 3905Khz. -4- ! Hurricane Support - If refugees are evacuated from the Gulf Coast to Brazos County, the RACES officer will provide communications as needed between the County EOC and: DPS highway roadblock teams Each evacuation center Evacuation center support agencies State agencies State traffic center Although capability is limited, a mobile communications team could be provided to the Gulf Coast in the event of a hurri- cane. The RACES officer will organize this team from available resources. The CAP communications van would become the RACES mobile communications van. VI. TRAINING: VHF Net - Normally, the VHF receives sufficient training by participating in activities associated with weather alerts. Other unscheduled training sessions will be as specified by the RACES officer. Overall System - The RACES system is exercised at least twice annually in support of: The Brazos County exercise. The American Radio Relay League Simulated Emergency Test. VII. ORGANIZATION: (See Appendix I) VIII. ALLOCATED FREQUENCIES: (See basic plan) IX. ALERTING PROCEDURES: (See Appendix IV) -5- APPENDIX I ORGANI ZATION -6- ORGANIZATION - KEY PERSONNEL County RACES Officer Thomas W. Comstock N5TC 1700 Dominik, CS 693 -1181 1 i Plans and Operations Communications - Maintenance David Cheek Marty Kirkland WA5MWD WA5TMN 502 1st N. 502 S. Coulter Bryan Bryan 846 -3281 779 -5889 1 Asst. for Weather - EC Assts. for Natural Disaster George Shearer Ed Hary WA5BKG WA5MKV 2605 Villa Maria 2205 Truman Bryan Bryan 779 -0669 822 -3296 1 Henry Menefee NCS - Weather Net Ld5RAS 1117 Edgewood Tom Jakubec Bryan N5ZR 846 -4894 715 Concho, CS 693 -9754 I 1 NCS - HF Bryan EOC County EOC Ed Hary James R. Leach Linton Jones WA5MKV WB5SSM K5KAZ 2205 Truman 1905 Beck 1617 Woodland Dr Bryan Bryan Bryan 822 -3296 779 -3413 823 -5365 NCS VHF College Sta. EOC Gary Luce George Huebner WB5YOT W5GDK 512 1st N. 1010 Walton Bryan College Station 846 -5590 846 -5475 -7- APPENDIX II NET DIAGRAMS -8- State, Region, Nation I HF NCS I EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER VHF NCS 1 1 1 RADEF College Stn Fixed *Wx Watch Net Rescue EOC Stations Shelters (App III) Emer. Feeding Emer. Housing Debris Con. Bryan Brazos Mobile EOC County Stations EOC (App III) *For weather net purposes, the VHF NCS will operate from the observation tower of the TAMU Oceanography Building, controlling its own fixed and mobile stations. The W5AC station will operate as a net check in station until such time as the RACES officer directs it to assume NCS for the county system. Figure I OVERALL RACES NETWORK -9- • • (INTERCOM) NCS Radar Room Fixed Stations Local W5AC Mobile Stations Fixed Stations (See App III) (See App III) Outlying Hearne Temple (WR5AET) Rockdale Brenham etc. Figure 2 WEATHER SUPPORT NETWORK -10- APPENDIX III RESOURCES -11- RESOURCES Local VHF HF Emg Name Call Cl Fix Mob Fix Mob Pow Remarks Texas A &M Univ W5AC E X X X X X 146.22/82 Club Station repeater Tom Comstock N5TC E X X X X Lim Alt ECC George Shearer WA5BKG G X X X David Cheek WA5MWD A X X Ed Hary WA5MKV G X X X X Henry Menefee W5RAS A X X X 146.07/16 Larry Smith WB5BPG A X repeater D Cuthbertson WA5UOV T X X George Huebner W5GDK A X X X X Marty Kirkland WA5TMN A X X George Dobson WB5ODL T X X X James Hunt K5ZXL G X X Motor home Linton Jones K5KAZ G X X X X X Excellent long range station Glen Hallmark W5AUT E X X Excellent long range station David Comstock WB5ODI G X X X 0. L. Pate K5GIC A X X Excellent VHF cap Don Ling WB5CK0 T X X James Leach WB5SSM T X X K A Freiburger WB5BBW A X X Jim Arndt N57A X Tom Jakubec N5ZR E X X X X David Jones WD5ACD G X X X Outlying Dennis Eli W5X0 E X X X Excellent VHF cap John Baggett WA5TKR A X X X George Sisson W5JWP A X Hearne Jerry Smith WB5PCO T X X Brenham 836 -6935 The above is only a partial list of stations and equipment. Other interested licensed amateurs in the county will be used as needed. -12- APPENDIX IV ALERTING PROCEDURES -13- ALERTING PROCEDURES Primary: Call up of net on 146.22/82, initiated by NCS as directed by RACES officer or one of his assistants. Secondary: Telephone or runners using following procedure Name Persons to Call Comstock Cheek 846 -3281 Leach 779 -3413 Luce 846 -5590 Huebner 846 -5475 Jones 823 -5365 Cheek Shearer 779 -0669 Hary 822 -3296 Kirkland 779 -5889 Shearer Jakubec 693 -9754 Hary Menefee 846 -4894 Other stations needed and not responding to the net call up will be contacted as directed by the RACES officer. -14-