so i finally got activated for real last weekend, not just a drill. there was a pretty bad storm system that rolled through and our county ARES group got called up to support the EOC and a couple of the red cross shelters. ive been a member for about 8 months now and done maybe three or four SET exercises but this was the first time it was actually real and people were actually depending on the net.

i have to say the training really does kick in. i was a little nervous on the way over but once i sat down at the shelter position and started checking in with net control it just kind of felt normal. the weird part was how much waiting there was between actual traffic, i guess i expected it to be more chaotic. mostly i was just passing welfare messages and doing periodic check-ins with the EC.

anyway just wanted to share because i remember when i first joined ARES i was kind of intimidated and wondering if id ever actually be useful. turns out you just have to show up and pay attention during the drills. if anyone is on the fence about joining their local group i'd say just go for it, worst case you meet some good people and learn stuff.

that first real activation is something you dont forget. i remember mine was a flooding situation back in maybe 2019, we had nets running for almost 36 hours straight with operators rotating through shifts. same thing you said about the waiting though -- a lot of it is just being there and available, and then suddenly you need to pass a message accurately and quickly and thats when it matters that you practiced.

one thing i'd suggest if you havent already is to get comfortable with ICS forms, specifically the ICS-213 for general messages. some served agencies are really particular about documentation and the more fluent you are with that stuff the more valuable you become to the EC. sounds boring but it genuinely makes a difference when things get hectic.

congrats on the activation. im still just doing the training nets at this point and havent been through a real one yet. can i ask -- did you need anything special equipment wise or did your basic HT setup handle it okay? my EC keeps telling me i should get a mobile rig eventually but right now im just running an HT with a better antenna and wasnt sure if thats going to cut it in an actual deployment.