So I finally got activated for a real event last weekend, not just a drill. There was a pretty bad storm system that knocked out power across a few counties and our EC called everyone in to help staff the Red Cross shelter and provide comms backup for the EOC since their main repeater was having issues with the backup generator or something, I wasnt totally clear on the details.

Anyway I've been a member of our local ARES group for about 8 months now and done maybe 3 or 4 training nets plus the ARRL SET last fall, but this was completely different. Like even just showing up and not knowing exactly where to stand or who to report to was kind of awkward. My EC was great but he was obviously pulling in a lot of directions at once.

I ended up on HF doing some traffic to a neighboring county group which was actually cool because I dont do much HF normally, mostly just 2m/70cm stuff. But I felt pretty useless for the first hour or so just kind of sitting there waiting to be told what to do. Is that normal for a first activation? I kept second guessing whether I should jump in or just wait.

Would love to hear how other people handled their first real deployment, whether it was a shelter gig or something else. Also wondering if there's stuff I could be doing now to feel more prepared for next time.

yeah that waiting around feeling is pretty much universal for first activations, dont let it throw you off. the honest truth is that real events are way more chaotic than any drill can really simulate, and even experienced operators spend a chunk of time just figuring out where they fit into the picture. the fact that you showed up and made yourself useful on HF is exactly what matters.

best thing you can do between activations is just stay active on the training nets and maybe volunteer to be net control once in a while even if it feels nerve wracking. also ask your EC if you can shadow them during planning or setup next time, that helps a lot for understanding the bigger picture of whats actually happening operationally. some groups also do ICS training which honestly made a huge difference for me in terms of knowing the chain of command stuff.

I remember my first activation vividly, it was a flooding situation and I drove 45 minutes to the shelter with all my gear and then basically sat in a corner for three hours because nobody had told me there was a sign in sheet or that I needed to check in with the shelter manager not just the ARES folks. little stuff like that can trip you up. the ICS 100 and 700 courses online are free and they actually do help you understand how you fit into the bigger response structure, not just the radio part of it. sounds like you did fine though, HF traffic handling during an actual event is not nothing.