so i've been a licensed ham for about two years now and finally joined my county ARES group maybe six months ago. been going to the monthly nets and the occasional training exercise but honestly i wasn't sure i was actually absorbing anything useful until last weekend.

we had a pretty significant storm come through and the county EOC actually called us up. like a real activation, not a drill. i was assigned to the shelter at the middle school and spent about four hours doing health and welfare traffic and relaying resource requests back to the net control at the EOC. nothing crazy but it felt really different from the training nets. there's something about knowing its actually real that kind of sharpens your focus.

anyway i just wanted to say for anyone who's been on the fence about joining their local ARES or RACES group - just do it. the training starts to make sense once you're actually in it. i still made a few fumbles, forgot to ID at one point which my EC gently pointed out after, but overall felt like i actually contributed something. weird feeling honestly, good weird.

thats awesome man, congrats on your first real activation. the first one is always kinda surreal right? i remember mine was a flooding situation maybe three years after i got licensed and i was so worried about messing up procedure that i had my ICS forms basically taped to the table in front of me lol. you get over that quick when things start moving.

the ID thing happens to everyone especially when youre concentrating on traffic. honestly your EC sounds like a good one if they waited till after to mention it rather than calling you out on the air. ive seen some groups where that kind of correction would have been way more awkward. sounds like you found a solid team.

I've been involved with ARES for going on 12 years now and the one thing I always tell new members is exactly what you just described - the drills and training nets feel a little abstract until you're sitting in a shelter with real people who need something and you're the link. That's when it clicks. The procedures that seem overly formal during training suddenly make a lot of sense when there's actual noise and stress around you.

Also don't beat yourself up too much about the ID. Everyone does it at least once. The important thing is your EC noticed and told you, that's what good mentorship looks like. Keep showing up to the nets and exercises and before long you'll be the one helping orient the newer folks. It goes fast.