so i finally got activated for real 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 around 10pm. i've been doing the monthly nets and the SET last fall but this was the first time it was actually real and i have to say the adrenaline is something else compared to just practicing.

we were stationed at the county EOC and i was handling HF traffic to a neighboring county while two other guys ran VHF simplex to some of the served agencies. honestly went smoother than i expected but there were a few things that caught me off guard. one was how long we ended up being there -- i packed for maybe 4 hours and we ended up doing almost 11 hours in shifts. nobody told me to bring food which sounds dumb but i just assumed it would be shorter based on the drills.

the other thing that tripped me up was ICS stuff. i know we did ICS-100 and 200 online but when the actual incident commander started talking about resource requests and check-in procedures it got a little confusing fast. i kept up but i felt like i was half a step behind the whole time.

anyway just wondering if others have tips for being better prepared for longer activations and also whether there are any ICS courses beyond 200 that are actually worth doing for an ARES member who isnt going to be an EC or anything, just a regular operator

congrats on your first real activation, that's a big deal and it sounds like you handled it well. the food/comfort thing catches almost everyone the first time, no joke. i now keep a small backpack basically pre-packed with snacks, a couple water bottles, ibuprofen, a phone charger, and a notepad that never leaves my go-kit. after one activation where i was running on vending machine coffee for 8 hours i learned my lesson pretty quick.

on the ICS question -- yeah absolutely do ICS-700 and 800 if you havent already. they're free on the FEMA independent study site and they fill in a lot of the gaps that 100 and 200 leave for people operating in an actual EOC environment rather than just the field. 700 especially helped me understand how ARES fits into the bigger picture when you're working alongside fire, public health, red cross people, all of that. some groups also do IS-200.c which is more hands on with the forms and paperwork side of things. none of it is super exciting to get through online but you'll feel a lot more comfortable next time when the IC starts rattling off ICS terminology

11 hours on your first activation wow. ours around here are usually pretty short unless its a major event so i havent had that experience yet. im still fairly new to ARES and havent been activated at all, just doing the weekly nets and waiting. reading stuff like this is helpful though, makes me think i should actually put together a real go bag instead of just assuming i can grab stuff from around the house last minute