So I passed my general last spring and joined our county ARES group back in the fall mostly because a guy at the club convinced me it was a good way to get more operating time and actually feel useful. Ive been going to the monthly nets and the occasional training exercise but next weekend is my first real activation — the county emergency management office is running a full-scale exercise with shelters and EOC and everything.

I guess my question is what do I actually bring, like beyond the obvious radio stuff. I know ill need my HT and probably my mobile rig if they want me at a fixed position but what about like paperwork and logging stuff. Do people still use paper logs for this or does everyone have some laptop situation going. Also how formal is it, do I show up in like a vest with patches or just normal clothes. I dont want to look like a total idiot showing up either way.

Our EC gave us a briefing sheet but it was pretty vague honestly. Just feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing and figured someone here had been through a few of these.

Relax, your first exercise is supposed to be a little overwhelming and thats kind of the point. I remember mine, showed up not knowing where to stand and ended up just shadowing an experienced op for most of the morning. Nobody expects you to know everything right away.

For gear I usually throw in a notepad and a few pens because no matter what, having paper backup is never a bad idea. ICS forms too if your group uses them — specifically the 214 for activity logs, your EC should be able to say if they want those filled out. Some groups do digital logging with things like WinLink or just a spreadsheet but paper still works fine for exercises. Dress practically, most of the activations ive been on people just wear normal clothes with maybe an ARES ID badge, though some folks do go full vest mode which is totally fine too. Just dont stress about it. Pay attention, stay off the air unless youre told to transmit, and ask questions when things are slow. Youll do fine.

yeah what he said. bring water and snacks too honestly, nobody tells you that and then you end up stuck at a shelter position for four hours wondering why youre cranky. also a fully charged battery pack for the HT, learned that the hard way at a flood response drill we did two years ago, had to borrow a charger from the red cross table which was embarassing