so we had a pretty serious windstorm roll through the county last weekend and our ARES group got activated for the first time since i joined about 8 months ago. i've been going to the weekly nets and did the ICS-100 and 200 courses online like they asked but honestly nothing really prepares you for the real thing.

the EOC called us in around 6pm and i was assigned to a shelter about 12 miles from the main site. just me, my HT, a mag mount on the car, and a clipboard. i had no idea how much time you spend just... waiting. like hours of nothing and then a burst of traffic and you have to have your head in the game immediately. i fumbled my callsign on the first transmission because i was nervous and the net control was super patient about it which i appreciated.

anyway overall it went fine, the shelter assignment was manageable and i felt useful at least a little bit. just curious if other people remember their first activation and what caught them off guard. also wondering if there's anything i should add to my go bag — right now it's pretty minimal, just the radio, spare battery, some coax, logbook and snacks basically

that nervousness on the first transmission is so real, i think everyone fumbles something the first time. i remember blanking on the phonetic alphabet mid-message during a flood activation years ago, just completely went blank on the letter F for like 3 full seconds. net control was gracious about it but i still think about it lol

for your go bag — the thing that saved me more than once is a good headlamp with fresh batteries, like clip it onto your logbook bag so you always know where it is. shelters can get chaotic with lighting. also a small power bank for the HT if you're gonna be there more than a few hours. and honestly a printed copy of your local ARES frequencies and the simplex calling channels because when things get hectic you don't want to be scrolling through a programming list on a tiny screen trying to remember which repeater is the backup.

sounds like you did great for a first activation. the waiting is the job, people dont realize that until they're actually sitting there in a folding chair at a middle school gym at 10pm

welcome to the club, the waiting thing is no joke. i've been with our county ARES group for probably 6 years now and some activations are wall to wall traffic and some you basically just prove the link works and sit there. both are valuable honestly, EOC needs to know the comms path is solid even if they end up not needing it much.

one thing i'd add — if your group doesnt already do tabletop exercises between real events, maybe suggest it to your EC. we started doing quarterly tabletops and it made a huge difference in how people handle the actual thing. stuff like simulated message traffic, practicing formal NTS-style messages if your group uses those, figuring out who's actually comfortable with what roles. a lot of guys show up to the real activation not sure if they're supposed to be handling ICS forms or just relaying voice traffic and that confusion costs time.

also i keep a change of clothes and a small thing of instant coffee in my bag now. learned that the hard way after a 14 hour winter shelter assignment. just saying.