so i've been a member of our local ARES group for about 8 months now, been showing up to the nets and training exercises but hadn't actually been activated for a real event yet. last weekend we supported a county-wide search and rescue operation and man, it was a completely different experience than any of the practice stuff we'd done.

first off, the ICS stuff they make you do in training actually matters. like i kind of rolled my eyes at having to take IS-100 and IS-700 online but when the incident commander was talking about net control positions and check-in procedures it all clicked. our EC had us set up a packet link between the EOC and one of the field teams which i'd only ever done in a parking lot during a simulated emergency so doing it for real with people actually depending on it was a whole different feeling.

the thing that caught me off guard was just how much waiting there is. i expected it to be nonstop radio traffic but there were long stretches where nothing was happening and you just had to stay focused and ready. one of the older guys in our group told me thats pretty normal and the boring stretches are actually a good sign because it means things are being managed well.

anyway if anyone is on the fence about getting more involved with ARES or RACES i'd really encourage it. the training is worth it even if activations dont come up that often in your area. curious if others have had similar first-activation experiences or if mine was pretty typical

yeah that waiting thing is so real and nobody warns you about it. my first activation was for a marathon event, way less serious than SAR obviously, but same deal - i sat at a water station for like four hours and maybe passed a dozen messages total. felt almost guilty for how little there was to do but the event coordinator told us afterward that having us there meant the regular public safety channels stayed clear, which was the whole point.

the ICS training is one of those things where i completely understand why new people groan about it because sitting at a computer doing fema modules is not exactly exciting ham radio. but you're right, when you're actually embedded with an agency and people are using terms like net control, logistics section, all of that - you're glad you at least know what they're talking about. our group requires all members to have IS-100, 200, 700 and 800 before they can be activated and i think thats the right call even if it feels like a lot upfront.

this is actually really helpful to read, ive been meaning to join our county ARES group for like a year now and keep putting it off. didnt realize the online coursework was kind of expected - is that something you do before joining or is there usually some flexibility on timing? also does your group do regular drills or is it mostly just showing up to nets? our local group does a simplex net on tuesday nights but i honestly dont know how active they are beyond that