so i finally joined our county ARES group about four months ago after sitting on the sidelines forever and just got word that we're being activated this weekend to support the county EOC during a winter storm watch. nothing crazy, just a watch not even a warning yet, but our EC said they want us staffed up just in case things escalate.

i've been to maybe five or six of the weekly nets and done two of the training exercises we ran in the fall, one of which was a simulated hospital comms drill which was actually pretty cool. but an actual activation is different i guess? i dont really know what to expect when i show up at the EOC. do i just bring my HT and wait around? my EC mentioned something about ICS paperwork but honestly that went over my head a little during the briefing.

anyone been through a first activation and have any tips? feel free to tell me if im overthinking this, its possible im overthinking this.

you're not overthinking it, first activations feel a lot bigger than they usually end up being, especially for a watch situation. most of the time you're just sitting at a desk, checking in on nets periodically, logging traffic if any comes through, and mostly waiting. the ICS stuff your EC mentioned is probably just the 214 activity log and maybe an ICS-309 comms log — honestly just ask your EC when you get there and they'll walk you through it. nobody expects a new member to have all that memorized.

bring something to take notes with, a printed copy of your local ARES frequencies if you have one, and maybe a snack because EOC duty can be slow. your HT should be fine for most tasks but if you have a mobile rig in your car that's worth knowing about too. mostly just show up, stay attentive, ask questions when things are quiet, and you'll be fine. the first one is always the weirdest just because you don't know the flow yet.

yeah what he said. i remember my first one and i was way too geared up for it lol. brought like half my shack in a bag. ended up just monitoring a repeater for six hours and eating vending machine coffee. not glamorous but that's kind of the point right, you're there so someone can say the comms capability is staffed.

one thing i'd add — introduce yourself to the served agency folks when you get there if you get a chance. the emergency managers sometimes dont really know who the ham people are or what we do and it helps to just be a normal friendly person rather than the mysterious radio guy in the corner. goes a long way for the relationship between ARES and the EOC long term.