Northern Florida Section Meeting
State EOC, Tallahassee, Florida
June 27, 2006

Attendees:
Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, SM
Joe Bushel, W2DWR, SEC
Bobby Tyree, KG4KGX, DEC, West Panhandle
John Warne, K4KAM, Alachua County
Dave Davis, WA4WES, DEC, Capital
Rick Palm, K1CE, ASM, East Central
Bill Sander, KA4DBP, DEC, Crown
Bill Everett, KG4ZJT, EC, Jackson
Ricky Whittington, KD4AST, DEC, East Panhandle
James "Kimo" Montague, K4IMO, SEOC Staff
John Fleming, WD4FFX, SEOC Staff

1. The meeting commenced at 1330 in Conference Room 131 at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida. Rudy Hubbard conducted the meeting, which was hosted by EOC staff members Kimo Montague, and John Fleming. The agenda was circulated, and discussions followed.

2. Rudy Hubbard opened the discussions by explaining the purpose of the ARES organizational structure and section plan. He emphasized the fundamental concept of the county EC having total responsibility for the functioning of his/her county program, and reiterated the section policy of supporting any and all modes of communication for ARES operations.

3. He discussed the purpose and functioning of the State Tracker System, which provides for the registration of needs by counties, and the subsequent assignment of assets with tracker numbers. John Fleming demonstrated the system for the meeting attendees. The state staff coordinate Amateur Radio needs with the SM and/or SEC.

4. Rudy Hubbard discussed the Section net structure and activation policies, emphasizing that the main section-wide emergency net is activated only by the SM and/or the SEC, when needed for the relay of gateway station communications from the districts and counties into the state EOC amateur station. Joe Bushel pointed out that some districts may have two gateway stations, based on their geographical size. Communication policies are meant to be flexible, however, and can be modified as the situation dictates.

5. It was emphasized that the state EOC is not involved in lower level incidents, which are managed by the county and district entities. However, if the state EOC is asked for assistance, the tracker system is employed. John Fleming emphasized the importance of good relationships between the county Emergency Management officials and the county ARES program. The state EOC formally communicates directly with the county Emergency Management official only.

6. Rudy Hubbard informed the group of the interests of the Southern Baptists in promoting Amateur Radio within its organization for communication needs in its feeding functions.

7. Rudy Hubbard called for reconciliation of disputing factions within the section so that the Amateur Radio emergency communication community to focus on the mission of serving disaster agencies.

8. Discussion ensued over the need to pre-plan and coordinate the use of radio amateur by served agencies that tend to usurp the management of these volunteers, undermining the authority of the designated ECs and DECs. The specific example of the Red Cross was discussed in this light.

9. Rudy Hubbard discussed the need for county ECs to compile inventories of their ARES members' capabilities for resource typing and formation of "jump teams."

10. A brief discussion of Hurricane Katrina activities followed, with the State of Florida officials concluding that they would not be sending assets out-of-state again, due to the need for having enough assets here in the state for disaster responses. Rudy Hubbard explained that the teleconference calls held every morning during the Katrina response were very helpful for coordination as the situation unfolded.

11. John Fleming stated that the AB2M data base of deployable assets worked well for referring resources. In the future, notices of deployments will be better communicated to the affected ECs and DECs. John emphasized that the state EOC will not be involved in deploying radio amateurs in future events, stating that the function should be performed by a national-level entity.

12. A protracted discussion of the training and certification of deployable radio amateurs lead to the conclusion that the FEMA courses IS-100 and IS-200, or IS-700 be required along with the ARECC Level One course. John Fleming said that the State has made grants to counties to fund these training courses. It was also felt that ECs and above should also have the IS-800 course from FEMA.

The group concluded the discussion of the training function by stating that radio amateurs must practice their training in exercises.

13. John Fleming said he and his staff have traveled extensively to large Amateur Radio meetings and conventions around the state to promote training, coordination, and support for Amateur Radio functions in emergency and disaster events, which was noted with appreciation by the group.

14. The group discussed the status of RACES in the state with no conclusions reached. The state officials offered that there is no state RACES program.

15. John Fleming noted the "extraordinary improvement of relations between the radio amateurs and State officials over the past 10 to 15 years," a point that was well-received by the group.

16. An in-depth discussion of the current Northern Florida ARES Plan ensued, focusing primarily on the need to merge the ARES Levels of Alert with the State Levels of Alert. John Fleming said that the current Plan is good, and ARES needs to follow the plan during activations. He suggested that the existing District, County and any City ARES Plans be appended to the Section-wide plan for informational purposes.

17. The group noted the excellent job performed by Joe Bushel, W2DWR, as SEC for the Section, and his desire to retire from that position to concentrate on other personal goals. Rudy Hubbard presented his plans for a possible new SEC and other long range planning.

18. The meeting was adjourned at 1530 local time, with the group thanking Rudy Hubbard and the state officials Kimi Montague and John Fleming for their efforts in conducting and hosting the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,


Rick Palm, K1CE