The Williamson County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, WCARES is an ARES group in Williamson County, Tennessee.
You must live in Williamson Co., Tennessee or one of the adjoining, middle-Tennessee counties: Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Hickman, Marshall, Maury or Rutherford, to be a WCARES member.
Membership requires participation:
- Members are expected to take part in our activities which include public service events in Williamson County. The intent is that members are developing technical and emergency management skills, and are building relationships within the WCARES community so that they can effectively contribute to our Amateur Radio Emergency Service, ARES, role.
- Members are expected to take the free ICS online training courses IS-100, IS-700, IS-200, and IS-800, and the National Weather Service SKYWARN course.
- Members are encouraged to take other ICS online courses and the online ARRL EmComm courses, and to progress through the ARRL (WCARES Version when available) Standardized Training Plan – ARES Communicator Individual Task Book, which is our roadmap for developing recommended skills and abilities.
- Members are encouraged to watch WCARES Media past presentations on YouTube, many of which deal with specific emergency management topics.
- Members are encouraged to learn and use Winlink Express and to check in to the WCARES Weekly Winlink Net, especially using Radio Frequencies (RF).
- Members who have demonstrated technical, emergency management, and interpersonal skills are considered to be qualified experienced members. These Members may be eligible to participate in Williamson County Emergency Management Agency activities, including activations and deployments.
The Application process to become a member is:
- Check in to a minimum of 2 consecutive RF WCARES Weekly Phone Nets.
- Complete and submit the WCARES application form within two weeks of completing the above-referenced RF Phone Net check ins.
- Have your application approved by the WCARES Emergency Coordinator (EC).
Members maintain their WCARES membership by taking part in at least the following activities:
- Check in to at least 1 RF phone net or 1 RF Winlink net, per quarter.
- Participate in two in-person WCARES meetings/events or EC-sanctioned non-WCARES events yearly.
The EC will periodically review member participation and progression. The EC may, at their discretion, drop Members from the roster who do not, at a minimum, participate in the above activities. The EC may consider specific circumstances.
Examples of activities that meet the intent of in-person participation include, but are not limited to:
- Attending WCARES Monthly meetings and workshops
- Teaching WCARES license classes
- Making presentations at the WCARES monthly meetings
- Participating in WCARES-supported public events.
- Participating in non-WCARES-supported public events, such as Jack and Back MS Bike Ride, is optional and does meet the intent of in-person participation
- Participating in WCARES summer or winter Field Days.
- Serving on the WCARES antenna crew (tower raising, tower disassembly, antenna installation).
- Participating in Williamson County Outdoor Warning Siren Test monitoring and reporting
- Participating in the WCARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET) and other exercises
- Completing FEMA or NWS classroom training.
Members may contact the EC to ask if other events could be considered as fulfillment of the recommended in-person participation activities.
Communications
New members are added to the WCARES Mailchimp email list for members and friends of WCARES. There is a monthly email newsletter and periodic reminder emails on events. Events are also listed on the WCARES Events Calendar.
Members and friends are encouraged to join the WCARES Discord server for casual and technical discussions, for listing of for-sale items, for breakfast and/or lunch details, and for direct ham-to-ham communications. Be sure to set Discord notifications “ON” for the WCARES Discord channels in which you are interested.
A separate email list communicates weekly activities, including breakfasts, lunches, and portable operations in a local park.
For more information on WCARES communications, contact the WCARES Communications Team Leader.
For information on these or anything else please ask during the phone net or use the Contact form.