The ARRL has released its after action report for the activations during the hurricanes last year. The biggest coverage is about Puerto Rico and the Force of Twenty-Two (rebranding). I found the individual section reports, Texas, Georgia, Florida, to be very interesting and useful. Anyone involved in public service and Emcomm might be interested. You can’t find the report on the ARRL web site. Do a web search for 2017 Hurricane Season After Action Report. There are links in the threads about the Force of Fifty, oops, twenty-two.
While the re-branding of us to the Force of 22 may seem appropriate to some, we, the Force of 50 will remember all of the 400 + that put their name in the hat. Yes, we were the first contingent of the 50 selected. Maybe we were Team 1 or A-Team. But we were nothing without all of you supporting us with thoughts and prayers, listening on the 40 meter freq we used, wondering what we were looking at, how we handled the day to day troubles. Most of us are still ready for the next call and my name is still on the roster I hope. 73 Andy ke0ayj / kp4aan
I wasn't involved in the ham radio world when PR happened. Reading through the report, I'm seeing lots of stuff about better vetting of volunteers. Was there some kind of major issue?
Overall, it was a pretty good team, but some members didn't have experience or training in emergency communications or skills for directed nets. The latter was usually exhibited through lack of prowords or ITU phonetics or listing traffic, i.e. precedence, routing. Very few were familiar with the ICS structure or standard forms, such as the ICS-213, or even Radiograms. Also, a few didn't have Winlink experience, or even a Winlink account, which could have created a major issue because Winlink was intended to be our primary mode of transmission. In the end, though, we were able to adapt, train on the fly, and get the job done. I'd go again, in a heart beat. And don't let Andy's self-effacing personality fool you, the guy is a stud! I'm honored to have served on the FoF with him. Someday I'll regale my grandchildren with tales of his exploits.
This is Heriberto Perez, KK4DCX, i was one of the local responders in San German PR to iniciate health and walefare traffic from family member across the continental USA. I want to thank more than 50 ham stations who joined me in this mission. To the men who served in PR, my honors to you, thanks for the extra help needed. God Bless
Heriberto, it was my honor and pleasure to handle a couple of batches of Safe & Well phone calls from you on 20 meters. You are a great role model of an EMCOMM HF operator. The experience of making those calls and hearing the often emotional gratification from the message recipients was breathtaking and unforgettable. 73, John, WØPV PS - here is the sound of KK4DCX in action with K2PAA https://instaud.io/25qn
My dear friend, i do remember your call. It was intense. Every minute felt like days. Thank you so muchas for your help. You are the hero on the other end. Blessing. 73
Absolutely true!! Im aware that many things failed. The day after the hurricane it was all panic mode. With very little time to think we had to organize a rapid response, we had rebuild from the little bit of what we had. On the morning of the second day after the hurricane, KK4DCX was on the air. Lack of trainning made matters worse, no one was ready for this one! Too bad i was unable To meet with you guys. I was located in a town near Mayaguez, about 20 minutes away, San German. Painful to say on day 6th my rig was stolen. KK4DCX was never to be heard again on the 20 meter band.
Yes!! Major issues. It seems that the Local government has no NIMS organized the way it should. Seems like Local authorities dont even follow proper ICS protocol. In my township it was pathetic! But if i open my mouth and speake my mind, its like preaching to the wind!
