RACES
| RACES | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service |
| Established | 1952 |
| Sponsored by | Local, state and federal emergency management (civil defense) agencies |
| FCC rules | Part 97, Subpart E (§97.407) |
| Operating | |
| Who may operate | Licensed amateurs enrolled with a civil defense organization |
| Stations | Ordinary amateur stations, registered with that organization |
| Drill limit | One hour a week; longer exercises with state approval |
| War emergency | Can continue, on specified frequencies, if the President invokes war emergency powers |
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a part of the amateur service, defined in the FCC's rules, in which licensed hams provide communications for government emergency management agencies, called civil defense organizations in the rules. Unlike ARES, which is a private volunteer program run by the ARRL, RACES belongs to government: a RACES unit is set up and activated by a city, county, state or federal emergency management agency, and its operators are registered with that agency. Together with ARES, it is one of the two main organized forms of emergency communications in the United States.
The rules
RACES is governed by section 97.407 of the FCC's amateur rules, in Subpart E, "Providing Emergency Communications". The main points are:
- Registration. A station may transmit in RACES only if it is a licensed amateur station certified by a civil defense organization as registered with that organization. Its control operator must hold an amateur license and be certified as enrolled in the organization. RACES uses ordinary amateur licenses and call signs; the FCC no longer issues separate RACES station licenses.
- Frequencies and modes. In normal times, RACES stations may use any frequencies and emissions their control operators are licensed for, shared with all other amateurs.
- What may be sent. RACES traffic is limited to the agency's emergency business: messages about threats to public safety, the immediate safety of life, protection of property, relief of suffering and need, and the agency's own emergency mission, plus authorized training drills and tests.
- Who may be contacted. RACES stations may communicate only with other RACES stations, amateur stations registered with a civil defense organization, and government and other stations authorized to communicate with them.
- Drills. Drills and tests are limited to one hour a week. With the approval of the state's chief emergency planning officer, longer exercises of up to 72 hours may be held no more than twice a year.
War emergency powers
RACES was created in the early years of the Cold War, when civil defense planners expected that in wartime the President could shut down or restrict private radio stations under the war emergency powers in the Communications Act of 1934. RACES was the arrangement that would let trained amateurs keep operating for civil defense in that situation. If those powers are invoked, ordinary amateur operation could be restricted or suspended, while RACES stations may continue to transmit, but only on specific frequency segments set out in the FCC's rules for that case.
That scenario has shaped the rules but rarely the daily work. Today RACES units are activated mostly for natural disasters, severe weather, large planned events and other local emergencies.
How RACES works in practice
A RACES unit is usually organized by a county or city emergency management office, and sometimes by a state. It is typically led by a radio officer appointed by the agency, often a volunteer. Members complete the agency's registration, which may include a background check, an identification badge and agreement to its policies, and they operate from the emergency operations center, from shelters or from field sites the agency assigns. Because they are registered agency volunteers, RACES operators may have access to facilities and equipment that other volunteers do not. In some areas they are also trained to work with non-amateur systems such as public-safety radios, under the broader approach known as auxiliary communications (AUXCOMM).
RACES and ARES
The two overlap heavily, and in many counties the same hams belong to both. A local group may call itself "ARES/RACES", working as ARES for most events and as RACES when the emergency management agency activates it.
| ARES | RACES | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | The ARRL, a private organization | Government emergency management agencies |
| Defined by | ARRL program guidelines | FCC rules, §97.407 |
| Serves | Many agencies: emergency management, hospitals, the Red Cross, the National Weather Service | Only the agency the operator is enrolled with |
| Activated by | A served agency's request, through the local Emergency Coordinator | The emergency management agency |
| If war emergency powers are invoked | Subject to any restrictions on amateur operation | May continue on specified frequencies |
Training is largely the same for both: the FEMA Incident Command System courses, regular nets, formal message handling and public-service events.