Hawaii ARES

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is made up of Amateur Radio operators, who register their equipment and qualifications with ARES. These operators provide volunteer communications services in times of disaster or civil emergency.

The ARES national organization is comprised of smaller regional organizations, each being within an ARRL Section. This web page serves the Hawaii Section, covering the entire state of Hawaii, managed by the Hawaii ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC).

Hawaii ARES is segmented into four counties, which are aligned with Hawaii Bureau of Homeland Security Regions. Each county is organized into districts, each having an assigned District Emergency Coordinator DEC) or Emergency Coordinator (EC).

Hawaii ARES members participate in NET (i.e. Network or on-the-air information gathering) operations, exercises and training. These activities may be organized at the statewide, county or district levels.

ARES is open to all Amateur Radio operators. You don't need to be a member of the ARRL to join ARES.

Please join us! Amateur Radio operators can enroll in the Hawaii Amateur Radio Emergency Service by doing the following:

1. Register in the HawaiiARES Database  

2. Join HawaiiARES groups.io : https://hawaiiares.groups.io/ 

Amateur Radio Operator Qualifications

ARRL membership is not required to become a member of ARES. Any Amateur Radio licensee may register as an Hawaii ARES member. There are no registration fees or dues associated with ARES membership.

Amateur Radio operators may participate in training in order to obtain qualifications beyond that of holding an Amateur Radio license. Such qualifications enable an Amateur Radio licensee to participate in Hawaii ARES at a higher level of service. Hawaii ARES Amateur Radio operators are encouraged to obtain additional training.

The primary sources for Amateur Radio operators to obtain qualified training include both the ARRL and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute. Training resources for both of these organizations can be found under the Training tab.

Recommended training includes:

ARRL Training
EC-001: Introduction to Emergency Communications
EC-016: Public Service & Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs
EC-015: ARRL Public Relations

FEMA Training
ICS-100: Introduction to Incident Command System
ICS-700: Introduction to National Incident Management System
ICS-800: Introduction to National Response Framework
ICS-200: Incident Command System for Single Resources & Initial Action Incidents

Amateur Radio’s Emergency Communications Role

Amateur Radio's role in Public Service Communications and Emergency Communications is declared within the purpose of Amateur Radio defined in the Code of Federal Regulations:

CFR Title 47, Part 97.1

Basis and purpose.

The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an Amateur Radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:

Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
Expansion of the existing reservoir within the Amateur Radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.
From a practical, and operational perspective, Amateur Radio provides several resources and capabilities to Incident Commanders. Among these are:

A pool of fixed, mobile and portable stations that can augment communications systems, or to put in place a communications system where non exists, such as providing communications with disaster evacuation locations.

Communications infrastructure, with a wide range of capabilities, that can be used in place of other failed infrastructure.

Amateur Radio is not a replacement for Public Safety or governmental agencies, but acts to serve agencies in a subordinate capacity. It enables Public Safety agencies to focus on their primary role, maintaining critical Public Safety radio services.

Amateur Radio is particularly well suited to serve logistical communications requirements of an Incident Command and to provide communications that can be used as a replacement for failed public communications infrastructure. It can provide communications services to non-governmental agencies, such as the Red Cross, in time of disaster. It is to these missions that the Hawaii Amateur Radio Emergency Service is committed.