The Western MA Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible for membership in the ARES. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a sincere desire to serve.

Because ARES is an amateur service, only amateurs are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership. To apply for membership, please register a new application in the Western MA ARES Member Registration and Record System. For any questions or other information related to Western MA ARES, please contact Section Emergency Coordinator John Ruggiero N2YHK.

Western MA ARES is coordinated extensively from the WMA ARES Yahoo! Group. All WMA ARES members and any persons interested in the WMA ARES program are invited to join. For information or assistance from Western MA ARES, please contact Section Emergency Coordinator John Ruggiero N2YHK.



The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), is a public service provided by a reserve (volunteer) group of Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Operators that is administered by local, county and state emergency management agencies, and supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States government. As a part of the Amateur Radio Service, it provides radio communications for civil-preparedness purposes only, during periods of local, regional or national civil emergencies. These emergencies are not limited to war-related activities, but can include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, power outages, floods, victim searches, air crashes, and many others.

The Massachusetts Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) organization is organized four regions along the geographic boundaries of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Each region's RACES Radio officer is responsible for developing and providing methods for the cities and towns in their region to communicate with their neighbors and to state government through the MEMA Region Headquarters.

For more information on the Commonwealth's RACES program, or to locate RACES contacts in your area contact State RACES Officer Tom Kinahan N1CPE.