Section Emergency Coordinator Charles Chandler WS1L

Contact Info:
22 A Street
North Adams, MA 01247
chandlerusm@gmail.com

I’ve been a ham since 1983. I started with 2 meter FM, then the DX’ing bug bit and I got hooked, hard. That led me to CW as a preferred mode, then to DXCC and finally to Honor Roll. I also contest a bit. The photo above is me at the K1TTT Superstation in Peru, MA during a recent multi-multi contest effort. I’m on the air most every day. You can find me on the low end of 80 meters rag chewing on CW between 5 and 7 AM. In the evenings I tend to be on 20, 30 or 40 depending on where I can find other stations.

My public service began in 1980, as a part-time summer officer with the Plymouth Police Department. That turned into a full-time position in 1985 and I retired in 2005 at the rank of Captain. My wife Stacie and I moved south and by 2006 I was a lieutenant with the University of Southern Mississippi Police Department, where I served until I retired in 2020 at the rank of Assistant Chief of Police.

My career has involved me in a large number of critical incidents and events, and I have served in a number of ICS roles including Operations and Planning Section Chiefs and Incident Commander. I’ve been a part of responses to things like NCAA Division I FBS football games, NCAA Baseball Regional Championships, Category 4 hurricanes, EF4 tornadoes, and incidents of civil unrest and major criminal incidents. For most of those we used an ICS command format integrating multiple agencies across all disciplines.

Since retiring and moving back home to W1-land I have been volunteering in the radio gang aboard the museum ship USS Slater in Albany, NY. Our last big effort was operating Museum Ship Weekend using all WWII-era gear from the key to the ships wire antennas. I’ve also been working part-time as a crime analyst with the Williamstown Police Department.

73 de Chuck, WS1L

Section Emergency Coordinator Appointment Description

The SEC is the assistant to the SM for emergency preparedness. The SEC is appointed by the SM to take care of all matters pertaining to emergency communications and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) on a sectionwide basis. The SEC post is one of top importance in the section and the individual appointed to it should devote all possible energy and effort to this one challenging organizational program for Amateur Radio. There is only one SEC appointed in each section of the ARRL Field Organization.

Requirements: Technician class license or higher; Full ARRL membership

Responsibilities:

  • Encourage all groups of community amateurs to establish a local emergency organization.
    Advise the SM on all section emergency policy and planning, including the development of a section emergency communications plan.
  • Cooperate and coordinate with the Section Traffic Manager so that emergency nets and traffic nets in the section present a united public service front, particularly in the proper routing of Welfare traffic in emergency situations.
  • Cooperation and coordination should also be maintained with other section leadership officials as appropriate, particularly with the State Government Liaison and Public Information Coordinator.
  • Recommend candidates for Emergency Coordinator and District Emergency Coordinator appointments (and cancellations) to the Section Manager and determine areas of jurisdiction of each amateur so appointed. At the SM’s discretion, the SEC may be directly in charge of making (and canceling) such appointments. In the same way, the SEC can handle the Official Emergency Station appointments.
  • Promote ARES membership drives, meetings, activities, tests, procedures, etc., at the section level.
  • Collect and consolidate Emergency Coordinator (or District Emergency Coordinator) monthly reports and submit monthly progress summaries to the SM and ARRL Headquarters. This includes the timely reporting of emergency and public safety communications rendered in the section for inclusion in QST.
  • Maintain contact with other communication services and serve as liaison at the section level with all agencies served in the public interest, particularly in connection with state and local government, civil preparedness, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross, Salvation Army, the National Weather Service, and so on. Such contact is maintained in cooperation with the State Government Liaison.
  • Section Emergency Coordinators are encouraged to complete ARRL Emergency Communications training Introduction to Emergency Communications (EC-001) and Public Service and Emergency Communications Management for Radio Amateurs.