Local nets will be published and coordinated via county emergency coordinators.
SITUATION
The MS Section of ARES will conduct the statewide SET on Saturday 6 August 2022 from 7AM-7PM.
Disruptive factors simulated during the Test:
- A wide area Cyber Attack on Infrastructure and the Internet in the Mid-South
- Emergency Communications Support for served agencies and utility service providers
- Hardline and Wireless Communications Infrastructure Disruptions
- Major disruptions of internet-based communications systems
AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR ROLES
ARES and Non-Member ARES operators will provide simulated emergency communications in support of Public Safety, Public Service, State, and Local Government entities from 7AM-7PM on 6 Aug 2022.
PURPOSE OF THE SET
The main purpose of the SET is to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in Amateur Radio emergency preparedness as well as to demonstrate amateur radio to our served agencies and the public.
ACTIONS DURING THE EVENT
- ARES team members will be operating from home stations, mobile and portable locations. We will deploy to EOC's and at other served agency locations during the SET.
- We will be using HF, VHF, UHF, Analog Voice, SSB, Digital voice and data.
- County Emergency Coordinators will be responsible for the actual SET operations in their respective county(s) as well as the rallying efforts of the supporting ARES teams and other amateur radio operators in their local and regional areas.
- ARES Team members will provide emergency and welfare communications between local emergency responders, other public safety, and public service organizations.
- The overall control of the SET is by the MS Section Emergency Coordinator (KC5IMN). The SEC will maintain control of the event via a script that defines a cyber event, its impacts, and mitigations over a 12-hour period on 6 Aug 2022.
MISSION
It is the mission of the Mississippi Section Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) to serve as the coordinating point for amateur radio operators and their served agencies in the event of a communications emergency.
ARES is a national level volunteer organization whose purpose is to serve the public by providing licensed, certified, and competent Amateur Radio communications to federal, state, county, and local government agencies, as well as to nonprofit disaster relief organizations.
The primary activity of ARES is to provide emergency communications during disasters or remarkable events such as severe weather (hurricanes, flashfloods, ice storms), power failures, large area events (parades, marathons, races, walks, bicycle tours), etc. During an event, ARES will supplement public service communications or stand in the place of primary normal communications when other channels become unavailable. ARES will operate before, during, and after major disasters.
EXECUTION
Each Emergency Coordinator should strategically station their supporting amateur radio operators to maximize their ability to communicate with state and county emergency operations centers (EOC) as well as impacted public safety and public service organizations to pass simulated emergency and health/welfare traffic via voice and digital modes.
SET SCENARIO AND SCRIPT
The SET Scenario this year is a Cyber Event impacting the entire state of Mississippi.
OUR EVENT
Adversaries against the United States will launch a coordinated cyber-attack on or about 6 August 2022. Any internet communication service in the state of Mississippi is susceptible to disruption during this 12-hour event. Think about other disruptions to:
- Gas stations,
- Grocery stores,
- Electricity providers,
- Hospitals and Emergency Room services
- Commercial air and ground transportation,
- Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems
SCADA systems are software and hardware elements that allow industrial organizations to: Control industrial processes locally or at remote locations. Monitor, gather, and process real-time data via internet connectivity.
For 2022, we are incorporating YSF and DMR hotspots along with regional and local HF NVIS voice and data networks. I hope to persuade individual operators to go mobile and activate high-level locations to deploy temporary repeaters, digital hot-spots, or work simplex comms. Also, we want to run a couple of hours where all stations use emergency or backup power and no more than ten watts ERP (or less) for that timeframe.
The SEC will keep the event tactical in nature announcing specific impacts via local and regional radio links. Receiving stations must relay the simulated impacts reports back to the MSN/MSPN and digital HF/VHF networks for statewide distribution.
The exact script for the exercise will not be released until the day of the event and then only in phases as the day progresses (several day’s events will be jammed into this 12-hour script). Specific guidelines for responses and passing traffic will be rolled out just prior to the event and for this year, online reporting of contacts will be required after the SET is complete.
GOALS
● Your goal is to establish voice and data communications with and for state and county emergency management organizations and served agencies at as many EOC’s as we can activate.
● We should operate via the modes and bands listed above, but also reach out to your elected/appointed officials in your county and hand deliver to them the ARES SET Briefing letter; so, they can know who we are and what we are doing.
Individual DEC’s and EC’s, AEC’s, and Net Control operators are free to ad-hoc their responses and simulated traffic around the elements of this event. However, unlike previous SET’s in Mississippi, the SEC will be sending out routine and emergency notifications to ARES team members with specific communications tasking. Understanding that there can be only limited use of landlines, cell phones, or internet communications to pass traffic for this event. To get credit for the use of emergency power, an operator must really use emergency power for the times that you participate in this event.
Before 7PM 6 Aug 2022, we hope to have simulated an emergency communication for as many counties in Mississippi as we can. We also hope to coordinate with our adjacent state’s ARES organizations and pass simulated traffic back and forth with them.
COMMAND AND SIGNALS
The MS Section ARES SEC will be in command of the SET for the duration of the event.
Signal Instructions and information- always be safe and respectful of other people and operators as for the duration of the SET. All FCC rules apply regarding the passing of simulated and test radio traffic. All transmissions should be prefaced with and indicate that this is a drill, it is not real, and it is only a test. All transmissions should end with this caveat that they are only a test.
An example could be, “AA1NA from KC5IMN, this is a test, this is not real, this is a drill, Hinds County EMA is reporting the need to open emergency lodging for stranded travelers on Interstate 20. Request immediate assistance from county and state road crews. This is a drill, this is not real, this is a test.”
The use of tactical callsigns is encouraged if every station identifies fully every 10 minutes.
Command and Control- The Section Emergency Coordinator, Robert Hayes KC5IMN, shall initiate and terminate the event with a voice call over 3862 KHz to the on-duty net control operator. That net control operator will be responsible for the outflow of event information to all the DEC’s, EC’s, Served Agencies and their EOC’s.
Real Emergencies- If a real emergency occurs during the SET, KC5IMN, AA1NA, or W5XX (Malcolm Keown, Section Manager for Mississippi) can terminate the SET and allow ARES members to respond to their local served agencies.
HF Voice Frequencies in use:
- 3862KHz (MS ARES PRIMARY),
- 7238KHz (MS ARES Daytime 40 Meter), and
- 53715 KHz (Intra-State 60 Meter Coordination Net)
Local nets will be published and coordinated via county emergency coordinators.
ICS-205 Form for MS ARES is HERE
Digital Workflows and frequencies for this SET are located HERE.