OPERATIONS / KNOW THE STRUCTURE

Communications with a purpose.

Understand the organizations, prepare for your role, and work within the requesting organization’s plan.

EMCOMM

The shared discipline

Emergency communications includes planned, backup and supplemental communications. Practice concise voice procedure, written traffic, accurate logs and safe station operation.

Prepare your station

AUXCOMM

A broad support framework

CISA uses AUXCOMM for organizations and personnel providing communications support to emergency management and other agencies. It is broader than any one club or radio service.

Read CISA guidance

LOCAL COORDINATION

Start with the agency

Ask your county emergency management office or program coordinator about registration, training, exercises, credentials and how assignments are issued.

Visit ADEM

DISTINCT PROGRAMS / SHARED PREPARATION

ARES and RACES are different.

Program comparison — confirm current local requirements
Program	Framework	Your next step
ARES	ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service organizes licensed amateur volunteers for communications service.	Use ARRL program information to find the appropriate local organization and its requirements.
RACES	Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service operates under FCC § 97.407 and the responsible civil defense organization.	Confirm enrollment, authorization and operating procedures with the responsible government authority.
AUXCOMM	An inclusive communications-support concept. Training and qualification are coordinated by the relevant authority.	Review CISA resources and ask the sponsoring agency about its current pathway.

ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service ↗ · RACES: 47 CFR § 97.407 ↗ · CISA Communications Unit resources ↗

ARKANSAS RACES

Use the state’s guidance.
Confirm the local plan.

The published Arkansas Emergency Communications Annex discusses auxiliary communications and RACES in the state’s emergency communications framework. It is a planning reference, not a current roster or permission to deploy.

Arkansas Emergency Communications Annex ↗
Arkansas Division of Emergency Management ↗

ADEM restricted full automated reading during research. Search-index excerpts were available; verify the current document directly with ADEM.

Before accepting an assignment

Confirm who requested support and your reporting location.
Verify the incident communications plan and supervisor.
Bring required identification, training records and equipment.
Understand check-in, safety, logging and demobilization procedures.

Participating in DEARG or reading this site does not confer RACES enrollment, credentials or deployment authority.

SHARES / HIGH-FREQUENCY RADIO

Another path when communications fail.

The SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency Radio Program is operated by CISA. It supports national security and emergency preparedness communications using participating organizations’ HF radio resources when conventional communications are disrupted.

SHARES supports interoperability, backup communications and situational awareness through voice and data capabilities. It is a government radio network, with a separate framework from amateur-radio ARES and RACES activities.

Official CISA SHARES program ↗

Participation & authorization

Access requires registration with the SHARES Program Office. Eligible participants include specified government agencies, critical infrastructure providers and qualifying disaster-response organizations. An amateur radio license alone does not authorize SHARES operation.

Review CISA’s current eligibility and registration instructions with your organization before planning participation. This website does not establish DEARG membership in SHARES, and no SHARES channels or operating assignments are published here.

CISA registration information (PDF) ↗