Indiana Amateur Radio
Emergency Service
(ARES)
District 1
Serving Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper and Newton Counties

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Following an absence of five to ten years, depending on the County and the recollection of knowledgeable people, Indiana Amateur Radio Emergency Service District 1 (ARES D1) was reestablished on September 22, 2020 in Merriville, IN when three Lake County-based Hams concerned about the need for Emergency Communications (Emcomm) in the five-County area met and agreed on a way forward.
ARES D1 is not associated in any way with any person or people claiming to have been or are providing or planning to provide Emcomm, using Amateur Radio resources, in one or more Counties, but who are not ARES D1 members, affiliates or associated with well-respected and known Emcomm related nationwide organizations such as ARES, MARS, SATERN, and others.
ARES D1 is not a Club. It is an organizational structure that exists to coordinate, train and retain like-minded people (“members” and “affiliates”) who volunteer and cooperate with each other and operate from fixed, mobile, remote (virtual) and portable (temporary) locations to:
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Provide emergency/auxiliary communicators.
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Trained weather spotters.
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Emergency, disaster, search and rescue and special event supplemental information and intelligence, planning, logistics and liaison personnel.
All are trained, ready, willing and able to meet ARES D1’s mission, including operating any communications system, with proper authority, regardless of system ownership, to facilitate the efficient, reliable and effective exchange of modern, interoperable emergency, auxiliary and supplemental communications; incident support; and when requested, lead and coordinate emergent volunteers (Good Samaritans) in conducting low-risk incident task assignments to allow more highly trained and better equipped emergency, disaster and search and rescue personnel to attend to other priority tasks.
They serve as “force multipliers” for eligible governmental and non-governmental organizations during emergency incident response and short-term recovery periods, exercises, severe weather and special (public service) events.
Although not a club, ARES D1 offers many of the same benefits of belonging to a club. They include:
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The sense of belonging and fellowship with one another.
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The ability to make new friends and maintain relationships with others.
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Having an organizational structure to help guide and support you when you need or want it.
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Learning new things; keeping up with technology; keeping the mind engaged and potentially delaying the onset of dementia or other mental impairment; experimenting with new methods that have potential for providing contingency, emergency, or supplemental communications, or otherwise support the ARES D1 mission.
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Conducting public education about Emergency Communications and Amateur Radio.
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Passing on our experience and knowledge to others, including the younger generations.
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Supporting and conducting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs, demonstrations, and activities.