RAC Bulletin 2011-008E - Development of A Canadian Field Organization
2011-04-03

Winnipeg, Manitoba
April 2, 2011

In RAC Bulletin 2010-032 - Vision Statement 2010-11-14, RAC committed
itself to the "education and elmering of new Hams", and supporting
"the training and coaching of RAC volunteers to achieve exemplary
results, at the municipal, provincial and national levels." The new
RAC Field Training program is the recognized tool leveraged by our
ARES groups.

On December 9, 2010, Vice President Field Services with the support of
the Section Managers formed a "Vice President Field Services Council".
The Council made the commitment to develop a Canadian “Field
Organization”. A major part of the new Field Organization will be the
existing Field Service, which is key to providing services to the
public and the Amateur Radio community. It will also incorporate new
functions to better represent our interests to governments at the
provincial and municipal levels, provide a strengthened public
relations capability, expand the Affiliated Club program with a view
to improving the input of Canadian Amateurs with respect to RAC policy
development, and bring focus to promoting technical developments. On
24 March, 2011 the RAC Board unanimously approved implementation.

It is envisaged that each Section will form a similar council to
oversee development of the Field Organization concept, taking into
consideration its unique relationship with provincial governments,
geography, relationships with existing regional associations, and the
requirements of the individual clubs.

At its second meeting held on 13 January, 2011, the Council approved
in principle an ARES Training Management System with the following six
objectives:

1- Create a just-in-time training programme that delivers task-related
skills and knowledge needed by the radio operator or team leader on
the first day in a new assignment;

2- Develop the radio operator’s abilities through a structured
programme of practical training under the supervision of a mentor;

3- Standardize qualifications through a family of control documents
that identify job tasks, skills and knowledge, to specified standards,
and supplies trainers with prepared course materials;

4 - Promote ARES and NTS interoperability with emergency management
authorities by embracing the Incident Management/Command System
philosophy and exploiting provincially approved IMS/ICS courseware and
certifications whenever possible;

5 - Institute training quality control and continuous improvement
mechanisms; and,

6- Incorporate a professional development approach designed to groom
the leaders of tomorrow.

The Council, through a working group, is developing an updated mission
statement for the ARES. A second working group under the chair of the
Ontario Section Manager has begun development of a "Specification",
the foundation document in a training management system. While the
focus is initially on modernizing the ARES in order to stay in step
with rapidly developing national and provincial emergency management
initiatives, ultimately this document will be expanded to include all
roles within the RAC Field Organization.

The President and Vice President of Field Services extend an open
invitation to all Amateurs with expertise in any aspect of developing
the Field Organization to make contact with their Section Manager.
Contact information can be found at
http://rac.ca/en/rac/public-service/section-managers/

Geoff Bawden, VE4BAW
President, Radio Amateurs of/du Canada

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