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THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY.  NOT ONLY WILL THE GROUP PROVIDE
ASSISTANCE WITHIN BREVARD COUNTY, BUT THEYLL BE OFFERING MUTUAL AID
STATEWIDE AND BEYOND.  EVERY MEMBER WILL BE FEMA CERTIFIED.
BACKGROUND CHECKS ON MEMBERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED BY THE
COUNTY.  IN THE PIPELINE THE ARES LEADERSHIP FINISHED THE ACADEMY
AND NOW HAS A TEAM OF 25 MEMBERS WHO HAVE COMPLETED TRAINING COURSES
ICS 100 AND ICS 700, AS WELL AS TRAINING FOR THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVIC A NEW APPROACH TO ARES THE NEED TO ORGANIZE A HIGH DEGREE OF
LOCAL CLUB INVOLVEMENT IN BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, LED TO THE
CREATION OF A NONPROFIT TO MAXIMIZE RESOURCE EFFICIENCY.  DAN
FISHER, AI4GK LIKE MANY LOCALES, BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, IS WORKING
TO REDEFINE ITS COMMITMENT TO EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, COMMUNICATIONS,
AND TECHNOLOGY.  THE AREA IS KNOWN AS FLORIDAS SPACE COAST AND IS
HOME TO THE US SPACE FORCE, WHERE ROCKETS ARE BEING LAUNCHED ON A
NEAR WEEKLY BASIS SOMETIMES EVEN DAILY.  BREVARD COUNTY HAS AT LEAST
11 AMATEUR RADIO CLUBS IN AN AREA WITH A POPULATION OF APPROXIMATELY
600,000.  ITS GEOGRAPHY IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT EXTENDS 72 MILES FROM
NORTH TO SOUTH, AND IS ABOUT 20 MILES WIDE.  THESE FACTORS MAKE IT
DIFFICULT FOR THE COUNTYS CLUBS TO COORDINATE.  ESTABLISHING AN
EMERGENCY SERVICE FOR YEARS, BREVARD COUNTYS AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY
SERVICE ARES WAS MOSTLY SUPPORTED BY THE COUNTYS AMATEUR RADIO
CLUBS.  THE NUMBER OF CLUBS IN THE COUNTY ADDED TO THE DIFFICULTY OF
INTERACTING WITH ALL OF THEM.  THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER EOC
MANAGER AT THE TIME, BOB LAY, ASKED THE CLUBS TO ESTABLISH A SINGLE
POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNITY.  AS A RESULT,
BREVARD EMERGENCY AMATEUR RADIO SERVICES BEARS WAS ESTABLISHED IN
1996.  BEARS WAS A CONSORTIUM OF CLUBS THAT WOULD WORK TOGETHER, AND
ITS MEMBERSHIP CONSISTED OF A REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH PARTICIPATING
CLUB.  BEARS HAD A DEDICATED TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS WHO WERE ABLE TO
OBTAIN A FULLY SELF CONTAINED MOTORHOME, WHICH WAS TRANSFORMED INTO
A STATE OF THE ART COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY, DUBBED BEARS 1.  BECAUSE
BEARS EXISTED TO SERVE THE COUNTYS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC
SAFETY FUNCTIONS, BEARS 1 HAD NOT ONLY HF, VHF, AND UHF AMATEUR
RADIO AND CITIZENS BAND CB EQUIPMENT, IT ALSO HAD 800 MHZ TRUNKED
TRANSCEIVERS THAT COULD COMMUNICATE WITH THE EOC AND ANY PUBLIC
SAFETY AGENCY IN THE COUNTY.  BEARS 1 WAS NEEDED SEVERAL TIMES,
INCLUDING FOR MAJOR BRUSH FIRES.  AFTER A FEW DECADES, THE AMATEUR
RADIO CLUBS ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES CHANGED, AS DID THE PUBLIC
SAFETY AGENCIES MANAGEMENT.  IN THE ABSENCE OF SIGNIFICANT EMERGENCY
EVENTS, BEARS SEEMED TO HAVE A DECREASING RELEVANCE IN COUNTY
EMERGENCY RESPONSES.  BREVARD COUNTY IS A TARGET FOR HURRICANES,
TORNADOES, AND OTHER SEVERE WEATHER.  WITH ITS EXTREMELY HIGH TECH
ENVIRONMENT AND A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SLIGHTLY OVER AN HOURS DRIVE
AWAY, THE COUNTY IS AT RISK FOR POTENTIAL DISASTERS.  IT WAS CLEAR
THAT SOMETHING NEEDED TO BE DONE TO BYPASS HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE
MYRIAD OF AREA CLUBS, SO A GROUP OF
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