20031005/0001U
Greetings. My name is Chad Johnson and I currently hold the Technician-class (without code) amateur radio license of KD7WTK. I hold this license because I am a volunteer with the King County Emergency Operations Center Support Team, which is currently a member unit of King County Search and Rescue.
I have discovered that it is possible to obtain a MARS license once you have an FCC amateur license. Seemingly MARS gives me an opportunity to explore new ways to communicate with Federal agencies in time of disaster or other emergency. Thus, I intend to explore these options and report my progress and problems to my teammates at KCEOCST so that if we so choose, we can expand the service we provide to the government and citizens of King County.
To date, I have contacted the Army MARS coordinator with NETCOM/9th ASC at Fort Huachuca and have received the application materials and the name and address of the Washington State MARS director. I've also met and corresponded with representatives from King County's Office of Emergency Management and (by chance) a couple of KCEOCST's senior members to apprise them of what I'm doing and of my motivations.