Subject: Fairfax ARES NIMS+ Training Reminder
From: Paul Bassett, KI4DTL
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2006

Greetings,

Only six months until the County Fair, so sign-up now to get a good seat. Before you rush off and do that though, just a reminder that Fairfax County will be hosting two training sessions for ARES members. Both sessions need to be taken and once completed, will serve as a prerequisite for WebEOC software training that will be offered in the Spring. FEMA Course IS-100, An Introduction to ICS, training will be taught coupled with EOC operations familiarization on Saturday, February 11th beginning at 09:00 and lasting for about 3� hours. The second session will be held on Saturday, March 18th; same times, and will focus on FEMA Course IS-700, NIMS, An Introduction, with the subject of the volunteer workforce as the secondary theme. Testing for the FEMA courses will be completed as a part of each session, on line, and in the AEOC, before leaving.

WebEOC software has recently been installed in each of the major EOC's in Northern Virginia. In addition, the software is used extensively at many State and Federal agencies throughout the country. If you have already completed IS-100 or IS-700 training, taking these two courses in the AEOC in February and March is still required for Fairfax ARES members to be selected for WebEOC training. Trained WebEOC ARES members will then be eligible for staffing AEOC/EOC positions during activations and exercises.

For Fairfax ARES members who have not yet forwarded the FEMA email course completion acknowledgement for FEMA Course IS-100 or Course IS-700 to me, please do so when you can to the address below. If you no longer have the email from FEMA, then bring the completion certificate you received in the mail with you to the class. Positive proof is needed before credit for the courses are entered in your training record. After attending the lecture portion of the two training sessions, you will not have to retest with the FEMA Independent Study program. in addition, successful completion of the three volume ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC), and the most recent date of completing Basic I SKYWARN training are eligable for entry in your individual training record as well.

To ease the burden of enrolling as a new on line student with FEMA, the attachment above will help you get the process underway and perhaps save some valuable time at the day of training. Please remember to print a copy of your completed enrollment form and bring it with you for class. Nothing can be more exasperating than to forget a password yet have it readily available five or ten minutes away.

To sign-up to take both of these training sessions, please email me by January 29th with your name and call sign. Thank you.

73
Paul ,KI4DTL.