RACES/ACS Transition Delayed

In March, it was announced that the Auxiliary Communications System (ACS) would replace the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) in April.  The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) has announced that they are still developing their ACS program guidelines and the current RACES program will continue until further notice.

Mike Neilsen, W1MPN has provided the following statement:

Hello all stations

I hope you all had a good Easter Holiday. I have an important update on the ACS transition project, and some other announcements.

The management at MEMA has informed us that they are still developing their ACS Program guidelines, and they are desirous of postponing any further transition activities. This means we will continue with the present RACES program until further notice. I will also remain in the State RACES role (albeit temporary) until we begin the transition process again.

MEMA has been hard at work at this process, but it had to attend to several important projects first in order to make this change a reality. One of the most important was finalizing the State Interoperable Operations Guide, and defining how new communication positions will support the state Communication Leader (COML) program. For example, the Radio Operator (RADO) position will be important to us.

We are now anticipating receiving MEMA’s draft plan for our comment sometime early next month. After our review, we will enter into discussions to finalize the plan. Assuming we do not suffer any major disasters this Spring, we *may* be able to begin the transition process again in July. So please go about your normal RACES routine until you hear from me again with the approved plan.

Thank you again for your help and participation. I will be talking to you again soon.

de W1MPN

Regards and 73,

Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
State RACES Officer (Acting);
Member of the MEMT;
Member of the MA State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC), and Policies and Programs subcommittee;
Chairperson, Amateur Radio Working Group
Office Answering Service: 978.293.7858