RACES

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)

In the United States RACES is a standby radio service provided for in Part 97.407 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations governing amateur radio in the United States. Despite four wars involving the United States since 1952, this has never happened. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for the regulation of RACES operations. RACES is administrated by a local, county, or state civil defense agency responsible for disaster services. This civil defense agency is typically an emergency services or emergency management organization, sometimes within another agency such as police or fire. RACES is a function of the agency’s Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS). RACES exclusively supports state, local and federal government agencies and must be activated by the government agency they support. RACES members have specific FCC regulations governing their activities. See FCC Part 97.407 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations for more information.

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is a volunteer organization of licensed amateur radio operators who provide communications to government agencies during emergencies. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates RACES under Title 47 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 97, subparts F and was originally sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA has turned over administration of RACES to the individual states, and local jurisdictions. The State of Texas Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Program https://tdem.texas.gov/races/ District 7 Big Country RACES consists of amateur radio operators in the following counties of Texas: Fisher, Jones, Shackelford, Stephens, Nolan, Taylor, Callahan, Eastland, Kent, Knox, Stonewall, Haskell, Throckmorton, Scurry, Mitchell, Runnels, Coleman, Brown & Comanche. Note: District 7 is part of Region 5. District 7 RACES is an extension and under the control of the State of Texas RACES; the Texas Department of Public Safety Emergency Management, the local District Radio Officer (DRO) the local County Liaison Officers (CLO) and the local city/county Emergency Management Coordinators.

RACES District 7 Radio Officer H. Dale Durham, W5WI Phone: 830.719.9000 E-mail: w5wi@arrl.org RACES Taylor County CLO (County Liaison Officer) Taylor County, Texas Emergency Management Coordinator – City of Abilene, Texas Emergency Management Coordinator – Vincent Cantu https://abilenetx.gov/355/Emergency-Management Phone: 325.676.6683 E-mail: Vincent.Cantu@abilenetx.gov