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Hamvention 2018: ARRL Renews Memorandum of Understanding with SATERN, Promotes Partnerships at Forum

05/18/2018

ARRL and The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) today renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations that spells out how they will work together in disaster and emergency responses. ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, signed the MoU on behalf of ARRL on Hamvention’s opening day in Xenia, Ohio. SATERN National Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH, represented SATERN at the signing and delivered a copy of the MoU already signed by The Salvation Army. ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, said ARRL and SATERN have enjoyed a formal working relationship since 1976, and that the MoU was up for renewal.

“We spent the last year fine-tuning, updating, revising it and got the green light last week to do the signing here at Hamvention,” Corey said. “It’s a fitting time for The Salvation Army and SATERN, as SATERN is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. So it was a double celebration for them.”

Corey said Feist was closely involved with the Amateur Radio response last fall in the wake of the devastating Caribbean hurricanes.

The MoU “defines the partnership” between ARRL and SATERN and The Salvation Army, in which ARRL and SATERN agree to work together toward common goals, particularly in disaster response, Corey said. “It opens the possibility for sharing of resources,” he noted. “That’s always important; we saw that last fall.” Another important aspect is working together to identify and recruit volunteers. “Net controls are always in need,” he added.

Corey said ARRL and SATERN also have agreed to coordinate their disaster response activities, to eliminate duplication of effort.

“We had an effective and coordinated Amateur Radio response in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands last fall,” Corey said.

SATERN meets regularly on 14.265 MHz SSB, and the net is activated for extended periods during disaster and emergency response activities.

The subject of cooperation was the focus of an ARRL Hamvention forum, “Building Partnerships.” Leading the discussion were Corey and FEMA Community Partnership Specialist Sarah Byrne. More than 100 interested radio amateurs attended.

Byrne outlined the four “Cs” of partnerships: Collaboration, Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination.

Corey reminded those attending the forum that partnerships are only as good as the people participating in them. “It can often come down to one person, and how they interact with the group,” he said.

To illustrate their points, Corey and Byrne called up three volunteers from the audience and gave each a scenario that required a partnership to achieve. The volunteers then picked three more volunteers as partners. After a few minutes of intense discussions, the new “partners” outlined what resources they had determined were available to them and what the next steps were in this partnership was to go forward to achieve its objectives.

“Successful partnerships doesn’t always mean that everything went right,” Corey reminded the audience. “In fact, it’s learning from the things that didn’t work out as planned that strengthens and deepens a relationship between partners.” — Thanks to ARRL Communication Manager Dave Isgur, N1RSN, and QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY



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