After Action Report
05/07/05 District 15

Submitted by:

Description of Activity:

The annual Blossom Festival Parade in Canon City was a tactical exercise to test members’ operating skills and readiness in a medium-pressure situation lasting for several hours.

The event was initiated with a 10:00 a.m. briefing at the ARES Mobile Command Trailer. Members were at their operating positions at 10:30 a.m. to assists parade entries line up for the parade.

The Mobile Command Center was located approximately two blocks from the parade route this year to eliminate much of the noise usually encountered during the event. Two battery-powered stations – one for NCS and one for command/NCS back-up -- were set up in the trailer. A portable simplex repeater belonging to the Royal Gorge Amateur Radio Association was set up on the top of Sunflower Bank and used for the event operations. N0CA, an experienced NCS operator, handled NCS operations.

The parade route was along Main St. from 1st St. to 14th St., with bus staging areas for bands on the south side of Hwy. 50 and other entries staging along 2nd and 3rd St. on the north side of Main St. Bands were bussed from their staging area at Veterans Park south of Hwy. 50 to the unloading area at 1st and Main St. on the north side of the highway.

The pre-parade began at 1200, with the main parqade beginning at 1300. The event ended about 1530, and members returned to the Command Center for a short debriefing.

Amateur Frequencies Used:

146.836 MHz RGARA Portable Repeater
(147.550 MHz Simplex Available for back-up)

Duration in hours:

5-1/2

Serving Amateur Radio Group(s):

ARES D-15

Served Agency(ies):

American Red Cross

Describe Served Agency Participation

Provide treatment as needed.

Number of amateurs participating:

Number of Amateurs Participating: 13

List of amateurs participating

Bill Ewing (EC) WA0KAQ
Don Fuhs (AEC, RACES Liaison) KE0CQ
Chuck Ward (Resources, Logistics) NC0A
Walt Wells, (Red Cross Liaison) N0RLC
Carlos Neuben (Royal Gorge ARC Member) KA0MAK
Derrick Houska (Member) N0TQ
Ron Seats (Member) K0LZD
Leon Golden (Member) N0VWX
Tom Kenimer (Member) WB4NWC
Jon Royce (Member) KC0UHC
Al Olson (Member) W0ARK
Bill James (D-19 EC) KC0FGJ
Billie James (D-19 member) KC0RBU

Man hours for the event (checkins*duration)

89

List the goals of the activity:

Provide the Blossom Festival Parade committee of the Canon City Chamber of Commerce with communications to aid in parade entry coordination, provide information for the judging stand, and provide communication at the Red Cross aid center.

Train new personnel who have not participated in tactical exercises as well as sharpening skills of experienced personnel.

Validate that the portable VHF repeater remains ready for disaster communications as well as for Public Service events.

Determine the effectiveness of changing the location of the mobile command center.

Were those goals met: (Y/N)

Yes

Explain:

What went well?:

1. We had a very adequate number of personnel for the response.
2. The location of the ARES D-15 mobile Command Center to a location away from the parade worked very well.
3. Members easily handled the use of tactical call signs.

Areas needing improvement:

1. I should have placed a more experienced person to shadow the parade director.
2. We didn’t take the opportunity to test cross banding into the repeater from the 1st and Main location, though we were set up to do it if necessary.

Lessons Learned:

Good planning usually brings good results.

Keep the command center away from the event. It worked great and gave us room to erect and guy a tall portable antenna. It also gave the command center a great simplex path into the 1st and Main location.

Additional Training needed:

Ideas for future exercises:

Comments: