How amateur and auxiliary communicators provide resilience when other systems fail

When disasters disrupt normal communications, one capability has repeatedly proven it can adapt, survive, and deliver when other systems collapse: amateur and auxiliary emergency communications.

In the United States, this capability is organized through four closely related — but distinct — frameworks:

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) — a volunteer amateur radio program sponsored by the ARRL that provides flexible, locally organized emergency communications support.
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) — a legally defined civil defense radio service activated and controlled by government authorities under FCC regulations.
Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) — a government-managed model adopted by some states and local jurisdictions to organize volunteer communications resources, often incorporating amateur radio and other technical capabilities.
Auxiliary Communications (AUXCOMM) — a national integration framework designed to bring all auxiliary communications resources — including ARES, RACES, ACS, MARS, Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard auxiliary elements, and others — into the Incident Command System (ICS) in a standardized, interoperable way.

These models often share personnel, training, and missions, but they differ in authority, structure, and activation. Understanding how they fit together — and what they mean for volunteers — is essential for anyone involved in preparedness, continuity, emergency management, or public safety support.

Why amateur radio still matters

Modern communications systems are powerful but fragile. Cellular networks rely on dense infrastructure and backhaul. Trunked public-safety radio systems depend on fixed sites, power, and interoperability planning. Internet-based services fail quickly when power, routing, or transport is disrupted.

Amateur radio is different.

It is decentralized, adaptive, and infrastructure-light. Operators can deploy rapidly using independent power, temporary antennas, and flexible frequencies. This makes amateur radio uniquely resilient — often serving as a gap-filler, a backup, or in extreme cases, the only working communications path.

Hurricane Katrina: the defining lesson

Hurricane Katrina (2005) remains a watershed moment for emergency communications in the United States.

In the aftermath:

Cellular networks were destroyed or overloaded
Public-safety radio systems were damaged, saturated, or incompatible across jurisdictions
Emergency Operations Centers lost situational awareness
Coordination between agencies broke down

Multiple federal and state after-action reports documented that amateur radio operators provided critical communications when other systems failed. Operators staffed shelters and hospitals, relayed health-and-welfare traffic, supported search and rescue coordination, and passed interagency messages — often from improvised stations with emergency power.

The lesson was not that amateur radio replaced public-safety systems, but that resilience requires redundancy, and amateur radio filled gaps no other system could.

Continued relevance in recent disasters

Katrina was not an anomaly.

Since then, amateur radio and auxiliary communicators have supported response operations during:

Hurricanes impacting the Gulf Coast, Florida, and Puerto Rico
Wildfires in California and the western United States
Ice storms and winter weather events causing prolonged outages
Earthquakes, floods, and severe storms
Large-scale incidents where primary systems were overwhelmed

In many cases, amateur radio was not the primary system — but it was the most immediately available and adaptable when others degraded.

These experiences reinforced a central truth: technology alone does not create resilience — people and training do.

A brief history of organized amateur emergency communications

Amateur radio has supported emergency communications since the early 20th century. In 1914, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) was formed to organize message relay nationwide. Over time, this evolved into a structured volunteer emergency communications program now known as Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).

During the Cold War, civil defense planners recognized amateur radio’s value during national emergencies. This led to the creation of a legally defined civil defense radio service under FCC rules: Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES).

More recently, some states and local governments expanded beyond amateur-radio-only models and adopted Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) programs to integrate a broader range of communications volunteers under emergency management.

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)

ARES is a volunteer emergency communications program sponsored by the ARRL. It organizes licensed amateur radio operators to support:

Emergency management agencies
Disaster relief organizations
Hospitals and public-health agencies
Shelters and community response organizations

ARES operates under normal amateur radio rules and emphasizes:

Training and exercises
Local flexibility
Mutual aid between jurisdictions
Strong relationships with served agencies

For most volunteers, ARES is the primary entry point into emergency communications.

Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)

RACES is a legally defined radio service established by the Federal Communications Commission under federal regulation.

RACES:

Is activated only by civil defense or emergency management authorities
Requires formal certification and enrollment of operators and stations
Operates under direct government control
Is used during declared or activated civil emergencies

RACES is not simply “ARES during a disaster.” It is a regulated civil defense communications function, and operators must be authorized in advance.

Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)

Some states and local jurisdictions have adopted an Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) model.

ACS programs are typically:

Organized and managed by emergency management agencies
Broader than amateur radio alone
Integrated into Emergency Operations Centers and incident command

While many ACS volunteers are licensed amateur radio operators, ACS may also include communications technicians, data specialists, and other auxiliary communicators.

In some jurisdictions, ACS effectively serves as the RACES organization, providing the government-authorized auxiliary communications capability.

Examples of ACS models

Pennsylvania operates a statewide ACS program under emergency management, serving as a communications reserve force for county, regional, state, and federal operations.
https://www.pemaauxcom.org/

California uses ACS primarily at the local and county level. Many cities and counties maintain ACS organizations that work alongside ARES and may function as RACES during activations.
Examples include:

San Francisco ACS: https://www.sf.gov/information–auxiliary-communications-service
San Diego County ACS/RACES: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/oes/community/oes_jl_RACES.html
Amador County ACS: https://www.amadorcounty.gov/departments/office-of-emergency-services/response/auxiliary-communications-service-acs-volunteers

Other jurisdictions, such as Lincoln County, Oregon, operate similar ACS programs under local emergency management.

How ARES is organized (the operational backbone)

ARES is organized geographically to mirror emergency management structures.

Sections

ARES Sections usually align with states or large regions. They coordinate statewide planning, training, and mutual aid.

🔗 ARRL Sections and leadership:
https://www.arrl.org/sections

Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC)

Each Section is led by a Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC), the senior ARES leader for that Section. The SEC coordinates with state emergency management and facilitates large-scale mutual aid.

District Emergency Coordinators (DEC)

Many Sections are divided into Districts, each led by a District Emergency Coordinator (DEC). Districts coordinate multi-county incidents and provide surge capacity.

Emergency Coordinators (EC)

At the local level, Emergency Coordinators (ECs) — often aligned with counties — recruit volunteers, maintain agency relationships, and activate ARES resources during incidents.

Most volunteers interact primarily with their local EC.

How these models are used in practice

Most communities fall into one of three operational models:

ARES-only — volunteer-driven support with agency coordination
RACES-only — formally credentialed civil defense communications
Combined ARES / RACES / ACS — the most common and flexible approach

Understanding the local model is essential before an incident occurs.

What this means for volunteers

For individual communicators, the implications are clear:

ARES is the most accessible entry point
RACES and ACS require advance credentialing and authorization
Training and professionalism matter more than equipment
Authority, scope, and rules change based on activation status
You represent both amateur radio and emergency management

Emergency communications is not casual operating. Trust, discipline, and preparation determine whether volunteers are welcomed — or sidelined — during real incidents.

AUXCOMM: integrating auxiliary communications into the ICS framework

ARES, RACES, and ACS increasingly intersect with AUXCOMM (Auxiliary Communications), a national framework designed to integrate auxiliary and volunteer communications resources into the Incident Command System (ICS).

AUXCOMM is not a radio service or a volunteer organization by itself. Instead, it provides doctrine, training, and role definitions that allow emergency management and public-safety agencies to effectively use any auxiliary communications capability within a formal command-and-control structure.

AUXCOMM is intentionally broad. It is designed to support the integration of multiple auxiliary and governmental communications programs, including:

Amateur radio organizations (ARES, RACES, ACS)
Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) communications assets
United States Coast Guard (USCG) auxiliary and maritime communications
Other government, nonprofit, or volunteer technical communications teams

The core purpose of AUXCOMM is to ensure that auxiliary communicators:

Fit cleanly into ICS and NIMS structures
Understand command relationships, tasking, and information flow
Operate in support of — not parallel to — public-safety communications units
Are deployable across jurisdictions with consistent expectations

Rather than replacing ARES, RACES, or ACS, AUXCOMM provides a common operational language and framework that allows these programs — along with MARS, CAP, Coast Guard auxiliary elements, and others — to work together effectively during complex incidents.

In short, AUXCOMM is the bridge between diverse auxiliary communications capabilities and the formal emergency management system.

The enduring lesson

From Hurricane Katrina to today’s disasters, the lesson remains consistent:

Resilient communications depend on people, preparation, and decentralized capability — not just technology.

ARES, RACES, and ACS exist to ensure that when everything else fails, someone is still able to communicate.

Editorial Note

State and local implementation of RACES, ACS, and AUXCOMM varies by jurisdiction. Readers should consult their state or county emergency management agency for enrollment requirements, credentialing, and activation authority.

Sources and References

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Overview
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
https://www.arrl.org/ares
ARRL Sections, Districts, and Section Emergency Coordinators (SEC)
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
https://www.arrl.org/sections
ARES and RACES Frequently Asked Questions
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
https://www.arrl.org/ares-races-faq
47 C.F.R. §97.407 – Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-97/subpart-E/section-97.407
Emergency Communications Training and Doctrine
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
https://www.arrl.org/emergency-communications-training
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) Program Guideline
New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
https://www.dhses.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2025/05/guideline-25-02-radio-amateur-civil-emergency-service-races.pdf
Auxiliary Communications (AUXCOMM) Overview
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
https://emcomminfo.com/auxcomm/
National Incident Management System (NIMS) – Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Functional Guidance
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_ict-functional-guidance.pdf
Hurricane Katrina After-Action Report
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
https://www.hsdl.org/c/abstract/?docid=470102
The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned
The White House
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/
Pennsylvania Auxiliary Communications Services (ACS)
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)
https://www.pemaauxcom.org/
Apply to Become an Auxiliary Communications Services Volunteer (Pennsylvania)
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
https://www.pa.gov/services/pema/apply-to-become-an-auxiliary-comunications-services-volunteer
San Francisco Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
City and County of San Francisco
https://www.sf.gov/information–auxiliary-communications-service
San Diego County Auxiliary Communications Service / RACES
County of San Diego, Office of Emergency Services
https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/oes/community/oes_jl_RACES.html
Amador County Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Amador County Office of Emergency Services
https://www.amadorcounty.gov/departments/office-of-emergency-services/response/auxiliary-communications-service-acs-volunteers
Lincoln County, Oregon – Auxiliary Communications Service
Lincoln County Emergency Management
https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/807/Auxiliary-Communications-Service—Amate