Upgraded My Ham License!

From Tech to General. Just passed the test a couple of hours ago. With no background whatsoever in electricity, circuits, electronics, circuits, etc. I didn't think I had a snowball's chance. I haven't studied that long and that hard since  ... well, I don't think I EVER studied that long and hard. No snowball's chance I'll even attempt the Extra!

Cowtown Marathon in late February was interesting. My job this year was to enter significant events into the City's computer system. Saturday was typical and over by noon. Sunday I arrived by 0430. All the entrances to where I needed to be had been blocked off so drove around several blocks to several entrances just trying to get in. Finally one of the guys managed to move a barricade. Then we couldn't get the generator on the Van to start. It was 36 degrees and I was dressed for the warmth INSIDE it. We finally had to bring the small van over and plug into that generator, but there wasn't enough power to run the heater. As a result I shivered for 3 or 4 hours until the sun was high enough to at least take the worst of the chill off. Eventually it got up to 70 and I finally got warm.

March 9th I helped with the newest Arlington CERT trainees' disaster drill. My roll was to distract, get in the way of, impede, anything I could do to keep them from their appointed tasks - which I did very, very well indeed.  I'll never live it down.

The April 3rd siren test was cancelled due to clouds. It was also the 1st anniversary of last year's F2 tornado, so I think the desire not to upset the public may have been the primary factor behind that decision.

April 18-21 I volunteered at the Fort Worth JEOC with regard to the Main Street Arts Festival.  On Saturday morning I was scheduled to be Net Control for the March for Babies, held in Trinity Park, but that didn't work out as anticipated and I ended up as back-up with very little to do.  I wasn't scheduled but I had intended to drop by the JEOC on my way home, but I was too buzzed and irritable from all the coffee I'd been drinking.

Mayfest is May 2-5th.. RACES members will again be weather liaisons for the event organizers. They've been doing this since the horrendous 1995 Mayfest hailstorm. 4" hail stones injured dozens or hundreds and  caused millions in damage across the DFW Metroplex. .My neighbor had 2 broken hands from trying to shield his head and his car looked like a sledge hammer had been taken to it. I wasn't there but watched that Supercell moving in from the West and will never forget the putrid yellow-green-brown color, which was enough to really frighten me. Mayfest is held in Trinity Park along the Trinity River. Police and Event Coordinators now can safely evacuate everyone from the area in under 30 minutes, which is why weather liaisons onsite to monitor incoming storms so they can do so well in advance. I think it was last year they shut down early because of an incoming storm. I signed up for the first time to assist on site, but was late in doing so and doubt I'll be scheduled. UPDATE 4/29/13: The County RACES liaison wants me at the JEOC. I was hoping to be posted in the park.

This Time a RACES Award

To my GREAT surprise, I was named as a recipient of one of the Tarrant County RACES 2013 Service Awards on 1/26 during the NWS SKYWARN class: the Jan and Ulis Hair Volunteer of the Year award.  Quite an honor!

Other recipients: Second from left is Gary Cooper "Net Controller of the Year," who coincidentally was RACES Net Control in 2000 when the tornado hit downtown Fort Worth and a second went through parts of south Arlington, and then again during the 2012 Arlington tornado - totally unflappable guy! Harold Reasoner "Meritorious Service Award" for his 40 plus years of service to what is now Tarrant County RACES - he was one of the original members - a tech and electronics guru extraordinaire. To my right is Matt Hayden, RACES Liaison to the Texas Motor Speedway.  There is always a localized ARES net on one of the back-up repeaters and operators on duty for weather or other purposes during major events. Matt organizes it all. When weather gets involved, they also join the RACES Net on 146.940, the main RACES repeater. For some reason, TMS gets a lot of bad/potentially severe weather. The awards are etched on clear acrylic, which means against out clothing you can't really see them.That's the newer, fully-outfitted-for-radio-communications (3 or 4 radios plus police and fire radios, desks, chairs generators, A/C and heater plus storage and small fridge) tall-enough-for-most-of-us-to-stand in RACES van behind us. It has everything except a kitchen sink and one of those little necessary rooms.

Busy but Thankfully Uneventful Auturm and Winter

It would help if I actually posted what I mostly wrote before Christmas ..... Autumn was a nice, if strange, weather respite, but we sure could use MORE RAIN.  What I've done volunteerwise recently:

• Brief RACES activations on 8/7 and 11/14, for which I was back-up net control only, meaning I just took notes for my own use and said nothing. One other brief activation in there somewhere, but I was unavailable.
• Assisted with RACES Training Classes at the Fort Worth Joint Emergency Operations Center on 8/11 and 10/13.
• August - January: Monthly outdoor warning siren tests held on the 1rd Wednesday at the Arlington OEM. No, I don't get to push the button.
• CERT: September 8th I got to play a semi-hysterical, sneaky and uncooperative victim for the newest CERT final training exercise, slipping away from the Triage area instead of staying put as instructed. One of the 2 times I did this, the CERT trainees never realized I was even missing. The 3rd time, however, there was someone standing such that I just couldn't get away without being seen. Drat! CERT ConEd was cancelled in Sept and classes suddenly changed from Thursday to Wednesday nights. Matt, who arranges for and overseas CERT ConEd, was attending classes for his Master's Degree. In January, we had a presentation and instruction on using the radui Go Kits - kits outfitted with 2 radios plus bags with antennas and coax, etc. then distributed to designated locations during emergency events when regular communications are extremely difficult or impossible. They've also been loaned out to other cities in emergency situations.
• Fixin' Fast food at Cowboy Stadium - The company that provides employees for Cowboy  Stadium arranged for a Staff/Employee "Kick-Off" Party on 9/21 with a sack supper, a short program with various prizes, and some other fun activities on the field. I was asked if I would like to participate. Well, sure! So Thursday the 20th I showed up early afternoon with several other volunteers from various other City departments with no idea what we'd be doing. Turned out we prepared  3,000 sacks in which to drop hot dogs the next day. We divided ourselves into 3 separate assembly lines and got the job done in about 3-1/2 hours. Friday, the 21st we were asked to be there by 1 - MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN  since what I really wanted to do at that moment was watch Shuttle Endeavour land at LAX . My brother had arranged the "Fanfare to the Common Man" for and played in the brass orchestra which welcomed it - I know you saw that on TV!  Instead of watch the live news feeds, I was there ON TIME then sat with everyone else doing absolutely NOTHING for the first 2 hours. Eventually we reassembled our assembly lines to assemble bun and "hot" dog, put dog into small sleeve/sack, then drop it a paper sack with the condiments and chips we'd assembled Thursday. Thankfully we got to quit long before we reached the 3,000 mark! As a reward we got a sack with barely warm, rather greasy over-sized beef hot dog (they charge the public $3.50 for it), a mini-bag of M&M's, chips and soda or water. Not hot "hot" dogs aren't that appetizing.  Then some were asked to direct arriving employees to the food area then down to the field. Most of us sat and did more nothing for a long time. Since some were directing and some had left to go home at that point, the 4 of us remaining in the private dining area where the food was being distributed were asked to prepare another tray of dogs, spent about 10 minutes and assembled 114 more. More standing around, then the 2 of us left still upstairs were asked to help the organizer to move the warming unit with dogs and a rolling stand of sacks down to the field for whoever wanted seconds and for vendors who had come to the party. Then we were told we could leave. I had to trudge up what amounted to 5 long flights of stairs to get from stadium floor to parking level. I could have tried to find the freight elevator we'd gone down on, but I'd likely still be wandering in the underbelly maze of the stadium if I had. To my surprise I didn't drop dead from climbing all those stairs, though they did a number on my knees. I can now mark "work in fast food" off my bucket list.
• October 27th - I served as Net Control for the Walk Against Alzheimer's at Trinity Park in Fort Worth. I needed to be there around 5am. It was COLD and we had to turn on the heater to make the old van habitable. By 11 we were able to shut everything down. I came home and went back to bed. The same morning another group of RACES members were providing radio communications from the new van for the new "No Limits Half-Marathon" held at Texas Motor Speedway.
• RACES Leadership Meetings in September, November. and January.
• December 1st:  Jingle Bell Run. This year the course cut through downtown Fort Worth. It was VERY WARM and we had to turn on the A/C on in the van parked in the sun.I started as Net Control, then we started using 2 radios and someone else took over communications on Radio #2.
• December also brought Christmas get-together-and-eat functions for the Arlington Radio Club, and CERT, and the RACES Leadership group.
• IT SNOWED ON CHRISTMAS!!!!
• The January RACES Training Class was cancelled, but since I'd slept through the Check-In Net on the 7th and no email notice of the cancellation was sent out (I checked one last time before I left home) I didn't know until I'd actually arrived and signed in to discover I was the only one around. It probably wouldn't have been nearly so irritating had I not had to get up at 6:15 on a Saturday morning order to get ready and drive the 15 miles to be in downtown Fort Worth 7:30. I came home and went back to bed. The next class is scheduled for February 9th.
• Fort Worth SKYWARN - January 26th - 343 attendees registered for the morning basic session and another 40 registered for the advanced afternoon session. I don't recall having seen as many people who stayed or came for the second session since I started going to SKYWARN in the 90's.
• UPCOMING:  Cowtown Marathon on February 24-25. I'll be helping both days with event logging and as back up Net Control. Last year it was mild but very windy with a sand storm out of West Texas coloring the sky. As weird as the weather has been lately, it'll either be freezing cold or way too warm. If it's snowy/icy, I'm not going. The TESSA: (Texas Severe Storm Asso.) conference is on March 2nd in Colleyville.

Interesting Siren Test

I think the last one we had was in February. Others were cancelled due to clouds or potential bad weather. April's test was scheduled for the day after the Arlington Tornado. All the sirens worked fine the day before and no need to further terrify the public. July's test would have been on the 4th. August 1st: We had a good turn out of observers, both amateur radio and those reporting in by phone. A/C test: everything okay. Battery backup test: Test starts. I can hear a siren coming through an open phone line that was supposed to be put on "mute" by the observer.  A couple of seconds into the test. Observer: "Siren xx." That's unusual.  "Go ahead Siren xx." "Smoke is pouring from the box." Never had THAT happen before. I look at Irish (head of OEM) sitting a few feet away taking the phone reports today. Me to observer: "Do  you see flames?" "No." Irish says they will have someone in route immediately. I pass that info on. One of the OEM guys is out observing a different siren a few minutes away and immediately heads to check it out. I find out later that Dispatch was also monitoring and could have immediately dispatched a fire unit but don't know whether they did. One of the batteries apparently exploded due to heat and lack of water so that when the signal went out to start the battery test, it worked a second or 2 then went Pop, spraying battery acid and smoke throughout and out of the battery box. Hopefully my observer wasn't close by. If they are smart they have returned to their cars some distance away still within line-of-sight with windows UP. Sirens are REALLY loud.

Another Unexpected Honor

Arlington Volunteer of the Month

OFFICIAL Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 2, 2012

 

Arlington Fire Department Volunteer Awarded State Honor

Linda McMillen, an Arlington Fire Department Office of Emergency Management Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteer, was awarded the second annual Jack Colley Award for Volunteerism last month at the annual Texas Unites Citizen Corps/Volunteers Organizations Active in Disaster Conference.  The award was presented by Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Penny Redington, executive director of the Texas Association of Regional Councils.

The award honors an outstanding volunteer who exhibits leadership, dedication, self-sacrifice and service to the State of Texas in the field of emergency management. This statewide recognition is the highest honor presented to a volunteer by the state’s Citizen Corps Program.

McMillen has been instrumental to the success of the Arlington CERT program since 2007. During her time with the CERT program, she has participated in numerous training classes, exercises and emergency responses. McMillen was vital to the response following the April 3 tornadoes through the organization of more than 40 volunteers to support the Arlington Emergency Operations Center and the city’s Tornado Recovery Center.  She also participates in several monthly tests of the outdoor warning system and represents the Arlington EOC on the Tarrant County RACES radio net.  McMillen has volunteered in many special events and EOC activations, including the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV and a full-scale exercise at Cowboys Stadium.

The Jack Colley Leadership Award was established in honor of Jack Colley, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management from 1998-2010, for his unwavering support, dedication, and service to the citizens of Texas during times of crises and for his outstanding leadership in the profession of emergency management. The award is given annually to recognize the outstanding leadership and service of a Citizen Corps volunteer.

 

Media Contact:

Rebecca Rodriguez

Manager | Office of Communication

Rebecca Rodriguez

Marketing Communications Manager | Office of Communication

 

101 West Abram Street, Arlington, TX 76010 | P.O. Box 90231 MS 01-0370, Arlington, TX 7600-3231

office: 817.459.6412 email: Rebecca.Rodriguez@arlingtontx.gov

 

********

And with this I suspect my 15 minutes of fame are also officially over. 

On the 4th I served as Net Control for a couple of dozen hams who were assigned along Arlington's huge 4th of July Parade Route out of the Tarrant County RACES van, which was nicely air conditioned! With 135 something entries, the first units had returned to the UTA Parking lot before the last of the entries had left.  Parade started at 9am and the last unit returned around 11:00. Other than a couple of minor medical issues and a stalled vehicle, the Parade was incident free - just like we like it!

* * Received 2012 Jack Colley Leadership Award * *

Link to Article posted on the City of Arlington website.

I was surprised, humbled and very honored just to have been nominated by the Arlington Office of Emergency Management for this recognition. I was absolutely stunned when I learned that I had been selected to receive the 2012 Jack Colley Citizen Corps Leadership Award for volunteerism (related to disaster preparedness and/or response) in the State of Texas. “This statewide recognition is the highest honor bestowed upon a council or volunteer by the state's Citizen Corps Council,” said Julie Martinez, Texas Citizen Corps manager. "This Award was established in honor of Jack Colley, who served as director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management for more than a decade before his death in 2010."

I was presented with a plaque in honor of Jack Colley, an official Flag of the State of Texas that had been flown over the State Capitol a few days before (with accompanying certificate that als). My name will be added to a permanent plaque kept at the Texas Citizen Corps headquarters in Austin.

Receiving Award from Steve McCraw, Director of the Texas 

Department  of Public Safety, and Penny Redington, Executive Director

of the Texas Association of Regional Councils.

With Matt Feryan, Emergency Management Planner.  

Arlington Office of Emergency Management

L to R: Asst. Chief David Carroll - Fire Rescue Support Div., Matt Feryan - OEM
Irish Hancock - Administrator Office of Emergency Management, Me and
Arlington Fire Chief Don Crowson 

From the email sent to CERT members:

Linda McMillen, an Arlington Fire Department Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteer, was awarded the second annual Jack Colley Award for Volunteerism last week in San Antonio. The prestigious Jack Colley Award honors an outstanding volunteer who exhibits leadership, dedication, self-sacrifice and service to the State of Texas in the field of emergency management, attributes personified by the late Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Jack Colley. This state-wide recognition is the highest honor bestowed upon a volunteer by the state's Citizen Corps Program. The award was presented by the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steve McCraw, and Texas Association of Regional Councils Executive Director, Penny Redington, at the annual Texas Unites Citizen Corps/VOAD Conference on June 15. 

Award Description

The Jack Colley Leadership Award was established in honor of Jack Colley, Chief, Texas Division of Emergency Management, 1998 – 2010, for his unwavering support, dedication, and service to the citizens of Texas during times of crises; and for his outstanding leadership in the profession of emergency management. The award is given annually in his honor to recognize the outstanding leadership and service of a Citizen Corps volunteer.

Narrative from the award submission:

Since 2007, Ms. McMillen has been instrumental to the success of the Arlington CERT program and the Arlington Office of Emergency Management. Throughout her time with the CERT program Linda has participated in numerous trainings, exercises and emergency responses. Most recently, Linda was vital to the response following the April 3, 2012 EF-2 tornado that impacted the cities of Kennedale and Arlington. Her efforts organized the response of over 40 volunteers to support the Arlington Emergency Operations Center and the City’s Tornado Recovery Center. In total, Linda volunteered approximately 90 hours in a ten-day period to ensure a streamlined process of CERT volunteer management. Linda also regularly manages the ham radio net for Arlington’s monthly outdoor warning system test. Each month, Linda dedicates time to organize and assign volunteer radio operators to observe and report the status of the siren system. Additionally, Linda regularly responds to severe weather warnings and represents the Arlington EOC on the Tarrant County RACES radio net. Linda has been involved with major special event and natural disaster EOC activations which has included the NBA All-Star game, Super Bowl 45, Cotton Bowl, World Series, Tropical Storm Hermine and the April 2012 Tornado. Furthermore, Linda has participated in every major exercise sponsored by the City of Arlington which has included a full-scale exercise at the new Cowboy’s Stadium, a functional EOC exercise in preparation of Super Bowl 45 and numerous drills, tabletops and workshops in support of the Arlington Office of Emergency Management.

I remain totally overwhelmed and am still trying to wrap my mind around it. I truly did not expect this. Awards are not the reason I do volunteer work. I wanted to be active in the community and hopefully might add something productive and positive along the way. I have the time and get a great deal of personal satisfaction doing the things I get to do. I'm happy and gratified just to receive honest thank yous and the privilege of being allowed to continue to assist as I can. This .... this is overwhelming and I'm still trying to digest just how prestigious and just how high an honor it is.

My sincere and profound thank yous to the Texas Citizen Corps Council - their staff and representatives, the State of Texas Emergency Managment, Texas VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters), the City of Arlington Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management. Again, I am deeply humbled and incredibly honored to have received the 2012 Jack Colley Leadership Award.