Functional Exercise Goals

1.     To accomplish Section SET exercise goals quoted below, except FRS/CB :

1.     Call out procedures – this can mean a call out in advance of the exercise

2.     Establishment of local, regional and section nets.

3.     Use of the Washington State RACES Plan/Western Washington Emergency Communications Plan for effective traffic handling; including within each District/Region by using Regional and Section Nets.

4.     Shift planning

5.     Development and filing of situation reports with SEC; Districts 2 & 4 at 15 minutes past the hour; Districts 1 & 6 at 30 minutes past the hour; Districts 3,  5 & M at 45 minutes past the hour.

6.     Use of simplex, FRS and CB to augment existing systems

7.     Completion of required SET report form

2.     Exercise ICS command structure, new ACS team (ARCT) approach, new net callout procedure

3.     To involve new / inactive ACS members in an exercise

4.     To have fun!

Design Elements

1.     Overview of SET Exercise

a.      Seattle ACS is activated by Seattle EMD in response to a weather emergency.

b.     After callout, EOC Team and field teams deploy to designated operational locations.

c.      Participants check in on PSRG, then QSY to ACS repeater appropriate for their assignment.
A lost-communication procedure is stated below under “Lost communications…”.

d.     Proceed with traffic handling and situation reporting, messages provided by served agencies.

e.      As directed by state / section, stand down. Close the nets.

f.      Teams hold a debriefing for all hands. An exercise evaluation will be posted on the web site. 

2.     Network design

Breakout nets shall be convened on UHF-N,-C,-SW: 443.650 or 443.000 or 441.800 repeaters.

Lost communications / no capability on UHF:

Monitor the ACS VHF simplex frequencies: North Seattle 146.56 MHz (tone 103.5); South 147.58 MHz (tone 103.5). Try to call W7ACS for further instructions.

3.     Asset assignment

This exercise will use the EOC, and up to four teams deployed in the field.  Individual resources may participate with checkin and traffic handling as assigned by Operations.

4.     Exercise participants

“Design Team” – Joel Ware, Boone Barker, Mark Sheppard, Hal Mueller, George Boswell, Bill Dockstader.

 “Incident Commander” – Joel Ware  

 “Safety Officer” – Brian Daly

 “Liaison Officer” – Mark Sheppard

 “Public Information Officer” – Dave Mann

 “Planning Section Chief” – Boone Barker

 “Operations Section Chief” – George Boswell  

 “Logistics Section Chief” – Bill Dockstader

 “Participants” – All interested ACS members

 “EOC Operators” – tbd

 “Primary NCS” - tbd 

5.     Scenario and Timeline

Following unseasonable severe snow and ice storms in the Seattle area, which have interdicted many streets and downed phone and power lines, Seattle EMD declares an emergency, and activates the EOC and ACS to enhance communications for SeaTrans/SDOT and SPU.

This exercise will be held in conjunction with the state level SET, using time compression:

“The exercise will last 4 hours beginning at 1000 and ending at 1400 local time; simulating two 12 hour shifts, each shift lasting 2 hours – to allow for shift change and rest periods.” 

0900    EOC Team meets at the EOC, gains entry, and begins activation of the Comm. Center

0930    Radio check – selected EOC radios to and from an external station (TBD)

0920    Callout initiated, checkins start

1000    SET begins

1030    EOC Stat Rep to State (hourly at :30)

1100    Shift change – first to second – turnover and swap teams   

1400    SET ends, nets are closed

1430    Start debrief / lessons-learned at debrief location

6.     Measurement and evaluation

Measurement and evaluation will be performed by Planning Section.

Exercise Feedback

Immediately after exercise, ACS leaders will host a lessons-learned meeting to solicit and accept all the feedback from participants and evaluators.  A summary will be published on the Web site.