Semi-Annual Drills

Schedule: January thru December 2024, plus Past Drills:

Date Form Note
Spring 2020 Drill May 30th, 2020 Instructions  /  Results
November 13th, 2021 "Cyber Wind" Drill Instructions  /  Results
November 12th, 2022 "Operation Ash Fall" Drill Instructions  /  Results
May 13th, 2023 "Rogue A.I." Drill Instructions  /  Results
November 11th, 2023 ICS-213RR: Resource Request Form Drill Instructions  /  Results
May 11th, 2024 Carrington Event Drill Instructions  /  Results
November 9th, 2024 Progression of Field Situation Report Instructions  /  Results

Results for the November 9th Semi-Annual Drill: "Progression of Field Situation Report

Results Map, by Clearinghouse

Results Map, by Feedback Count
===Information===>>
"How do I find my Check-In on the Map?"
  1. In your Web Browser, with our Results Map displayed...
  2. On the left side, you'll see a list of the 12+ ETO Clearinghouses.
  3. Click the  ∨  (down-pointing caret symbol), and the list will expand vertically;
  4. Type a "Ctrl-F", to use the Browser's "Find On This Page" function;
  5. Type your Callsign;
  6. Your Browser will highlight your callsign, in the vertical list on the left.
  7. Click on your Callsign, and the Map will show you your "pushpin".
  8. Click on your Pushpin, and, on the left side of the screen, all of the information you sent in, will be listed.

[Click on the ▶ or the line of text above, to expand its contents]

November 9th Semi-Annual Drill: "Progression of Field Situation Report"

Exercise Message Submission Window

Starts: November 5th, 2024 00:00 UTC — Ends: November 10th, 2024 00:00 UTC

  • Difficulty Level:   Advanced  

    • Purpose:

    Use the training provided in previous ETO Exercises to produce a series of Field Situation Reports to simulate the progression of the impacts on public services from an extreme rainfall event.
    Before completing this Semi-Annual Drill, the participant will populate and send an ICS-309 Communications Log using the form within the Winlink Standard Templates. Often, it is an expected task for participants in an Emcomm event.
  • This is an Advanced exercise. The provided instructions are limited to what content to put in fields. The operation and functional features of Winlink may be mentioned but not in detail. More detailed instructions can be found in previous ETO Basic level exercises.

[PDF] Instructions for "Progression of Field Situation Reports" Semi-Annual Drill

Results for the May 11th, 2024, "Carrington Event" Semi-Annual Drill

Results Map, by Clearinghouse

Results Map, by Gateway Count

Results Map, by Check-In Count

Results Map, by Feedback Count

Results Map, by Spring Drill RMS Connections
===Information===>>
"How do I find my Check-In on the Map?"
  1. In your Web Browser, with our Results Map displayed...
  2. On the left side, you'll see a list of the 12 ETO Clearinghouses.
  3. Click the  ∨  (down-pointing caret symbol), and the list will expand vertically;
  4. Type a "Ctrl-F", to use the Browser's "Find On This Page" function;
  5. Type your Callsign;
  6. Your Browser will highlight your callsign, in the vertical list on the left.
  7. Click on your Callsign, and the Map will show you your "pushpin".
  8. Click on your Pushpin, and, on the left side of the screen, all of the information you sent in, will be listed.

[Click on the ▶ or the line of text above, to expand its contents]

May 11th, 2024: Semi-Annual Drill: "Carrington Event"

Exercise Message Submission Window

Starts: May 7th, 2024 00:00 UTC — Ends: May 12th, 2024 06:59 UTC

  • Difficulty Level:   Advanced  

  • Note! This exercise is an advanced level drill. If you choose to send all nine Check-in messages, the drill may take several hours to complete, as opposed to the much lesser time to complete the minimum requirement of the Telnet Check-in.
  • The submission window is longer than that of typical exercises. This allows participants to spread the drill over multiple days and optimize their time for gateway access at their location.
  • Please plan accordingly. For those with limited radio resources, a subset of the 8 radio based zones is also acceptable than just the minimum Telnet Check-In.

  • Purpose: Produce a Winlink ICS 309 Form containing the entries of the participant’s successful message passing via various bands, session modes, and distances to RMS Gateways.

[PDF] Instructions for "Carrington Event" Semi-Annual Drill, Version 1.0

Results for the November 11th, 2023, "ICS-213RR Form" Semi-Annual Drill

Results Map for RMS Participants (Not P2P) Sorted by ClearingHouse

Results Map for RMS Participants (Not P2P) Ranked by Number of Feedback Items

Tuesday 11/14/2023: P2P Results:

Results Map for P2P Participants, showing both Connections and List of Stations

Results Map for P2P Participants, by Connection


Results Map for P2P Participants, by Count
===Information===>>
"How do I find my Check-In on the Map?"
  1. In your Web Browser, with our Results Map displayed...
  2. On the left side, you'll see a list of the 12 ETO Clearinghouses.
  3. Click the  ∨  (down-pointing caret symbol), and the list will expand vertically;
  4. Type a "Ctrl-F", to use the Browser's "Find On This Page" function;
  5. Type your Callsign;
  6. Your Browser will highlight your callsign, in the vertical list on the left.
  7. Click on your Callsign, and the Map will show you your "pushpin".
  8. Click on your Pushpin, and, on the left side of the screen, all of the information you sent in, will be listed.

[Click on the ▶ or the line of text above, to expand its contents]

Semi-Annual Drill for November 11th, 2023: "ICS-213 RR"

Exercise Message Submission Window

  • Winlink RMS: November 07 00:00 UTC – November 11 23:59 UTC
  • For Winlink P2P: November 11 06:00L – November 11 18:00L

  • Difficulty Level:   Basic  

  • Purpose: While providing emergency support to local agencies, you may be required to send messages verbatim to the local emergency operation center or state department of emergency management.
  • For the purposes of this exercise, EmComm Training Organization (ETO) is the served agency.
  • ETO's requirements can and probably will be different from your other served agencies.
  • If there is a conflict between your previous training and the ETO instructions for this exercise, follow the ETO instructions.
  • The ICS 213 RR is one such message where you will be given all appropriate data to transcribe on the message form to send.
  • The Resource Request Message (ICS 213 RR) is utilized to order resources and track resource status. The ICS 213 RR is initiated by the resource requester and initially approved by the appropriate Section Chief or Command Staff.
  • Note: besides the normal "Winlink RMS" exercise, we are also conducting an Optional Peer-to-Peer Winlink nation-wide component, in partnership with EmComm Direct Messaging ("EDM").

[PDF] Instructions for "ICS-213RR" Semi-Annual Drill, Version 1.1
NOTE 11/10/2023: the only change is to the list of P2P Target Stations. No other changes in the Instructions.

P2P Target Stations spreadsheet (also contained in PDF instructions above)

Results for the May 13th "Rogue A.I." Semi-Annual Drill

Results Map for RMS Participants (Not P2P)

My Score: Interpreting your Results Score

[UPDATED] Results Map for P2P Participants
[as of 5/24/2023 @ 1400 hours PDT]
===Information===>>
"How do I find my Check-In on the Map?"
  1. In your Web Browser, with our Results Map displayed...
  2. On the left side, you'll see a list of the 12 ETO Clearinghouses.
  3. Click the  ∨  (down-pointing caret symbol), and the list will expand vertically;
  4. Type a "Ctrl-F", to use the Browser's "Find On This Page" function;
  5. Type your Callsign;
  6. Your Browser will highlight your callsign, in the vertical list on the left.
  7. Click on your Callsign, and the Map will show you your "pushpin".
  8. Click on your Pushpin, and, on the left side of the screen, all of the information you sent in, will be listed.

[Click on the ▶ or the line of text above, to expand its contents]

Semi-Annual Drill for May 13th, 2023: "Rogue A.I."


  • An exercise with instructions for completing an ICS-213 that includes additional local information
  • Communicating your report via RF and optionally sending your report in via P2P

[PDF] Instructions for "Rogue A.I." Semi-Annual Drill

November 12th, 2022: "Operation Incoming" Semi-Annual Drill


Results Maps and Summary of
Semi-Annual P2P and RMS Drill


Peer-to-Peer ("P2P") Results

Our P2P targets received 795 messages of all types:
  • total FSR messages received: 360, images: 0
  • total ICS messages received: 361, images: 204
Our most "successful" Target station, ND1J in Cartoogecheye, NC, received almost 10% of all our P2P traffic: 35 FSR messages and 36 ICS messages.
Our most "successful" Field station, AE0NR, in Boys Town, NE, sent 20 FSR messages and 22 ICS messages.
Here are the maps:
P2P Connection map
Field map
Target map
The Drill did ask some very specific questions and those responses are in the ICS message file

RMS (non-P2P) Results

RMS Results by Clearinghouse:
RMS Results by Grade:
Your Submitted Images: Thumbnail Version
Your Submitted Images: Montage

Instructions for "Operation Incoming", Version 1.2

May 14th, 2022: Operation "Ashfall" Semi-Annual Drill:

May 14th Results Maps: "Operation Ashfall"

May 14th Instructions: "Operation Ashfall" Semi-Annual Drill


 Non-P2P Results Map, by Clearinghouse:
Non-P2P Results Map, by Clearinghouse
Non-P2P Results Map, showing Graded Responses of Check-Ins
Non-P2P Results Map, showing Graded Responses of Check-Ins
Non-P2P Results Map, showing Participants' History
Non-P2P Results Map, showing Participants' History
P2P Results Map, showing Field and Targets, with Log Info for each Participant
P2P Results Map, showing Field and Targets, with Log Info for each Participant
P2P Results Map, showing Contact Counts
P2P Results Map, showing Contact Counts
===Information===>>
"How do I find my Check-In on the Map?"
  1. In your Web Browser, with our Results Map displayed...
  2. On the left side, you'll see a list of the 11 ETO Clearinghouses.
  3. Click the  ∨  (down-pointing caret), and the list will expand vertically;
  4. Type a "Ctrl-F", to use the Browser's "Find On This Page" function;
  5. Type your Callsign;
  6. Your Browser will highlight your callsign, in the vertical list on the left.
  7. Click on your Callsign, and the Map will show you your "pushpin".
  8. Click on your Pushpin, and, on the left side of the screen, all of the information you sent in, will be listed.

[Click on the ▶ or the line of text above, to expand its contents]

Instructions for May 14th Semi-Annual Drill [PDF]

Updated P2P Target Stations Spreadsheet, Version 2022.6 (May 13th) [PDF]

Purpose

The purpose of the Nationwide ETO (EmComm Training Organization) semi-annual communications drill is to demonstrate the ability of Amateur Radio to provide accurate and timely messaging by forms using email over radio (Winlink) to further the mission of the agencies and organizations that we serve.
This can involve organizations and services, including the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS), along with many other government agencies and non-government organizations. As accuracy and reproducible documents are a cornerstone of modern disaster communications, the primary emphasis will be on digital written forms of communications, as opposed to verbal.

Objectives

  • Amateur radio stations, in an imaginary disaster scenario where the conventional infrastructure is compromised, will compose and send forms/emails using the Winlink “email over radio” system to ETO clearinghouses
  • Create an added drill component to compose and send messages/forms by Winlink P2P ("Peer-to-Peer")
  • Include additional tasks for participants in messaging, including the finding of additional information to be included or analyzed
  • Continue to emphasize digital modes for achieving accuracy and timeliness of messaging
  • Encourage partner organizations to participate in their own local operations during the drill
  • Prepare and train amateur radio operators to effectively use the Winlink system
  • Determine weaknesses that future training can address

Instructions for the May 14th Semi-Annual Drill [PDF]

Updated P2P Target Stations Spreadsheet, Version 2022.6 (May 13th) [PDF]



Past Semi-Annual Drills

November 13th, 2021: "Cyber Wind" Exercise



Results Map for Non-P2P ("Regular Winlink") Participants here

Peer-to-Peer Results from Nov 13th Cyber Wind Exercise [Google Map link]

ETO P2P Target Stations Map [JPEG]

ETO P2P Sorted Results List [PDF]

More Results Files Here [Google Drive link]

Winlink Drills, Past and Future — 2021 Edition

Spring 2021, Fall 2020, and Spring 2020/h4>
===Information===>> Important Info about our Drills and Winlink Thursdays, here...

Spring 2021 Winlink Exercise:

Our Spring 2021 Drill was held on Saturday, May 8th.

If you haven't already signed-up for Email Updates, please do!
Sign Up here:   Groups.IO Mailing list for EmComm-Training

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The EmComm Fall Drill 2020 — Summary and Results

The nationwide emergency communications drill was held on Saturday, November 14, with ARES™ and other operators asked to demonstrate the ability to deliver digital messages, using forms, to specific addresses via Winlink. Participants were tasked with sending one message to the U.S.A. Regional Clearinghouse for their geographic area.

Only Winlink-generated messages were requested. This drill was an exercise in sending messages from local sites to one of twelve Regional Clearinghouses (that is, one for each of the ten National FEMA Regions, plus Hawaii, and "ETO-DX" for non-USA participants) both to practice and to demonstrate the capability of amateur radio operators across the nation to relay information in times of need.

This drill used the messaging program Winlink as the method of delivering preformatted messages. Operators were free to use any connection mode that they had available, including the variety of digital modes on HF, VHF, UHF and Telnet.

The goal was to encourage more operators to become familiar with Winlink and its associated message templates. The primary message template for this exercise was the ICS-213 found in the Winlink catalog of forms templates. This message format allows for standardized messages to be sent and allows for the messages to be easily evaluated for correctness.

The drill started at 9:00 Eastern time and continued until 18:00 local time in each time zone. Thus there was a 9 hour window for each operator to create and send his/her message.

After many hours of number-crunching by our Regional Clearinghouse managers, the results are in: a staggering 1,750 messages were sent by 1,550 amateur radio operators in forty-seven states, plus Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Canada. This is about twice the number of the very successful first Drill in Spring of 2020.

The map below shows the locations of the participating radio operators.

Our thanks to Rob Jagde, KD2GRS, of Long Island, New York for preparing this map.
For a zoomable map, go here:

Spring 2020 Drill participants map

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Spring 2020 Drill Summary

A group of radio amateurs organized a large-scale nationwide Emergency Communications (EmComm) drill on May 30, 2020. Planning began last November (2019) by a handful of Volunteers. Interest within the larger radio amateur community grew and by May a thousand were registered to participate.

Various organizations have Memoranda of Understanding with the American Radio Relay League concerning EmComm training and exercises and this drill was organized along those lines. ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES™) provided hundreds of hams to support Agencies in this simulated nationwide emergency. In all, over a thousand radio amateurs in forty states, including Hawaii and Alaska, and the territory of Puerto Rico.

The Drill was a simulated nationwide power outage and participating hams were role-playing as "shelter stations." (No one was actually at a physical temporary shelter due to the complications of Covid-19 but we hope in future drills that actual physical presence at specific shelters, along with non-ham volunteer shelter personnel, will be possible.)

The drill scenario was that each "shelter station" ham was in an area that had no power, internet or cell phone service and that the shelter manager needed to get a requisition out for materiel. The shelter manager would give the Ham a 6409 form that he would then transmit digitally, over radio, to his Regional Clearinghouse. There were ten of these set up around the nation to serve as collection points for ICS and other standard forms. The Regional Clearinghouses were assumed to be "high and dry," with power and fully-functional internet. They would be able to collect the forms and convert these into a plain-English document to send to a conventional email address and readable by a non-ham.

This event was a booming success. Over five hundred messages with form-data were sent, along with nearly two hundred ICS-213's and almost a hundred shelter reports and staff assignment forms, demonstrating the ability of amateur radio to process and deliver data-filled forms in an emergency scenario with no internet, power or cell phone services. And, linkages between Amateur Radio EmComm Teams and other EmComm groups were strengthened more than ever. Planning is now beginning for a Fall Drill that will build upon lessons learned in the Spring Drill.

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