EMC087  FNARS and SHARES 2/2
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC087   FNARS and SHARES 2/2    For release 7/7/97
Continuation:

The SHARES network presently consists of 1040 HF radio
stations, located in all 50 states, and at 34 overseas
locations. Fifty-four Federal, state, and industry
organizations presently contribute resources to SHARES.
Over two hundred fifty frequencies have been identified for
use in SHARES. Since the program became operational in l991,
SHARES has provided emergency radio support during over a
dozen emergency situations.

Guidance and direction for the SHARES program is the
responsibility of the NCS SHARES HF Interoperability
Working Group. As a standing committee under the NCS
Council of Representatives (COR), the Working Group also
serves as a forum for addressing regulatory, procedural ,
and technical issues affecting Federal HF radio
interoperability. Administrative support for the SHARES
program is provided by the Chief, Operations Division (N3),
NCS. Further information on the SHARES program may be
obtained from the Chief, Operations Division, National
Communications System, 701 South Court House Road,
Arlington, VA, 22204-2198, or by calling the SHARES Project
Officer at (703) 607-4900, or electronic mail at
shares@ncs.gov. The SHARES home page address is
http://www.ncs.gov/~shares/shares.htm. 

Call signs in the SHARES network are the same as used by
the appropriate agency, such as Civil Air Patrol;
Department of Justice; NASA; US Army; Navy; Coast Guard;
and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A SHARES message consists of information that must be
communicated to a Federal entity and is of critical
importance to the Federal government, the entity's mission,
and/or involves the preservation of life and the protection
of property. 

The National Communications System (NCS) will have its 34th
birthday on August 21 of this year. During its 30th
anniversary in l993 SHARES HF radion station KGD-34,
located at the  National Coordinating Center for
Telecommunications (NCC) Arlington, Virginia, conducted a
week-long open house of the SHARES HF radio program.
Periodic SHARES exercises are held each year to familiarize
personnel with SHARES message formats and procedures. SHARES
manuals supply the specific message form format to be
followed when using SHARES.

Nationwide SHARES exercises are conducted periodically to
assess SHARES capability, and to provide station personnel
training on SHARES message formatting and radio operating
procedures. Over 900 station operators participated in the
three two-day SHARES exercises conducted during l996

To pass a SHARES message (by authorized agencies): 
(1) Dial a SHARES frequency, 
(2) Indicate you have a SHARES message to pass, 
(3) Who the message is to, their address and telephone number,
(4) Pass the traffic (keep it brief).

                                  ---
ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov       FTP archive:
ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for new
bulletins and ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races for earlier ones
OES ACS staff manager Stan Harter :Stanly_Harter@oes.ca.gov 
State Chief ACS Officer Cary_Mangum@oes.ca.gov

EOM EMC087