One of the things I really appreciate about CT ARES, and specifically here in Region 2, is that our emergency/disaster communication services are rarely needed.

However, when they are needed...
We need to be ready to deploy and demonstrate a high level of competency and proficiency.

Your membership in ARES gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills beyond “rag-chewing” and “contesting”, so as to become "really useful" during an emergency/disaster. When some major event happens and you're called upon to serve, you'll be familiar with the terminology, the people, and the reason why things are structured and handled the way they are.

Training Maxim:
When under pressure, people don't rise to the occasion; they default to their level of training.

Questions:
- What is your level of training?
- Is your training current?
- When was the last time your fellow ARES Team members heard or saw you participating in an ARES activity?

Getting the Message Through
Your participation in Public Service Events, Drills and Exercises not only provide an important and greatly appreciated safety net for the organization running the event, but also gives you the opportunity to function as part of a communications team in (usually) a low stress environment.
- These activities help you build and sharpen communications skills necessary to function well during a “real world” incident when CT ARES is called upon to provide emergency/disaster communications.

BE THE FIRST!
When you see the opportunity to participate in an upcoming ARES activity, jump on it and be the first on the Sign-Up list.
- Don't wait for someone else to be the first, because that someone else is always somewhere else doing something else.
- Who knows? You might end up with a picture of you in a CNN Report

ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1035767
or
ctaresregion2.org/forum/ares-in-action/2...ado-floods-sept-2013