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By Thomas Michaud, WA3TQJ
WARMINSTER, PA, Sep 9, 1998--Pennsylvania's Warminster Amateur Radio Club this Field Day took to heart the object
of the annual exercise: "to learn to operate in abnormal situations under less than optimal conditions. A
premium is placed on skills and equipment developed to meet the challenge of emergency preparedness and to acquaint
the public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio."
This year, the club decided that it could make a greater contribution assisting the annual air show at the Naval
Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. The show benefits the base's morale and welfare groups
and it often has occurred on Field Day weekend.
On June 27, nearly 30 hams descended on NASJRB and set up emergency antennas and developed an operational plan.
"For the next 12 hours, they manned a medical communications net to assist the Navy Medical Corps with the
expected crowd of between 60,000 and 130,000," said WARC Past President Thomas Michaud, WA3TQJ. The net "sent
Amateur Radio communicators with roving teams of medical personnel throughout the crowd to determine if there were
any medical emergencies and to deal with them," he explained. Other hams handled net control, aid stations,
the PA system, a clinic, security, a van, and different ambulance groups. Hams made sure the medical team had communication
with the different groups throughout the base.
"Imagine, the Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and National Guard cannot talk to each other because they operate
on different frequencies," Michaud said.
During the course of the day, the hams were called on to provide communication support, "and the medical personnel
were glad we were there," he said.
Michaud said the club members repeated the performance on the second day of the event. Most equipment was run from
battery power, except for the command and control station and the clinic location. Each station had several backups
if needed.
"During the two-day operation, the amateurs proved to the public, the Navy, and to themselves that we are
able to handle a field day," Michaud concluded. "It is not possible to measure our score by the number
of contacts made. However, we could score points on power levels and public relations."
In all, more than 60 hams took part and picked up some actual emergency-type operating experience "which will
make them perhaps better operators during future emergencies," Michaud said. "We operated under adverse
conditions, using equipment unfamiliar to us, and persevered and showed the public that this is Amateur Radio at
its finest."
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