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• Dan

  Feb 8, 2021 11:47 am

  Good morning sir, First, I have been enjoying your “Tennis Shoes” books for many years and have sent my grandchildren copies of many of the same, please keep writing.
  As I write this, I am listening to your current podcast “Countdown to Armageddon” with great interest. Mr. Hooten is correct in many of his assumptions about America’s recovery from an event such as an EMP. I thought you might like to know that, in addition to the millions of FCC licensed HAM radio operators, many governments have set up emergency communications plans. HAMS routinely practice for EMP like events and other natural disasters that interrupt “normal” communications. One way this is done is through several “Field Day” exercises throughout the year, in which they are encouraged to test their equipment on battery power and off grid. Many HAMS are members of volunteer groups such as ARES and RACES that provide emergency communications and help the community through the year.

  In the United States, on the Federal level, there are several organizations that routinely run similar exercises each year. As an example, look up the “Cascadia Rising” annual exercise in the Pacific Northwest. An organization in the Federal government that has as its primary mission to support emergency communications in the event of a large-scale emergency that disrupts normal communications is the SHARES program. We do this through the use of High Frequency (HF) radio communications and associated digital technologies that are routinely tested, upgraded, and hardened against an EMP event. SHARES stands for SHAred RESources. It consists of about five (5) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) full time employees, and a team of three (3) full time contractors. We manage and coordinate the resources of over 2,300 VOLUNTEERS (2,356 as of this morning) in every state and territory of the United States. These people and organizations (typically Federal, State, County, and Civilian Infrastructure agencies) each provide their own equipment, and donate tens of thousands of hours each year without pay to help out their neighbors and community. They do this by providing back up communications (HF Radio) to first responders in affected regions. HF radio has been proven to be among the first modes of communication to recover from an “event”. Bottom line when satellites, cell towers, and even regular internet are taken off line for any reason, our radios work. Take solace sir in the fact that many of your neighbors are working to make sure that the effects of something like an EMP are mitigated as much as possible. PS: I personally agree with you and Mr. Hooten are very much right on most of the subjects you discussed in this Podcast. For more information, HAM operators: www.arrl.org ARES (arrl.org) Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) (qsl.net) SHARES program: SHARES Program Information | CISA SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio Program | CISA Cascadia Rising: Cascadia Rising 2022 planning underway | Washington State Military Department, Citizens Serving Citizens with Pride & Tradition FEMA Exercise Program: Exercises | FEMA.gov