AN ERA COMES TO A CLOSE AS RILEY HOLLINGSWORTH, K4ZDH, RETIRES
On Thursday, July 3, Special Counsel for the Spectrum Enforcement
Division of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH --
the man who has come to embody Amateur Radio Enforcement -- said goodbye
to the FCC as he retired and began his life as a private citizen. In
May, Hollingsworth announced he would definitely retire; he had
contemplated retiring in January 2008, but cited "several issues on the
table that I want[ed] to continue to work through with the amateur
community." While his successor has not yet been named, he was quick to
point out that the FCC's Amateur Radio enforcement program will
continue.
Hollingsworth said that he has "loved" working for the FCC and has
"always had great jobs, but this one involving the Amateur Radio Service
has been the most fun and I have enjoyed every day of it. I've worked
with the best group of licensees on earth, enjoyed your support and
tremendous FCC support and looked forward every day to coming to work.
The Amateur Radio Enforcement program will continue without missing a
beat, and after retirement I look forward to being involved with Amateur
Radio every way I can. I thank all of you for being so dedicated and
conscientious, and for the encouragement you give us every day."
Saying it has been a "privilege to work with and for the Amateur Radio
licensees and the land mobile frequency coordinators," Hollingsworth
said that he is "extremely fortunate to work for two wonderful groups of
people: Those at headquarters in the Enforcement Bureau, and for the
Amateur Radio operators."
Before joining the FCC, Hollingsworth, a South Carolina native,
graduated from the University of South Carolina and Wake Forest
University School of Law. While in high school, he worked as a disc
jockey for WRHI, an AM station in Rock Hill, South Carolina. "It's a
funny thing," Hollingsworth said. "They once held a beauty pageant in
Rock Hill and nobody won!" In the mid-1970s, he was a "Nader's Raider"
and worked on brown lung disease in the North and South Carolina textile
mills.
"Basically I'm just an ordinary guy caught in the cross-hairs of radio
history," Hollingsworth said. "But I am proud of the fact that the
digital clock on my VCR has been blinking for 4 years."
Hollingsworth told the ARRL he was "so very impressed" with the young
people who are involved with Amateur Radio: "To the very young Amateur
Radio operators I have met who have dreams of being scientists and
astronauts and communications engineers, we will be pulling for you; I
have a strong feeling we won't be disappointed."
Calling the Amateur Radio Service a part of the American heritage,
Hollingsworth explained that he is "going to stay as actively involved
in it as I possibly can. Thank you all for working tirelessly to provide
the only fail safe communications system on Earth and for helping this
country keep its lead in science and technology. What an incredible gift
it has been to work with you every day, and how fortunate we are to love
the magic of radio! Every gift of lasting value comes with
responsibility. We must never forget what we owe for our spectrum
privileges. I will continue working with you in every way I can to
ensure that Amateur Radio lasts a thousand years. "
American Red Cross Responds to ARRL Concerns Regarding Background
Checks
In November 2007, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, wrote to the
American Red Cross (ARC) regarding concerns voiced by ARRL
volunteers. In 2006, the Red Cross stated it would implement
background checks that included, among other things, a credit check
and a "mode of living" check for its staff and volunteers, including
ARES volunteers providing services to the Red Cross during disasters.
ARRL saw these portions of the background check as unneeded and
inappropriate for ARES service.
In a letter dated May 8 of this year, Armond T. Mascelli, ARC Vice
President for Disaster Response Services replied to President
Harrison: "I can now report back to you that [these] actions have
been completed and changes have been instituted which I trust
resolves the concerns detailed in your letter. This effort took
considerably more time and attention than originally envisioned, but
I believe the results will now benefit our respective organizations.
"A new background consent form now [is] to be used by all Red Cross
chapters for ARRL members and other partner organizations. The form
and related process is limited to the name and social security number
verification of the individual, and a criminal background check.
References and suggestions to other related investigative
possibilities have been stricken."
ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD,
announced the resolution at the ARRL ARES forum at the Dayton
Hamvention® and received hearty applause.
"We are very pleased that the American Red Cross has addressed some
of the issues that we raised regarding their background
investigations and that we can move forward in a relationship that
has existed for a long, long time," Harrison said. "The American Red
Cross and the ARRL have shared a productive relationship for many
years which has been of benefit to both the organizations and to the
public. We are glad that throughout the past months we have been able
to negotiate the issues that we had and have finally come to a
resolution."
What's Next?
With the background check issue apparently resolved, the ARRL will be
working with the ARC in the negotiation and creation of a draft for a
new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or similar document to replace
the one which expired last year; Dura and Keith Robertory of the ARC
will be leading the effort. When complete, the draft of the MOU will
be presented to the leadership of both organizations for approval.
"The ARRL is very pleased that the American Red Cross has responded
appropriately to our concerns about the background check issue," said
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "We believe it now
will be possible to go forward to negotiate a statement of
understanding between the two organizations. We look forward to
renewing and expanding the relationship with the Red Cross."
Field Day Info
Exhibit Kits Now Available for Field Day:
Please visit our Field Day
information page
for all the details on
Field Day rules, frequencies, forms, pins, logos and T shirts. The
complete Field Day packet can be downloaded from the site as well. If
you have unanswered questions about Field Day, contact ARRL Field Day
Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, via e-mail fcinfo@arrl.org or by phone at
860-594-0236. If you want to order exhibit kits containing printed
flyers about Amateur Radio, you may
order these materials
on the ARRL Web site. The cost of the
exhibit kits ranges from $8-$12 depending on shipping. To make sure
you'll have the display material in time for Field Day, your order must
be received before June 13.
Club Library
We now have a Club Library. Claude N9BKA is the librarian. He has several books and is ordering an ARRL
book about RFI.
To check out a book from the library, contact Claude. (Number is in the Club membership book)
WARC Paricipates in a "Mock Bioterrorism" Drill.
Several members of the Watertown Amateur Radio Club participated is a "Mock Bioterrorism" drill.
Maranatha was set up as a Medical dispensing facility. This drill was put on by the Watertown Health Department.
The American Red Cross also participated in this drill. They provided sandwiches, water and snacks for the
volunteers.
The auditorium at Maranatha was the area used for the drill.
The auditorium at Maranatha was set up as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
We set up a 2 meter radio using battery power and a make shift antenna. Net Control was set up at our
"Central Command Post" (CCP) in our designated area in the basement of the Firestation.
Amateurs were dispatched to the Hospital to aid in communication between the EOC and Hospital. Several
Amateurs were at their home stations to help were needed.
The "Incident Commander"
at Maranatha gave us a hand held 2 way radio. This is how communication needs were given to us.
We in turn sent out the communication.
This was a successful drill.
Our Club will be reviewing the drill and having discussions regarding our effectivness.