SB QST @ ARL $ARLB043<br />ARLB043 ARRL receives homeland security training grant<br /><br />ZCZC AG43<br />QST de W1AW <br />ARRL Bulletin 43 ARLB043<br />>From ARRL Headquarters <br />Newington CT July 19, 2002<br />To all radio amateurs <br /><br />SB QST ARL ARLB043<br />ARLB043 ARRL receives homeland security training grant<br /><br />The ARRL will receive a $181,900 homeland security grant from the US<br />government to train Amateur Radio operators in emergency<br />communication. The League was among several dozen nonprofit<br />organizations designated to receive some $10.3 million in federal<br />money to boost homeland defense volunteer programs. The grant, from<br />the Corporation for National and Community Service special volunteer<br />program, will provide free ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency<br />Communications Course training to 5200 volunteers nationwide,<br />starting in 2003.<br /><br />''ARRL is the national association for Amateur Radio and is the<br />national leader in emergency communications by volunteers who<br />operate their own equipment on their time at no cost to any<br />government, organization, or corporation,'' said the announcement<br />July 18 from Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. The ARRL plans to<br />revise and update the emergency communications curriculum to<br />incorporate additional elements of emergency preparedness and<br />homeland security.<br /><br />ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said he was extremely pleased by<br />the news. ''This adds legitimacy to the public service work Amateur<br />Radio has been doing for years,'' he said.<br /><br />ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, applied for the<br />funding in May. ''I think this is an extraordinarily exciting day for<br />Amateur Radio that the role of Amateur Radio in homeland security is<br />recognized at the highest levels of government,'' Hobart said upon<br />learning of the grant.<br /><br />Citing Amateur Radio's response in the aftermath of the September 11<br />terrorist attacks, Hobart said the federal grant ''will help continue<br />our work in providing public service and to protect lives, homes,<br />businesses and our frequencies, as we have for decades.''<br /><br />ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was pleased<br />that the League would be able to extend its Amateur Radio Emergency<br />Communications program to thousands of amateurs who might otherwise<br />not be able to afford the program. ''We hope all who are interested<br />will get on board,'' he said.<br /><br />The grant announcement said that ''expanding the opportunities for<br />Americans to participate in meaningful volunteer service'' is at the<br />heart of President George Bush's USA Freedom Corps, of which the<br />Corporation for National and Community Service is a part.<br /><br />''We are deeply grateful to Tom Ridge and to the Corporation for<br />National and Community Service for providing Amateur Radio with a<br />unique opportunity to serve our country,'' Hobart said.<br /><br />In June, the ARRL and United Technologies Corporation announced a<br />partnership to provide free ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency<br />Communications Course training for up to 250 Connecticut amateurs.<br />NNNN<br />/EX