The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) has held to the same precepts virtually since its inception in 1935, encouraging participation by any licensed Amateur Radio operator with a sincere interest in Public Service Communications. With the advent of more uniformly functioning public safety organizations across the nation, more requirements imposed upon agencies and organizations assisting them, and the development of the Incident Command System (ICS) and The National Incident Management System (NIMS), ARRL was challenged to align the standards of ARES with current needs of our served partner agencies.
ARRL consulted with experienced and talented resources from a broad cross-section of radio amateurs in the U.S. to examine the needs of our served agencies and their partners. A mission statement was developed for ARES — one that is versatile, tells why ARES exists, and provides an overview of what ARES does and how it does it. There are countless individuals who have made contributions to the new program. To each, we extend our thanks and appreciation.

These updates to the ARES program are being developed to allow the implementation of a policy of Best Practices and Continuous Improvement. With these concepts in place, we envision a more flexible ARES program that can adapt to meet new and emerging communication needs as identified by partners and program participants.
This program introduces many changes that were asked for by our partner agencies. Notably, all have been included in the Strategic Plan, and from the mission statement itself, new ARES Guidelines were created, which appear in this document. This Plan will continue to evolve. Changes in technology and local needs will require updates and revisions to accommodate our served partner agencies. ARRL Headquarters staff will conduct an annual review of this Plan to assure its continued relevance.

Formerly inconsistent training requirements are now organized into a consistent and achievable format. This is a first step towards our long-term goal of being recognized by our served partner agencies as the “gold standard” of volunteer communications support based upon ARES unique Expertise, Capability and Capacity as those attributes are described below.

ARES® Mission Statement

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service, a program of the ARRL, offers to its partners at all levels, trained Amateur Radio Service licensees who are skilled in the use of a wide range of emergency and disaster communications techniques and who are committed to supporting our partners’ missions in service to the public.

ARES® Vision Statement

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®), a program of ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio®, is comprised of organized, trained, and identified Amateur Radio operators who augment and support vital communications on behalf of the public through partner agencies and organizations during emergencies and disasters. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service, through its volunteer radio communicators, strives to be an effective partner in emergency and disaster response, providing public service partners at all levels with radio communications expertise, capability, and capacity.