COMU AUXC Auxiliary Communicator

Course Description:

This course is designed for auxiliary communicators who volunteer to provide backup emergency communications support to public safety agencies. Volunteer communications operators/groups, using amateur radio, and other communications platforms, have been providing emergency backup communications to the public safety sector for over 100 years. Event planners, public safety officials, and emergency managers at all levels of government utilize their services. Often, AUXCOMM services have been used when other forms of communications have failed or have been significantly disrupted. Today, nearly every state/territory has incorporated some level of participation by AUXCOMM personnel into their TICPs and SCIPs.

This course focuses on auxiliary communications interoperability, the relationship between the COML and AUXC volunteers, emergency operations center (EOC) etiquette, on-the-air etiquette, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations, auxiliary communications training and planning, and emergency communications deployment. The course is intended to supplement and standardize a volunteer operator’s experience and knowledge of emergency amateur radio communications in a public safety context. Course materials and the AUXC Position Task Book will be provided to students via digital download prior to the course start date.

Course Capacity:  minimum of 15 up to a maximum of 30 vetted/qualified students

Prerequisites for Attendance:

• Personal experience:
• An active FCC amateur radio license
• Experience in auxiliary communications
• An affiliation with a public safety agency that will provide Worker's Compensation insurance coverage to you
• A desire to work with COMLs in a NIMS ICS environment

• Must have completed the following online courses from the FEMA EMI website:
• IS-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS-200: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response
• IS-700: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System
• IS-800: National Response Framework, An Introduction

• Additional recommended (not required) training:
• ICS-300: Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents

The following documentation must be submitted BEFORE the Registration Deadline, and preferably as soon as possible:

• A copy of your current, unexpired amateur radio primary station license

• Copies of certificates or transcript indicating completion of FEMA Independent Study courses IS-100, IS-200, IS-700 & IS-800
• Course links:  https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx
• Transcript request form:  https://bit.ly/2Vl71Sh

• A completed FEMA Form 119-25-1
• Download blank form:  https://training.fema.gov/apply/119-25-1.pdf
• Download instructions:  https://bit.ly/3BXnUCQ

• A completed OKOHS COMU Application
• Download blank form:  https://tinyurl.com/3nze3pxj

Follow instructions carefully and completely.  Please note that illegible entries and/or blanks left on any forms will cause them to be returned to you as incomplete and will result in removal from the waiting list until your properly completed form is returned.  If something doesn't apply to you, enter "N/A".

Please note that you cannot sign off on your own paperwork, even if you are an agency head.  In that case, have your superior (city manager, mayor, board chair, etc.) sign off.

Please scan your prerequisite documents into PDF format and email them to sean.douglas@okohs.ok.gov prior to the Registration Deadline.  Please do not send documentation beyond what is required.  Documents sent after the Registration Deadline will not be accepted.

FEMA will not allow us to make exceptions to these prerequisite requirements.

Registration Priorities:  

Priority for registration for this course is being given to Oklahoma applicants.  Agency affiliated registrants from other states may be accepted into the course only after the registration deadline has passed and only if open seats remain after all properly qualified and vetted Oklahoma applicants have been seated.

IMPORTANT:

Submission of this form places you on a waiting list until all prerequisite documentation has been received and verified as complete and correct.  Prerequisites must be received prior to the Registration Deadline, however, applicants are asked to submit their documentation as soon as possible.  The class will be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis with students best meeting the Registration Priorities, best fitting the Target Audience described, and completely submitting all of their prerequisite documentation.  All applicants will be advised of their status.

If you are not selected to participate in this course offering, your contact information and prerequisite documentation will be retained so that we may notify you of future AUXCOMM/AUXC course offerings and speed your registration.


Registration Deadline:

Friday, November 1, 2024 at 5:00 PM CDT


Point-of-Contact for Questions & Prerequisite Documentation:

Sean Douglas, Deputy SWIC/Frequency Coordinator
sean.douglas@okohs.ok.gov