What do Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) Field Instructors do?

Field Instructors are volunteers who are part of local Amateur Radio clubs who commit their time and expertise to offer classroom instruction of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course. (Formerly Field Instructors were called Certification Instructors, or CIs).   Currently the ARECC Course includes three levels of instruction.  Volunteer instructors may conduct classroom instruction covering the material in any or all of these courses. 

We recommend that Field Instructors be ARRL, ARES, RACES, Red Cross, REACT, CERT, etc. appointees.  It is important to have the aforementioned organizations approve of the instruction and training program.  Frequently ARRL Section Managers, Assistant Section Managers, Emergency Coordinators and Assistant Emergency Coordinators conduct field instruction or are closely involved in the field instruction that is conducted in communities within their section.

Classroom instructors should explain how the content of the course fits with the kinds of emergency responses you might be called upon to engage in your local community. Instructors should familiarize the students with the emergency responders in your community, include practice activities to illustrate the course content and adapt the activities to your local situation to make them as practical and relevant as possible. The purpose of the instruction is to assure that students comprehend the lesson material which has been developed to provide a common foundation of knowledge for effective participation in an emergency response. The objective is for students to gain practical knowledge as well as hands-on experience, essential—and crucial—to being prepared for local activation.

A field exam is given at the conclusion of the instruction to award students who successfully pass the exam with a course completion certificate.  This certificate provides local Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) clubs who are involved in local community emergency response with an indication of a student’s interest and understanding of the emergency communications environment and assures a common foundation of training.

Field Instructors must be registered with the ARRL Continuing Education Program and must meet certain requirements.  Field Instructors are asked to register their planned classes on the ARRL website so that other interested radio amateurs in the local community may find out about them.  Classes can be registered by completing a classroom session registration form on our website.

For further information, e-mail your questions to cce@arrl.org.