SHARES and Winlink Radio Email for Emergency Communications Presented at the 20th Annual Communications Academy Emergency Communications Continuing Education Seattle, WA By Joseph P. Cirone, W1SPY 15 APR 18
SHARES Mission To support interoperable emergency communications by two-way radio For National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) when normal communications are overwhelmed or destroyed To coordinate and transmit messages needed to perform critical functions Includes those related to leadership, safety, maintenance of law and order, finance, and public health National Special Security Events (NSSE)
SHARES Overview 1988 - EO 12472 Cold War DOD NCS Existing federal and affiliated HF resources National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) traffic, when normal communications are overwhelmed or destroyed 1980s CONOPS reflected daily operating practices Agencies conducted Ops/maintained watch on HF SHARES network designed for P-T-P Voice message relay, based on stations routinely being onthe-air as reported in the SHARES Directory
SHARES Overview 2012 - EO 13618 NS/EP - All Hazards DHS Key requirements in the EO: Federal Govt must have ability to communicate at all times, under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions Comms must be survivable, resilient, enduring, and effective Must interoperate at all levels of Govt, with private sector; the public, allies, and other nations
SHARES Overview SHARES in DHS: National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) National Coordinating Center for Communications (NCC) Supports: Federal, State, Local, Tribal, & Territorial Govts Private Sector and Civilian Communities Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources (CI/KR) ESF #2 (in partnership with FEMA)
SHARES Evolution Post-9/11 efforts exposed vulnerability of Critical Infrastructure / Key Resources (CI/KR) Civil agencies and CI/KR became aware of need for resilient long-haul communications Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) program changes and more emphasis to military support End-user ( customer ) demands: More secure and timely two-way radio messaging Data (Email) messaging Ease of use and interoperability
SHARES Participants Federal Departments and Agencies, including volunteer auxiliary program stations (CAP, MARS, USCG Aux) As NCC Auxiliary: Emergency Management Agencies (EMA) (All ESFs) Separate from FEMA FNARS HF CI/KR providers, including: Telecom, Trans, Energy, Pub Health, Hospitals, Medevac Coordination Centers National/Regional disaster relief organizations
The SHARES Difference Three things SHARES does that Amateur Radio cannot: 1.Use encryption (codes and ciphers) 2.Use higher data rates on HF (up to 9600bps Level 10) 3.Use radio operators who don t have a ham radio license My experience: All three are very important for emergency incident management and Agency comfort levels to rely on emergency communications resources
Affiliating with SHARES SHARES does not enroll amateur radio operators SHARES enrolls agencies (that meet the criteria) SHARES does not compete with local agencies for their volunteers Not right to make agencies compete for volunteers Volunteers cannot easily serve two agencies Volunteer stations affiliated with an agency serve as relays for agency traffic Agencies are the originators or recipients of emergency traffic
Affiliating with SHARES Agencies might want to utilize volunteer operators This is the opportunity for Hams, through SHARES member agency stations Example - Hams and non-hams can volunteer as a member of the FAA Northwest Mountain Region s (Seven states) EMCOMM / IST and operate on SHARES (fixed, mobile or portable) or in EOC roles Contact: joseph.cirone@faa.gov Other Examples: State or County EMA; designated MARS, USCG Aux, CAP members,
SHARES Use Example How do you coordinate power grid restoration without survivable communications? Graphic - U. S. Energy Information Administration
The Problem Most communications systems depend on vulnerable infrastructure Telephones, cell phones, satellite phones, LMR networks That infrastructure depends on power, water, fuel, people High Frequency (HF) radio can communicate beyond the horizon without any infrastructure
The Solution Graphic from https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/antennas-propagation/ionospheric/skywaves-skip-distance-zone.php HF Radio Station = Fixed, Mobile or Portable transceiver, antenna, power source (Battery, Solar, etc.) No infrastructure needed between stations (Hybrid, Mesh and Peer-to-Peer modes) Range = 100s to 1,000s of miles (depends on antenna and propagation)
SHARES Resources 2,460 SHARES stations affiliated with a Govt Agency Federal - 94 State - 87 County - 59 City - 6 NGO & CI/KR 49 16 CI/KR Sectors recognized by DHS 397 SHARES entities (sub-components of Fed, State, Local D/A) provide support to one or more SHARES Coordination Net 141 DHS HF channels Agency SHARES channels 218 Agency HF channels (1,920 Agency Stations)
SHARES Channels SHARES Coordination Nets (primarily SSB Voice) One-to-many with a Net Control Station Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) Data Channels: Winlink, Pactor, MT63, MS-188-110A Winlink primarily, MT-63 secondarily MS-188-110A Interoperability with MARS & DOD Agency SHARES channels One-to-one, point-to-point relay Find station location, frequency in SHARES Directory Establish contact, ask for message relay Return to your normal operating channel
Other Interoperability Alaska Emergency Channel (5.1675 MHz) Govt to Amateur Radio stations Five 5 Mhz chs. for Amateur Radio secondary use RACES Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service Agency Amateur Radio Club (Ham Channels) Foreign stations for disaster response coordination
SHARES Station Sites
SHARES ALE Sites
SHARES Nets/Exercises
SHARES Nets
SHARES Winlink Image sent via Winlink by a Tennessee Emergency Management Agency mobile unit SHARES has a robust Winlink RMS (Radio Message Server) network Separate from the Amateur Radio Winlink network Separate from the MARS Winlink network Operates in: Conventional (Gateway), Hybrid, Mesh and Peer-to- Peer modes (Radio Only)
SHARES Data Sites
SHARES Winlink Winlink Reliability, Accuracy and Flexibility: High reliability - 99.99% availability (>15 years) 100% accurate message transmissions. Operational from fixed, mobile or field (deployment) sites Geographical dispersion and redundancy for reliability Conventional, hybrid, mesh and peer-to-peer An emergency communication system is only useful if the recipient can receive the messages in a timely, reliable and error-free manner
SHARES Winlink Equipment for a SHARES Winlink station: HF Radio and Power supply Ham radios are fine (MARS/CAP Mod) Fixed, Mobile or Portable ( Go Kit ) HF antenna Must be frequency agile Pactor modem Cost about $4,000
SHARES RMS Traffic Monthly Data Network Traffic Report - 1 of 3 Callsign Relay Total Connections Relay Radio Connections Relay Radio Incoming Relay Radio Send Trimode Total Connections Trimode Radio Connections Trimode Pactor Connections NCS009 354 193 63 55 208 86 207 NCS203 55 37 10 10 NCS350 2876 2809 286 477 329 209 328 NCS352 4659 4656 28 46 51 19 50 NCS353 369 193 79 76 70 19 69 NCS354 2328 1243 89 104 167 77 166 NCS355 143 110 94 80 73 24 72 NCS356 93 85 70 68 128 63 127 NCS358 3725 3725 241 324 290 70 289 NCS359 3301 1877 91 234 294 97 294 NCS360 3765 3765 58 86 NCS361 1696 610 293 399 328 169 327 NCS362 119 83 67 70 120 59 120 NCS363 35 21 15 16 44 19 44 NCS365 40 14 8 9 26 9 26 NCS367 476 26 16 14 69 43 68 NCS368 1280 1253 60 69 124 51 124 NCS369 16 3 3 0 11 1 11 NCS372 46 40 27 18 NCS373 163 158 238 214 NCS374 89 89 176 198 NCS375 319 279 6 11 64 4 63 NCS376 43 34 27 23 59 22 58
SHARES Winlink Traffic Monthly Data Network Traffic Report - 2 of 3 Callsign Relay Total Connections Relay Radio Connections Relay Radio Incoming Relay Radio Send Trimode Total Connections Trimode Radio Connections Trimode Pactor Connections NCS377 107 89 4 4 4 1 4 NCS379 11 7 4 3 10 7 9 NCS382 108 25 18 0 22 22 22 NCS383 1362 1325 41 47 111 42 110 NCS384 601 592 12 17 131 23 130 NCS385 3395 2582 60 66 124 58 123 NCS387 636 54 56 44 150 67 150 NCS388 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NCS390 127 71 31 26 195 77 195 NCS394 2794 2757 49 38 96 30 96 NCS395 83 39 14 21 66 14 65 NCS396 0 0 0 0 32 0 0 NCS397 2157 2137 36 52 44 19 44 NCS398 5 0 0 0 21 0 0 NCS399 90 76 81 64 165 76 165 NCS500 557 510 50 49 112 42 112 NCS501 986 985 0 0 0 0 0 NCS502 74 59 46 62 129 59 129 NCS503 80 43 0 1 0 0 0 NCS504 39 37 69 60 98 38 97 NCS506 472 34 12 8 46 25 45 NCS508 861 428 0 0 873 433 872 NCS509 133 65 16 5 377 217 376
SHARES Winlink Traffic Callsign Relay Total Connections Monthly Data Network Traffic Report - 3 of 3 Relay Radio Connections Relay Radio Incoming Relay Radio Send Trimode Total Connections Trimode Radio Connections Trimode Pactor Connections NCS510 349 188 47 42 362 178 361 NCS511 71 62 0 0 78 69 78 NCS512 615 615 33 20 72 41 72 NCS513 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NCS514 2626 12 16 8 28 18 27 NCS515 954 50 55 51 124 48 123 NCS516 20 9 5 1 5 2 4 NCS517 54 28 41 37 93 28 93 NCS518 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 NCS520 71 54 34 35 54 21 53 NCS521 44 8 5 0 45 8 44 NCS522 120 89 47 50 108 43 107 NCS523 96 75 62 44 137 77 137 NCS524 1271 1246 65 79 122 50 121 NCS525 118 83 83 46 148 65 148 NCS527 39 31 13 15 31 14 30 NCS529 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NCS531 38 14 10 13 49 14 49 NCS533 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 NCS534 47 27 30 32 93 18 92 NCS857 28 18 24 27 42 17 42
SHARES Deployment SHARES Disaster Support Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico Deployment: 13 OCT 21 NOV 17 10 SHARES personnel deployed (All Hams) 2 Federal Workers 8 Volunteers affiliated with a SHARES Agency FEMA Mission Assigned = All Expense Paid Trip Connect FEMA Branch Offices with Joint Field Office (JFO) and CONUS In isolated areas throughout Puerto Rico
SHARES Deployment
SHARES Deployment Conditions Faced
SHARES Deployment Austere environment Transportable ( Go Kits ) HF, VHF/UHF Data
SHARES Deployment FEMA Branch Office SHARES Deployment Teams
SHARES Deployment HF Comms - When all else fails, We are your friends.
SHARES Deployment Active SHARES HF RMS locations available Eastern US
SHARES Deployment SHARES Deployment Teams during Hurricane Maria
SHARES Deployment JFO Station (San Juan) Branch I Initial Station (Rincon)
SHARES Deployment Branch I Office (Aguadilla) Branch II Initial Station (Arecibo)
SHARES Deployment Branch III Office (Caguas) Branch IV Office (Ponce)
SHARES Deployment SHARES Deployment Team members also trained the National Guard on HF skills and replaced the HF antenna at Ft. Buchannan
SHARES Deployment RFI Challenge Just the beginning
SHARES Deployment HF Antenna SatComm Antenna The National Guard arrives! SatComm adds to RFI
SHARES Deployment Military and Civilian IT Specialists were there to help = More RFI challenges Miles of CAT cable, routers, power supplies, etc., just 15 feet from the SHARES station
SHARES Deployment When all else fails SHARES Winlink and the Pactor 4 modem worked! During the five-week deployment: 1,225 messages were handled (plus thousands of return receipt/acknowledgement messages) through all of the RFI and high noise floor
Lessons Learned Deploying SHARES team capabilities earlier in the response phase would be even more effective for immediate or operational communications needs Emergency planners and operational staff need to better understand HF capabilities and the added benefits (technical, communicator, and analysis skills) of SHARES teams for tactical communications mission assignments
Lessons Learned A COML or other POC needs authority over all entities at a site to coordinate antenna placement to minimize RFI SHARES deployment teams should be prepared to assist NG and DOD units to resurrect HF capabilities and train them Emergency communications assessments and training provided to the PRNG was welcomed and effective
Lessons Learned Winlink message routing beyond the initial connection with an RMS should not concern end operators SHARES (and similar teams) are a special resource capable of observing communications conditions, actions, and needs, and then communicating it to EOCs and JFOs. This ESF #2 forward observer capability should be developed and utilized
Lessons Learned Most operators prefer providing tactical communications involving immediate life safety and property protection over less critical communications Deployment teams need to be staffed sufficiently with leadership to maintain proper span-of-control ratios (1:5-7)
Credits Thank you for material used in this presentation: Ross Merlin, SHARES Program Manager Dan Hawkins, DHS Office of Emergency Communications - Region VIII Coordinator Dr. Steve Posner, CAPT USPHS (Ret.) - Emergency Response Coordinator, National Disaster Medical System SHARES Program Office Phil Sherrod and the Winlink Development Team Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc.
Questions? Joe Cirone, W1SPY joseph.cirone@faa.gov 202-231-2032 49