ARES in Missouri: Supporting Communications and Community Readiness

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service^®, or ARES^®, is a group of licensed amateur radio operators who volunteer to help their communities.

ARES members can provide communications at shelters, hospitals, emergency operations centers, public events, and temporary field locations. They may pass along weather reports, supply requests, road conditions, shelter updates, and other useful information.

ARES can also help connect agencies and community groups that use different radio systems. By handling supporting communications, volunteers can help keep police, fire, and ambulance radio channels available for urgent calls.

In Missouri, ARES is divided into nine districts, labeled A through I. These districts follow the same general county boundaries used by the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s nine troops. This gives ARES a familiar statewide structure that covers every part of Missouri, from the Kansas City and St. Louis areas to smaller towns and rural counties.

Local ARES groups are usually organized by county and led by an Emergency Coordinator. The county groups work together within their district under a District Emergency Coordinator. At the state level, the districts are coordinated by the Missouri Section Emergency Coordinator. This structure allows a response to remain local when possible while making it easier to request help from nearby counties or other parts of the state when needed.

When ARES was first developed in 1935, telephone and radio systems were much more limited, especially in small towns and rural areas. Amateur radio operators were often needed to carry messages when a community became isolated.

Today, complete communication failures are less common because agencies have cellphones, internet service, public-safety radio systems, satellite equipment, and other backup systems. The modern role of ARES is usually to support and expand existing communications rather than replace them.

ARES also helps agencies practice their emergency plans, locate communication problems, and build relationships with trained volunteers before an actual emergency occurs. Missouri’s district structure helps organize that training and allows local groups to work together across county lines during exercises, public events, severe weather, and other large operations.