From JJS/AmRRON National
Final Approach to T-REX 2023 Exercise

As we get ready to start T-REX 2023 JJS has some last minute advice on how you can play a part in this important exercise.

I just want to redefine or re-approach the objective. The objective of the exercise is to activate AmRRON in a simulated real-world grid-down environment, implementing the signals operating instructions (SOI), including the white papers, which are updated, and supersede any information that’s in the signals operating instructions where those sections apply. There was a consolidated posting of the white papers that you’ll want to get to which most of you already have, to make sure that certain portions of the SOI we’ve identified improvements or other ways of doing best practices. And those are in the forms of white papers which supersede information that you might find in the SOI. There are multiple components to the exercise:
First testing of off-grid power systems to support grid down communications, testing of stations to ensure the functionality and proper setup and adjustments of transceivers antennas and our computers, and our software.

Next implementing the AmRRON communications plan. Then conducting radio nets to pass information on various bands and modes. So participation in scheduled nets, proper use of software for digital mode communications, sending out or relaying reports, receiving or relaying reports, and adapting to modifications to the communications plans, when the situation calls for it and following instructions.

Concept of operations:
Some of the key concepts. There will be two SIGCENs or signals centers, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. The National SIGCEN traffic, such as reports will be funneled to the SIGCEN where the information will be received, analyzed, and consolidated into reports for wide distribution in the form of EXSUM’s, executive summaries, and AIB’s AmRRON Intelligence Briefs, or possibly other forms of traffic such as public service announcements. NCS or net control stations will be present to conduct scheduled nets to receive reports to facilitate the flow of traffic across the net and disseminate reports such as an IES, an initial event summary, SITREPs, and EXSUM.

All stations participating should prepare an initial report that radio operators will fill out and submit a status report or a STATREP. This is a snapshot of the situation at or around the operator’s location. The STATREPs may be shared at any time during persistent presence net time windows and when net control calls for them. Net control stations and SIGCENs will prepare an initial event summary or an IES at the onset of a major grid-down situation. The IES is a summarized report of what they know at that moment. Any information they know about the cause, the size, and the scope of the event? They will also provide information about upcoming nets and any adjustments to the net schedule that they’re aware of. And they may pass along any guidance or instructions that they have to the radio operators in the network. NCSs will forward their IESs to the SIGCENs so a more clear picture of the event and its effects can be determined and put into the form of reports and sent out to the network so everyone can stay informed.

Initiating stations:
There will be multiple volunteer initiating stations across the country that will have been issued pre-loaded traffic to inject at specific times or windows of time, which will help enhance the scenario and provide more details about the size and scope and the effects of the simulated disaster. Pre-loaded traffic is official exercise traffic and will be accompanied by an identifying training exercise traffic number. This helps us track message traffic and gauge the effectiveness of the nets so we can identify areas needing improvement.

Participants are encouraged to submit STATREPs, but we ask that they do not generate their own exercise traffic by injecting it into the T-REX exercise. However, during nets, if you see traffic such as a situation report needing to be passed and you’re in a position to help relay it, then don’t hesitate to offer to help. It is a network.

Feel free to create micro scenarios within your group or your network your local network or your mutual assistance group within the larger scenario and pass traffic across your local or regional nets. This is a great opportunity to train amongst yourselves while the larger scenario is ongoing and incorporate that with your local scenario and how you might be locally affected. What would your local mutual assistance group do if this T-REX scenario was real? What kinds of missions might you create in such a scenario? This might provide an opportunity to discuss security patrols, scouting, and observation, or other news and intelligence sharing within your own communities networks.

Next, STATREPs:
The status report is how we provide the widest range of situational awareness to everyone in the network with minimal bandwidth in the most compact way. As you’ve probably all often heard it is a snapshot of the situation at a particular location. Is your power out? Do you have cell phone and/or internet? Are roads passable or are they blocked? And several other categories. These are rated as green yellow and red.

Green means there are no disruptions.

Yellow means there are intermittent disruptions or a high likelihood of disruptions.

Red means there are disruptions.

For example, if the only road leading into your small mountain town is washed out by a landslide you would rate travel conditions as red. If the bridge is out leading to your town, but there is an alternate route a detour to get to your town then you might rate travel conditions as yellow. Over-air communications in field 10 in the STATREP form, refers to commercial broadcasting such as television or radio stations and cell phone service.

You can also submit a STATREP for another location. For example, you’re talking to another ham radio operator over the repeater and he states that the bridge is out to his town, Anyville, and there’s no alternative route. You could submit a STATREP for that location. So the rest of the AmRRON network can add that to their own list of consolidated STATREPs for their situational awareness. You can fill out the STATREP for the other location as you’re receiving the information. Be sure to get as much information as possible including the grid square.

The preferred way to submit a stat rep in order is:
Commstat. That is the most preferred way.

Secondly, the STATREP version four AmRRON custom form that’s used in FLMSG.

Third, the abbreviated STATREP format sent using plain text digital modes such as JS8call or FLDIGI can even be transmitted over voice where the receiving station could submit a Commstat STATREP on behalf of the reporting station for the benefit of everyone else in the network. For example, let’s use the previous scenario. You’re talking to another ham operator over your regional repeater. And he states that the power is out, his cell phone is out, the internet is out, and the bridge leading to his town has collapsed with no alternate routes into the town.

This example would possibly also drive the need to submit a situation report or a SITREP with additional details and a narrative, possibly a request for heavy equipment, engineering assets, boats or supply barges, etc. But first, get the pin on the map so to speak by submitting a STATREP. The preferred and most efficient way to do this is to pull up Commstat and fill in the STATREP fields as you’re receiving the information. The STATREP form will serve as a checklist to help you fill in the blanks, so you don’t miss anything. The comments section should be very brief. But if you’re filling out a STATREP on behalf of another party at another location, the very first portion of the comments section should contain an MA dash (MA-) for manually added followed by the suffix station filling out the report the suffix of your callsign. So if your callsign ends with XYZ, you would begin the comments field with MA-XYZ followed by any brief comments. And then for Commstat users, instead of transmitting the STATREP, you would select save only. This will make the STATREP appear in your Commstat. Then to transmit it, you would forward it. To do this in Commstat click on the menu tab and select STATREP ack from the drop-down menu. Find the STATREP that you just saved in the list. Click on it and then click the forward selected STATREP button on the bottom left. JS8call will transmit the STATREP.

When to submit a STATREP: You should submit a STATREP at any time after a disruptive event has occurred but not during scheduled nets. It is a good practice to turn your TX off in JS8call during scheduled nets. That way your station won’t inadvertently transmit during the net. During normal operations when no training exercise is taking place stations regularly submit STATREPs when they lose internet, power, etc. These are real-world reports. (RWEs) So a simulated emergency training exercise or a real-world disruption would be opportunities for you to submit a STATREP.

Submit a STATREP no more than once per day, unless your status has changed. In that case, update your STATREP to reflect the change and transmit it as a new STATREP. It’s true that other stations that are not on the air when you transmit your STATREP will miss it when they come on the air. So let others know your status as they get on the air. You can manually forward your STATREP. This prevents your own system from building up multiple STATREPs all saying the same thing and it helps to keep everyone else’s from getting cluttered with multiples from the same station. Each STATREP generates a unique message ID. Forwarding instead of filling out a brand new STATREP each time fills in missing data from stations who missed your previous transmissions because they weren’t on the air, but it doesn’t add to the report listing of other stations who did in fact already copy your previous STATREP.

Acknowledgments:
Avoid acking or acknowledging every station STATREP that you see. We have designated stations or coordination stations assigned to monitor the nets on a persistent basis and are tasked with sending acks (acknowledgments) to stations submitting STATREPs. This will help avoid clutter on the air and let the sending station know that their STATREP has been received and it will be forwarded to the SIGCEN’s for consolidation. Coordination stations will be designated by a slant C or slash C after their call signs.

That’s all for now, but hopefully, it addresses some of the more common questions we’ve received about participating in this year’s T Rex exercise.

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