Please review the St. Louis County Office of Emergency Management Training Requirements. (Adobe Acrobat format)¹

Under the ARRL's new strategic plan, ARES members now fall into three categories:

Level 1
This is the entry level for those new to ARES. Members at this level have one year to complete the training requirements needed to advance to Level 2. Members may not stay at Level 1 indefinitely.
(See "Further Details - 1" below)

Level 2
To qualify for this level, participants must complete the following courses:

• ARRL's EC-001 Introduction to Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
• FEMA IS-100
• FEMA IS-200
• FEMA IS-700
• FEMA IS-800

All ARES served agencies require that all volunteers working for them complete the FEMA courses.
(See "Further Details - 2" below)

Level 3
This level of training prepares ARES participants to take on leadership positions such as EC, AEC, DEC, ADEC, SEC and ASEC, and other designated positions in the ARES program. To advance to Level 3, first complete all Level 2 requirements, and then take the following additional courses:

• ARRL's EC-016 Emergency Communications for Management
• FEMA Leadership Development series of courses IS-120, IS-230, IS-240, IS-241, IS-242, IS-244, and IS-288
• FEMA course ICS-300
• FEMA course ICS-400

(See "Further Details - 3" below)

Further Details

1. The Missouri Section Manager and Section Emergency Coordinator have stated that the one year time limit for ARES Level 1 members to complete all training to move to Level 2 members will begin on January 1, 2020.

2. All of the FEMA IS (Independent Study) courses can be taken online. Go to the FEMA Independent Study Web page, follow the instructions for obtaining a FEMA student ID, and then look through the IS Course List to find the course that you want to take. They are free and you can take them at your own pace.

The ARRL EC-001 and EC-016 courses can be taken onliine from the ARRL. The EC-001 course is sometimes taught locally. Both the online and local courses are free. Check our calendar to see if there is a local class coming up soon.

The FEMA ICS-300 and ICS-400 courses are not part of the Independent Study series. They are live classes that require your attendance.

3. As of August 2019, the ARRL has now fully implemented all of the planned changes mentioned in its ARES Strategic Plan. The Missouri Section Manager and Section Emergency Coordinator have concerns about the ICS-300 and ICS-400 courses, as they are only taught by agencies in Missouri. Students would have to take several days off to attend the courses. Please try to take the ICS 300 course.

Get your FEMA transcript

Once you have completed all of the FEMA courses needed to advance a Level, request that a copy of your transcript be emailed to you.

Request the official FEMA transcript at this email address: [email protected]. Sending the below information.

Student Name (required):
Address (required):
City, State & Zip Code (required):
Phone Number:
Email Address (required):
Social Security Number OR FEMA Student ID (SID) (1 required):

Once you receive your transcript, forward a copy to Steve Wooten, the St. Louis Metro ARES Emergency Coordinator at [email protected].

1 - Please see the "Software" section on the Resources page if you do not have software necessary to read these files.

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