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Washington County, Iowa, ARES®


The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible for membership in ARES. The only qualification, other than possession of an Amateur Radio license, is a sincere desire to serve. Because ARES is an amateur radio service, only amateur radio operators are eligible for membership. The possession of emergency-powered equipment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership.

Although this is the serious side of the hobby, our members enjoy the work we do for our served agencies.

To join, complete the membership application on the "Forms" page.

To be able to be deployed in an emergency, complete the training requirements on the "Training" page.


Next Washington County ARES meeting: May 23rd, 2024.

Washington Library
upstairs meeting room
115 W Washington St.
Washington IA

We also work with local Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) in the county and some CERT members are HAMS.