The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is an emergency communications organization composed of amateur radio operators. It is sponsored by the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) in the United States and the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) in Canada. ARES provides training to amateur radio operators (Hams), including protocols for net operations and message handling. ARES groups may be activated by local governments to supplement communications during civil emergencies.
Repeaters listed on RepeaterBook can be tagged as ARES-affiliated to indicate their involvement in supporting ARES activities.
The primary difference between ARES and RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) is their organization:
By FCC rules, both ARES and RACES members must be unpaid volunteers while operating on amateur radio frequencies.
Under the War Powers Act, the amateur radio service could be temporarily suspended, potentially requiring ARES members to cease operations. However, RACES members would still be authorized to operate, as RACES requires a formal government emergency declaration. For this reason, many ARES members also register as RACES members to ensure operational continuity during such events.