Training is used to help members learn and practice the operational skill sets needed to support the deployment of operators during an activation exercise or emergency. Drills and exercises will be used to evaluate the performance of both individual users and the Pinellas ACS to perform these tasks.

Weekly Training Net

The Pinellas ACS weekly training net will be used to familiarize ARES^®/ACS participants with net procedures, message formats, phonetics, use of prowords, and other basic skills. The training segment of the net will be narrowly focused on a small set of skills and will be designed to require less than an 30 minutes to complete. This segment of the net will also be used to provide members with detailed information about upcoming drills and exercises.

Monthly Drills

Monthly Drills are used to exercise specific operational skills, practice digital and voice network operations, and assess user performance. Each Drill will be narrowly focused on a small set of skills and will be designed to require one hour or less to complete. Drills will be the primary tool used to certify user performance.