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Emergency Communication History

In 1976 the Teton Dam (Idaho) incident occurred. The LDS Church found it very difficult to contact PH Leadership to determine the emergency needs of the Church members affected by the incident. As a result, Boyd K. Packer, an Apostle of the LDS Church and his son, Allan (WA7BKD) felt the need for emergency communication with PH Leaders during and following an emergency event. It was felt that the Amateur Radio Service could provide such a communication link. Thus, the MARA (Mercury Amateur Association) emergency communication network was formed. Initially it was a rather loose organization comprising Ham Stations from Utah and Idaho

About 1980 or 81 I was living in So, California, serving on the Newport Beach Stake High Council. One night, following our HC meetings, the Stake President asked me to meet with him in his office. The President advised me that he had received a letter from the brethren in SLC that I should be released from the HC asap because they had another calling they wanted to extend to me.

Not long thereafter, I received an invitation to attend a meeting at the Church offices behind the Los Angeles Temple. The meeting was conducted by a counselor to President Lorin C. Dunn. Brother Dunn was serving, at that time, as President of the N.W. Section of the Church. He had received instructions to provide an Emergency Communication Network for the LDS Church in Southern California. The meeting was for that purpose.

We gathered in a semi-circle in front of President’s Dunn’s counselor.  All the brethren were Stake Presidents except me. They were all CEOs or heads of law firms. I was seated in the middle of these very successful men. Following our individual introductions, the counselor asked that I stand again. He said, “This brother is responsible for establishing an emergency communication network to 81 of your stakes, to be known as the ERRS (Emergency Response Radio System). He will be meeting with you at your Quarterly Welfare Committee meetings to introduce the stake presidents to the ERRS Network and discuss how they could connect their stakes to the Network.

To begin I established 2m and 40m stations at each Bishop’s Storehouse (BSH) from San Diego to Ventura. These stations would receive emergency data from each stake they serve. That info would be transmitted to the Santa Ana Bishops’ Storehouse (BSH) which then transmit the information to the Colton, CA BSH. The Colton BSH was well equipped to communicate with the Welfare Services station at the top of the Joseph Smith Building in downtown SLC.

Once the Network was established, I tested it on the Saturday morning following General Conference in April and October. Before the test I sent letters to 81 stake presidents with following sample messages: 

               *Fulltime Missionaries safe and accounted for

               *How many members are injured or deceased

               *Are Ward Cultural Halls being used for homeless

               * Need for Food, Water & Medical Supplies

Thus, ERRS in So. California replaced MARA and continued for 2+ years, until the Church’s Welfare Services Department decided that Satellite Telephones and Computers were more effective and reliable than amateur radio.

In 2007 we moved from Southern California to Utah. When I got my station operational again, I began checking into the local Mesa, AZ Bishops’ Storehouse net (the Az/Nv/Nm Mercury net) on 80m.  I then formed the Mercury Western Net (MWN) as the Net Manager, selected NCS’s and sent out updated rollcalls each week. The rest is history.