Operating in the Remote, Sparsely Populated, Coastal and Isolated Areas of Cascadia

According to the ARRL Operating Manual, 10th Edition: “In a nuclear attack scenario, wireless communications resources would be limited, and the only systems that might be usable include limited satellite communications (SATCOM), limited TV/radio broadcasting, Family Radio Service (FRS), General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), Citizens Band (CB), Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), HF Automatic Link Establishment (HF-ALE), and Amateur Radio.”

Radio provides an effective means of communication that is independent of commercial infrastructure such as the Internet or cellular networks. Radio broadcasts can provide news and information to large groups of people, and two-way radio can often provide effective communication when other more complex systems fail. Operators working in remote, sparsely populated, coastal and isolated areas of the Pacific Northwest are confronted with challenges different from those faced by the hobbyist radio operator or by radio operators performing a conventional EmComm mission. Operators in the field must be able to communicate over long distances, up to 4000 kilometers (2500 miles), using low-powered equipment, and communicate in a manner that will result in maximum efficiency with minimum loss of security. Technical assistance and maintenance support are normally not readily available to operators in the field.

Stretching along the Pacific Coast, Cascadia extends as far as the salmon run, spread across an incredible diversity and range of habitats, wilderness and landscapes. These watersheds stretch from South East Alaska to Northern California, and from the crest of the continental divide to the Pacific coast westward. Cascadia is a bioregion defined by the watersheds of the Columbia and Fraser River valleys that stretches from Northern California to south east Alaska and as far east as the Yellowstone Caldera and continental divide. It encompasses most of the states and province of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and parts of southeast Alaska, northern California and western Montana.

The effectiveness of any communications equipment is no greater than the skill of the operators. By the same token, the most efficient communications within any net or group are attained when the operators habitually use the proper procedures in transmitting and receiving messages. It is for this reason that it is essential to get out into the field and operate under real-world conditions on a regular bases.

I spend my days in the mountains, among the crags and on the peaks, or in the sparsely populated and isolated forests of Cascadia, operating my radios and practicing fieldcraft. *

 *Fieldcraft consists of the techniques involved in living, traveling, or making military or scientific observations in the field and the methods used to do so. Fieldcraft skills include camouflage, land and water navigation, understanding the difference between concealment from view and cover from small arms' fire, using the terrain and its features to mask ground movement, obstacle crossing, selecting good firing positions, lying-up positions, bivouac sites, effective observation, camouflage penetration, counter-surveillance, detecting enemy-fire directionality and range, and survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) techniques. In the anti-terrorism field, fieldcraft is further defined as "the art of evading monitoring by police and the security services.