May 2, 2026 – Lee County ARES TDEM Exercise and Lee County Demo
The Lee County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) successfully completed a full day training exercise conducted by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). The event took place at the Giddings Plaza on May 2.
We LeeCARES demonstrated our emergency communications capabilities showing our group’s ability to support local agencies when traditional communications fail during disasters. We are deeply grateful to the City of Giddings for allowing us to operate at the Plaza for giving us a visible, accessible location helps us train effectively while also giving the public a chance to see what emergency communications looks like in action.
The deployment was smooth and we became fully operational shortly after arrival. Throughout the day, we established reliable communications with the State Operations Center (SOC) in Austin using both voice and Winlink on VHF and HF bands. Additional contacts were made with surrounding counties and with the State Traffic Nets. We also deployed a portable radio go‑kit and spoke with more than a dozen interested citizens, including one who expressed interest in becoming a licensed amateur radio operator. The team welcomed visits from Giddings Police Department officers, we briefly talked to an EMS unit before they received a call and to several local amateur radio operators who stopped by for demonstrations and radio programming assistance.
The group extended special thanks to the Giddings Brewhaus for its hospitality. Brewhaus employee Amber Dawn visited the trailer, made her first on‑air radio transmission, and later delivered five plates of complimentary delicious finger food for the team. We were pleased with the excellent performance from our new generator—powered by fuel donated by Maass Propane. We tested Starlink satellite internet, which performed well, and continued work on AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Digital Network, or Internet by radio) equipment. The day was highly successful, and we welcomed the strong community engagement, excellent weather, and safe operations.