...What do you make of the FCC's policy towards RACES? Is there simply no more need for new licenses because no new civil defense organizations will be formed in the future?
I think they are not issuing new licenses because none are required - there have been a lot of changes
in the regulations since RACES was added in the 1950's. Now the local ARES (or RACES, ham club, etc.)
can get a club callsign and use it when needed. We operate W7YAM from the Yamhill County EOC under
both ARES and (if needed) RACES. Remember, when the RACES licenses were first issued we still had
to identify as portable when we weren't operating from home, and some hams had two callsigns issued
if they had a second home with a station. So eliminating the RACES licenses with distinctive callsigns
really makes no difference - the RACES group can get a standard club callsign if desired.
Ham radio was shut down during both WWI and WWII, and compliance was nearly universal, even if
they didn't collect equipment the second time around. While the threat of spying is one reason, the
other (which would also direct the shutdown of all AM radio stations except those at 640 and 1240kHz -
remember those CD emblems on the dial?) was the potential that the enemy might use known radio
stations for navigation in an attack. During the height of the Cold War all ham stations were required
to have CONELRAD monitors so they could know to shut down their station immediately in case of attack.
And, actually, there WAS a good DF system in place in WWII (though far more primitive than what the
FCC has available now) that was responsible for tracking downed aircraft, unauthorized transmissions,
U-boat traffic, etc. Very few spies attempted to report by radio as a result. Were that to happen now,
I suspect that very few scofflaws would continue to operate once they realized that they could be held
as potential spies and/or threats to national security for the duration as a result. But it wasn't just ham
radio that was shut down - ALL non-essential radio transmissions were restricted, and those that
remained in operation took steps to reduce the risk that they could be used for navigation.
At this point the chance of the President invoking the War Powers Act and shutting down ham radio is
pretty remote unless there is a threat of immediate enemy attack.
