ARRL Board: Taking advantage of the presence of FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, at the Centennial National Convention, one of the planned events is the signing of an updated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between FEMA and the ARRL. Our relationship with FEMA dates back to 1984 when our first MOU was signed. In June 2003 then-President Haynie signed the Statement of Affiliation that is currently on our website at http://www.arrl.org/served-agencies-and-partners. The new MOA, which grew out of our meeting with Craig Fugate and his staff in March 2013, is attached. It goes into somewhat more detail as to the nature of the cooperation between the two entities but does not commit ARRL resources beyond what are available. General Counsel Imlay has reviewed the MOA and is satisfied with it, and President Craigie is prepared to sign it in Hartford. The MOA refers to Emergency Support Functions #6 and #15 without much explanation, so a bit of background may be helpful. Emergency Support Function (ESF) #6 - Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing, and Human Services coordinates the delivery of Federal mass care, emergency assistance, housing, and human services when local, tribal, and State response and recovery needs exceed their capabilities. ESF #6 includes communications in support of these services. The ARRL has long been listed as a resource under ESF #6 as follows: American Radio Relay League (ARRL) - Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES): Provides volunteer radio communications services to Federal, State, county, and local governments, as well as to voluntary agencies. ESF #15 is described as follows: Emergency Support Function (ESF) #15 - External Affairs ensures that sufficient Federal assets are deployed to the field during incidents requiring a coordinated Federal response to provide accurate, coordinated, timely, and accessible information to affected audiences, including governments, media, the private sector, and the local populace, including the special needs population. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ