The Somerset County R.A.C.E.S. team consists of F.C.C. licensed Amateur Radio Operators, also known as Ham Radio Operators. The R.A.C.E.S. team could be activated during a large-scale incident that disrupts normal means of communications (hurricanes, tornadoes, man-made incidents, terrorism, etc).

The primary goal of a R.A.C.E.S. deployment is to pass information from point to point both in County and out of County by utilizing licensed radio operators. The R.A.C.E.S. team participates in monthly radio net hosted by the State of New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, to ensure all equipment is working properly and all N.J. counties, select agencies such as the Red Cross, ARMY/NAVY MARS, and the State of New Jersey can communicate in various ways.

The R.A.C.E.S. team is actively recruiting members, so if you are interested, please reach out to the Office of Emergency Management. In 2021, R.A.C.E.S. and C.E.R.T. worked together to host an Amateur Radio Technician Class, of which 100% of students passed the test. The team is now running our own monthly nets, has purchased new radio equipment, put together a deployable radio cache, and purchased radios for some of its members. Future plans include securing additional repeaters throughout Somerset County, helping municipalities create their own teams, integrating with A.R.E.S. and AUXCOMM teams, and building better relationships with our neighboring Counties.

Currently, Somerset County R.A.C.E.S. maintains two Ham radio repeaters, and additional repeaters are located at a County owned radio tower site and are maintained by private groups that have a signed agreement with Somerset County. R.A.C.E.S. plans to work with 9-1-1 Communications and C.E.R.T. to assist them in their communications needs at both planned and unplanned events.