ARRL Director Mike Ritz – W7VO – of Scappoose, OR announces that the League has strengthened its’ commitment to EMCOMM by creating the new position of Director of Emergency Management. Mike reports…

As another step in ARRL’s increased focus on strengthening its
emergency communications capabilities and long-standing working
relationships with federal and state agencies and private emergency
response organizations, ARRL has hired Paul Z. Gilbert, KE5ZW, of Cedar
Park, Texas, as its first Director of Emergency Management.

Gilbert brings more than 30 years of experience in public service in
both his professional and amateur radio endeavors. Beginning with his
appointment as Emergency Coordinator in 1987, he has held multiple
positions in the ARRL Field Organization. Currently in his second term
as South Texas Section Manager, he has also served for more than a
decade as the West Gulf Division’s Assistant Director for Public
Service, acting as liaison between Division leadership and local,
state, and federal emergency management organizations.

Professionally, Gilbert most recently was Radio Officer, HQ Staff, for
the Texas State Guard, where for the past 6 years he has been
responsible for planning and implementation of the organization’s
communications capabilities. Previously he was a Public Safety Radio
Coordinator for a Texas agency, charged with overseeing that
organization’s large-scale disaster communications response and
identifying and eliminating in-state interoperability issues.

Gilbert, who has an Amateur Extra-class license, is a member of Army
MARS, and holds numerous DHS certifications, including COML, COMT, COMT
Instructor, and AUXCOM Communicator. He is a member of the FEMA
Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group (RECCWG), a
graduate and was a founding member of the Texas Division of Emergency Management
Communications Coordination Group.

In his new role, Gilbert will manage a team responsible for supporting
ARRL Emergency Communications (EmComm) programs and services, including
the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) and National Traffic
System (NTS), as well as lead the continued modernization of those
programs in consonance with the future emergency communications needs
of the public and ARRL’s key partners.