WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #21-28
NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR FOR PASCO COUNTY APPOINTED
On Tuesday June 1, 2021, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, appointed Bill Fetta N7CGC to be the new ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Pasco County. Fetta succeeds Ralph McCullough WA3YFQ, who had been ARRL Emergency Coordinator since August 2017. McCullough is continuing his service as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Pasco County ARES.
Fetta was first licensed in November of 2017, not long after the landfall and passage of Hurricane Irma. The impact of Hurricane Irma had a great impact upon Fetta, and having extensive experience in communications in the United States Coast Guard, decided to obtain his amateur radio license in order to provide public service through the ARES program. Fetta had served as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Pasco County ARES prior to be appointed as Emergency Coordinator.
Fetta made the following comments on what motivated him to become licensed and on his appointment as ARRL Emergency Coordinator, “My welcome to FL was Irma. I found myself sitting in the bleachers while the big game was on and holding a unique skillset that was not in the game but should have been. There are no words to describe that feeling…That was my sole reason for obtaining an amateur license but I was to find that it opened the door to so much more…I look at the talent and experience across WCF ARES and for me it is remarkable!! I am very proud of our group and all of you. No one person has all the answers, including me. But together we do .. after all this is WCF and if we had to radiate a car bumper to stay in the game we’d find a way. Adapt, Improvise, overcome!”
Fetta”s professional career included 23 many years of service in the Coast Guard and the Montana Army National Guard, with much of that time in radio communications. After retiring from his military service, Fetta had a business as a sub-contractor and a painting contractor until his full time retirement.