Running a Mesh-Enabled EMCOMM Exercise

Running a Mesh-Enabled EMCOMM Exercise

Why Combined Voice + Mesh Exercises?

Training separately on voice and mesh produces operators who can use each system independently. Combined exercises reveal how the systems interact, where they complement each other, and — critically — where operators might accidentally rely on mesh when they should use voice or vice versa. Combined exercises also let you measure mesh performance in realistic field conditions before relying on it in an actual emergency.

Scenario Design

Scenario Elements That Benefit from Mesh

• Multiple geographically dispersed field teams that need to track each other's positions
• Served agency location (shelter, hospital, EOC staging area) that needs to report resource status periodically
• Net control station that needs to track field team positions without consuming voice net time for position reports
• A simulated infrastructure failure (repeater "goes down" at a pre-planned time mid-exercise) to test mesh as a fallback

Sample Scenario: Earthquake Response, Day 1

SCENARIO: 6.2 magnitude earthquake, 0730 local time.
Infrastructure status: Cell towers out, internet out, primary repeater unknown (simulate partial coverage).
ARES activation: County EC activates all available operators.
Objectives:
  - Establish EOC comms link (primary: voice on simplex; supplemental: mesh)
  - Assess four pre-designated shelter sites (teams of 2 per site)
  - Report shelter status (capacity, occupancy, needs) every 30 minutes
  - Track all field team positions continuously
  - Pass a minimum of 10 formal ICS-213 messages via mesh

Inject at T+60 min: Primary simplex frequency congested; shift mesh position reporting
to free up voice channel for priority traffic.

Inject at T+90 min: Shelter #3 reports mass casualty event; all traffic deprioritized
except medical coordination.

Pre-Positioning Infrastructure

Infrastructure Checklist (T-7 days before exercise)

• ☐ Identify all exercise areas and map expected operating locations
• ☐ Identify elevated relay sites within exercise area (hilltops, buildings, repeater sites)
• ☐ Deploy solar relay nodes at 1–3 elevated sites at least 24 hours before exercise
• ☐ Verify relay node solar charging is functioning (check battery voltage)
• ☐ Test message delivery from all expected field team operating areas to EOC node
• ☐ Configure all nodes with exercise channel (separate from operational channel)
• ☐ Assign node names following naming convention (e.g., RELAY-HILLTOP-1, FIELD-TEAM-A)
• ☐ Verify all field team nodes have GPS lock in outdoor test
• ☐ Brief all participants on channel configuration before exercise day
• ☐ Assign backup power (charged batteries or power banks) to all deployed nodes

Assigning Mesh Roles to Participants

Evaluating Performance: Key Metrics

Message Delivery Rate

The primary mesh performance metric is the percentage of sent messages that were received by the intended recipient within an acceptable latency window. Calculate separately for:

• Direct node-to-node (single hop) delivery rate
• Multi-hop delivery rate (messages relayed through 2+ hops)
• Delivery rate under different field conditions (urban, rural, elevated)

Latency Measurement

Record the timestamp when each message is sent and the timestamp when it is confirmed received at the destination. Meshtastic's message log provides send time; the receiving node's log provides receive time. Target latency benchmarks:

Net Efficiency Comparison

Record the number of voice net transmissions consumed for position reports and status updates before mesh was deployed vs. after. A successful mesh integration typically reduces voice net traffic by 30–60% for routine status/position traffic.

Post-Exercise Debrief Template