This our sop for nawa and will go into effect immediately feb 3 2015 and will remain in effect till feb 3 2030.

native American Weather Alerts (NAWA) SOP
Native American Weather Alerts (NAWA)

Standard Operations and Procedures
This is the Standard Operations and Procedures Manual for all membership within NAWA team. This document will include our Mission Statement, Goals, Bylaws and how we as a group should and will operate.

Mission Statement:
Our mission within NAWA as a membership body is to provide a service to all citizens within the United States of America by providing alerts in the event of severe weather including but not limited to Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings, Winter Weather Warnings, Flood Warnings, Amber Alerts, Oceanic or Marine Warnings, and Breaking News. We here at NAWA strive to protect each and every person that we can reach.

Goal:
Our goal here at NAWA is to provide severe weather alerts to the general public and to protect life and property of each person and family possible. We are here to save lives!

Bylaws:
First and foremost accountability is number one! Each member and potential member must have a working beacon before membership will be considered and/or a number be given. We will be conducting a beacon test semi-monthly of all active members to ensure accountability and bylaws are being met.
It is required that everyone whom is in trusted status must have a NAWA call sign within their profile. If there is no NAWA call sign and easily visible you may be dropped to untrusted status and/or blocked.
Under no circumstance will DRAMA EVER be tolerated! Any member who causes drama will automatically be blocked from any and all NAWA channels including Facebook, Twitter and Zello with no questions asked. (Note: There is a difference between drama and concerns or issues.) We at NAWA know that there are issues that can and may arise but lets keep in mind we are adults and should act as such.
Chain of Command must be followed at all times. Chain of Command within executive officers is as follows; Chiefs, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, and Corporal. This listing is from highest to lowest ranking officers within our command system. Each individual division will be discussed in the Division sections of this manual.

MEMBERSHIP CARDINAL RULE!
Membership is allowed to be a member of other teams but NAWA's business stays with NAWA and those teams stay with those teams. No NAWA business under any circumstance is allowed to be diacussed among other teams or their membership. If this rule is broken, immediate dismissal of membership and will be permanently banned from not only the group but will also be dismissed and banned from any and all media sites! Folks, this goes hand in hand with the drama portion of our bylaws.

Training will be mandatory whether it be as a group or on an individual basis. Each member is responsible for continuous education within the storm spotting field. If you as a member are doing an individual study then proof of said education and completion shall be provided to the NAWA Administrator. Also, we will be requiring that members within Dispatch be trained in Radar and Radar members be trained in Dispatch. Cross training is an excellent thing and will give each member the opportunity to be active especially within the non-active seasons. We request that if you have a certificate from NWS for Basic Skywarn, etc.. that you please send a copy to the Administrator so that our Training Department has record of said training. Each member within our membership is required to obtain a minimal of 8 hrs continued education/training per month. If said training/education was acquired on an independent basis it can ONLY be done through MetEd.org that way it can be set up to where we get an automatic email and immediate verification can be obtained. If email verification has not been obtained and a member has been absent from training sessions disciplinary action is as follows:
1st absence - verbal warning
2nd absense - written warning
3rd absense - dismissal from NAWA
(Note: This is if occurrences happen within the same training month.)
Divisional Operations:

Dispatch:
Each member who works Dispatch must keep a log of any and all activity that occurs in the main channel: Native American Weather Alerts. This is extremely important and must be kept accurate and precise especially in extreme weathers conditions. As the first article of our Bylaws states accountability is everything. Each member of the dispatch team is the key to each member being accounted for and must hold accountability to the utmost highest regard. All members of the dispatch team need to be familiar with lock down procedures which will be attached with this SOP. Each member of dispatch when first assuming the role as the active dispatcher on any given shift must take a roll call. This is to ensure that the already started dispatch log is accurate and if not then current dispatch should assume the responsibility of updating the current log at hand. Each dispatch log should cover a 24 hour period starting from 0000 hrs and ending at 2359hrs. Once the 2359 hr mark hits a new log should be started and the previous one should be emailed to the Lead of Dispatch, reviewed and then emailed to Pastor Charles Headley. Any and all activity that is on our main "Native American Weather Alerts", is to be recorded on the dispatch log, such as all announcements, check in's and out's, etc. It is required that members with the dispatch team cross train with the radar team so that way if in the event of shortage of staff a mutual helping hand can be given to either team. Chain of Command within the dispatch division is simple. Any and all concerns within dispatch should be taken to the Lead of Dispatch and if the issue so happens to be with the Lead of Dispatch then his/her next chain of command which would be the NAWA Captain. The NAWA Captain will then listen to the issue/situation, then advise the Administration of said situation, investigate and then repport findings back to complainant and Administration. If mediation needs to be taken place, Administration will step in and work with the Captain to find a resolution to the issue at hand. If, If an issue does arise, it is not to be discussed among divisions or members outside of the situation at hand. This will be in accordance to our second bylaw stating drama will not be tolerated ever. If this occurs immediate action will be taken no questions asked. Lastly, remember we are a team and are here to obtain one goal that we all have in common, that is to protect lives and property!

Radar:
The radar team is part of the core of our team. The radar team watches over the general membership and our Field Op's team on radar during the event of severe weather. You as a member of the radar team must have the basic knowledge of radar, an understanding of how it works and the ability to determine or make an opinion based on all variables of a storm system as seen on a radar. The radar team will work side by side in unison with the Field Op's team to confirm reports visually seen with current radar images. It is required that any radar tech that is using a computer must have Google Earth, GR2 Analyst, and GR3. If a tech is operating from a mobile device then it is required for them to have Radar Alive Pro, Radar Scope and eRadar HD downloaded. It is required that the radar team cross trains with the Dispatch Division so that way if in the event of a shortage of staff then a mutual helping hand can be given to either team. Chain of Command within the Radar division is simple, any and all concerns within the radar team should be taken to the Lead of Radar and if the issue so happens to be with the Lead of Radar then his/her next chain of command which would be the NAWA Administrator. The NAWA Administrator will then listen to the issue/situation, advise the upper Administration of said situation, investigate and then report findings back to the complainant and lead Administration. If mediation needs to be taken place, Administration will step in and work with the Administrator to find a resolution to the issue at hand. If, IF there is an issue, it is NOT to be discussed among divisions and/or members outside of the situation at hand due to our second bylaw stating drama will not be tolerated ever. If this occurs immediate action will be taken no questions asked. Lastly, remember we are a team and are here to obtain one goal that we all have in common to protect lives and property!

Field Operations:
The Field Op's division is made up of storm spotters and chasers. Each spotter and chaser must have their own beacon running at all times while out in the field during a severe weather threat and pursuing a storm. The Field Op's team will work hand in hand with the Radar division as well as the Dispatch division. This is to ensure complete safety of each team member while out in the field and communication is maintained at all times while in the path of severe weather. Chain of Command within the Field Op's division is simple, any and all concerns within the team should be taken to the Lead of Field Op's and if the issue so happens to be with the Lead of Field Op's then his/her next chain of command which would be the NAWA Chief's. One of the NAWA Chief"s will then listen to the issue/situation, investigate and then come to a conclusion. If mediation needs to be taken place, two or more NAWA Chief's will step in and work with the complainant and the Lead of Field Op's to find a resolution to the issue at hand. If, IF there is an issue, it is NOT to be discussed among divisions and/or members outside of the situation at hand due to our second bylaw stating drama will not be tolerated ever. If this occurs immediate action will be taken no questions asked. Lastly, remember we are a team and are here to obtain one goal that we all have in common to protect lives and property!

Channel Lock Down Codes
When there are active warnings with NWS (the board) the following is our protocol:
Any Severe Thunderstorms Warnings (2) or more are on board goes to Lock down Code YELLOW
Any Tornado warning goes to Lock down Code RED
Any one Winter Weather warning goes to Lock down Code WHITE is issued due to winter storm warnings being on board.
When multiple warnings are on the board Dispatch sets main channel on Code BLACK
Procedure For Members
Code GREEN (Green board includes Flash Flood Warnings (FFW) and Clear board refers to an Active warnings board with no warnings at all) rooms are open for any normal business traffic.
Any 2 Severe Thunderstorms Warnings on board goes to Lock down Code YELLOW. When a code yellow is issued the main room will be put on lock down by dispatch and any and all traffic must go to NAWA Hangout. This is done to ensure all traffic by Radar and Field Op's can be transmitted easily.
Any Tornado warning goes to Lock down Code RED. If there is any tornado warning on board the main channel will be put in a code red lock down by acting diapatch. All traffic must immediately go to the NAWA hangout. This is done to ensure all traffic by Radar and Field Op's can be transmitted easily.
Any one Winter Weather warning goes to Lock down Code WHITE. Is issued due to.winter storm warnings being on board. All members must take all traffic to the NAWA Hangout.
Code BLACK rooms are locked down to all (NO CHAT) but leadership, on shift Dispatcher and those brought into chat by leadership. Generally Code Black is used for multiple warnings on the board and is to be used at Leaderships or Dispatcher’s discretion. Members should be prompted by Dispatch to move all traffic to the NAWA Hangout channel. Also, any traffic other than business traffic stops during a code black lock down in all rooms including the NAWA Hangout