Local Ham radio volunteer honored for 9/11

by Jessica Scarpati

Emergency situations like September 11 are what we train for. That's what we do. -Tom Carrubba.

"Top Gun," Tom Carrubba, hammed it up at this year’s Hamvention Warm-Up Bash, the largest amateur radio convention in the United States.  Carrubba, a Babylon resident and FCC licensed amateur radio operator, was presented with the Top Gun award at the event, which was sponsored by Kenwood Radio USA equipment suppliers. The dinner and award ceremony was held on May 16 at the Doubletree Hotel in Dayton, Ohio.

Although there were other recipients of the award, said Carrubba, he was presented with the award for organizing recruiters to relieve the overworked Manhattan amateur radio operators who responded to the crisis situation of September 11. Carrubba admitted that receiving the award was "flattering, but humbling," and accepted it on behalf of over 800 amateur radio operators that had volunteered over 15,000 hours to the situation.

"I’m not accepting it just for myself" he told the group. "The 800 people who put their lives on hold deserve credit. I’m one of the background people that makes things happen."

Like all amateur radio operators, Carrubba is a trained volunteer and uses his own equipment in order to provide communication in emergency situations. He is the American Radio Relay League Section Emergency Coordinator for the New York City and Long Island area. Carrubba is also a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club.

Fellow club member, Diane Ortiz, recalled that Carrubba had spent "hundreds of hours volunteering his time coordinating the amateur radio response to the World Trade Center disaster" in September.

Carrubba responded to Ortiz’s comment with a humility that mirrored the way he chose to accept his Top Gun award.

"Emergency situations like September 11 are what we train for.  That’s what we do," said Carrubba.  "This is a team deal."

Although Carrubba already had experience in emergency situations from his work during the 1992 and 1993 blizzards, as well as the Suffolk County wildfires, he admitted the biggest setbacks he faced on September 11 were conflicts with security clearances.

"Because this was an act of war, a wide response was turned on by this event for many things," said Carrubba.  "In addition to the Long Island area, I had volunteers and recruiters from Pennsylvania, Riverhead, Albany, and Connecticut all willing to ‘fill in the grids’ and take over the twelve hour shifts for the ham radio operators in Manhattan. It was hard to get security clearances for these things because it was a national disaster."

Amateur radio began as a hobby in high school and college for Carrubba, and he received his license in 1978.  Two years later, Carrubba joined the Town of Babylon ARES and remained active with the group as he started a life with his wife, Barbara. An injury in 1992 led to an early retirement from his 20 year career as an auto-racing crew chief in a local shop, but the accident renewed his interest in amateur radio. Increased participation in the Town of Babylon ARES led him to become Assistant Department Radio Officer; he was promoted to his current position in 1998.

In an age of the internet and cell phones, Carrubba assured that there is still a place for the amateur radio operators today.

"Absolutely, there is still a role for us.  We say our work is ‘24/7’ because we are constantly training and having meetings," said Carrubba.  "And when there aren’t any emergency situations, we are involved in helping secure and control many organizations and events. September 11 may be over, but we were at the Multiple Schlerosis walk in Manhattan, the New York City marathon, and even the 24 hour walk at West Islip High School. We are always on standby."

Carrubba is a graduate of Farmingdale High School and the State University of New York in Farmingdale.  He was born in upstate New York, but said he was raised in Massapequa and Farmingdale. Carrubba, or "KA2D" as he’s known over the amateur radio, now resides in Babylon with his wife and three children.

Anyone interested in becoming an emergency situation amateur radio operator can visit the website for Babylon’s club at http://www.gsbarc.org; according to Carrubba, the club is still very active, and it teaches classes and gives the FCC test for amateur radio licensing. Thomas Carrubba invites anyone who has any questions about amateur radio operating to email him directly at KA2D@arrl.net.