At our June meeting, we honored Malcolm W5XX and his history-making event for being the longest serving Section Manager in ARRL history. This is quite an accomplishment in service for over 26 years to the League and amateur radio in the Magnolia State. He was elected Section Manager on March 1, 1998. He surpassed the New Mexico SM Bill Mader K8TE on April 2, 2026, making him the longest serving SM in the history of the American Radio Relay League. President Chris Dunn AF5OQ said as he introduced the Emcee, “We are proud to have him as a charter member of our club which recently celebrated its 50th year.” W5XX was one of the co-founders of VARC and President several times. W5XX was made a Lifetime Member to honor his club service some time ago. He drew area hams over to the Vicksburg Club to speak about amateur radio topics because he knew that sharing what we know makes for a stronger hobby. In the days since virtual meeting technology emerged, VARC has made significant use of drawing many well-known hams to give programs. Sadly, Bob Heil K9EID was scheduled to give a talk on the audio chain in ham station stations not long before his passing.
Service to the ARRL and the Hobby
Frank K4FMH, VARC’s former Vice President and Assistant Delta Division Director for over 12 years, emceed the program. He talked about major events in amateur radio that have taken place during Malcolm’s tenure. Frank asked Malcolm to comment on a few of them, including regulatory modernization, the Digital Revolution, EmComm and public service, and spectrum allocation.
To no one’s surprise, Malcolm thought that the removal of the Morse Code requirement for licensing was not a good move. (W5XX is a highly proficient CW operator and, like a Drill Sargant, advocates that everyone use CW.) The restructuring of licenses themselves probably made a lot of sense, he said. He didn’t have any opinion on the baud rate limit change. For the digital revolution, he didn’t seem much in it although when Frank prodded him on whether he used FT8 mode, he said he did. Until the settings on his PC fell apart! Eddie Pettis N5JGK, whose day job is a contractor managing communications systems for the Corps of Engineers, is Malcolm’s chief computer “engineer.” Eddie gets W5XX back on FT8 when this happens. Well, most users of WSJT-X and variants have been there!
Malcolm shared a number of key remembrances of the EmComm scenario in Mississippi during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. “I had to call up hams at 3am to get them on the air if they were in critical locations or had key equipment capability,” W5XX lucidly recalled as if it were last month. Frank K4FMH asked him if Mississippi’s amateur radio community got stronger because of the hurricane. There is little doubt, said Malcolm. He added that ARRL is nearing the completion of “ARES 2.0” which will substantially revamp the current program. He thought the new frequency bands below 160 Meters have been useful but we don’t know how they will develop. We still face restrictive covenants for many ham operators so that is another burden that restricts our ability to respond to emergency situations.
Frank K4FMH called on fellow hams in attendance to share their thoughts on Malcolm’s tenure as Section Manager. Bill Ford W5WAF said that Malcolm was actually Vice Director of the Delta Division when he was licensed back in 1976. Reba Causey K5IMT, whose call was earlier her father’s, shared with the crowd that Malcolm was highly instrumental for her mother getting her amateur license. Lloyd Causey (sk) was a long-time member of the Vicksburg Club. Eddie N5JGK, a close collaborator with Malcolm in contesting, shared that Malcolm was the most prolific contest operator he had every known, driving himself to exhaustion at times. One particular Field Day team finished 7th in the nation with about 10 operators working for 24 hours.
Jim Armstrong AK5J, a career corporate attorney who assists hams in Mississippi pro bono with antenna siting issues, is President of the nearby Jackson Metro Amateur Radio Club. Jim spoke with glowing words of Malcolm’s repeated assistance to the Jackson Club over the years. “He has helped us immensely with getting ARRL endorsement for the Capital City Hamfest, ARRL speakers to attend, and various other amateur radio matters over the years since becoming Section Manager. He has made a real difference for use in the Jackson area.”
Frank K4FMH closed out the remembrances. “Wherever I’ve talked with hams from around the U.S., I often get asked about that W5XX guy. Why does Mississippi keep electing him?” My reply is: because he does a very good job. He handles the complaints that come with the job but still identifies with the ordinary ham. That is unusual these days in my view. Another comment I get is that “the bands will be completely dead and then I hear W5XX come through loud and clear on CW!” Jim AK5J interjected that driving up to Malcolm’s house is very reminiscent to approaching the W1AW station in Newington, CT. Frank concluded, “The ham who follows Malcolm when he decides that he’s had enough will almost assuredly be viewed as a failure. It is nearly impossible to follow someone of Malcolm’s stature and respect and be seen as successful. You have reached a milestone both in the League and here in the Magnolia State as well.”
Breaking the Record
When Malcolm W5XX casually mentioned that he had broken the record for longest term in Section Manager office, Frank K4FMH approached President Dunn AF50Q with a way to honor this superb achievement. The literal record-breaking to symbolize his service was hatched as a surprise program at the June 2026 meeting. Frank and his wife searched for inexpensive but appropriate vinyl albums, finding a three-set boxed set called Beautiful Music, Beautiful Memories. Sparing no expense, Frank rounded up the $0.48 charge at Goodwill to $1.00. An antique ball peen hammer was included in the carry bag from his workshop. Jennie Bottemiller, Activities Chair, got the cake ordered and decorated, the two hams prepared to present the originally intended program were let in on the surprise, and Eddie N5JGK was directed to ensure Malcolm’s attendance at the meeting.
Eddie and Chris held each album for Malcolm to break with the hammer. One was, of course, for W5XX. The other two were for the VARC Archives. Even though Malcolm is an engineering grad from the University of Tennessee and retired engineer from the Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, note his expression at the end of the video below. He looked quite puzzled that the peen-end worked so well. It should, its purpose is for metal working. A thin piece of vinyl won’t stand up to it very easily. Malcolm demonstrates that while he spends a lot of time in his wheelchair, his swing is still fairly stout!
As a program to honor a career achievement in service to the hobby, truly a good time was had by all in attendance. Malcolm W5XX was presented the pieces of the broken record back into the box for his mementoes at home. He said, “This will go right next to my Lifetime Membership Award in the Vicksburg Amateur Radio Club which I helped launch over 50 years ago.”