Discussion of US Amateur Radio license requirements elsewhere got me
thinking that a discussion of the whole subject might be interesting.
For me, the place to start is the historical beginnings.

The following is my take on events with respect to US Amateur Radio.

Before 1912, there was very little regulation of radio by the US
government. The whole technology was so new and revolutionary that it
took a while for the need of regulation to become apparent. Various
bills were introuced before Congress but not much changed until the
Titanic disaster showed the need for better regulation in several
areas. Since the main commercial use of radio at the time was for
maritime communications, the effects of that tragedy were widespread.

After 1912, the Federal government took a very active role in the
regulation of radio. Their solution was licensing of both operators and
of stations, regulations establishing different radio services and
enforcing technical/operating standards, and the issuance of callsigns
to positively identify transmitting starions. Those in charge knew,
understood and supported the concept of the skilled, knowledgeable,
licensed Radio Operator in all radio services.

In some services the required skills and knowledge would be mostly
technical, in others they would be mostly operational, and in most a
mixture of operational and technical, but in all cases the licensed
Radio Operator was indispensable.

Thus there were Amateur licenses, Commercial Radiotelephone licenses
and Commercial Radiotelegraph licenses. There were station licenses and
operator licenses. There were several operator license classes, serious
test requirements. As technology developed, and a whole flock of
endorsements for things like radar were created.

Some of this did not come easily. During the 1920s there was a
considerable amount of debate over which government level and agency
should regulate radio, and how new technologies such as broadcasting,
which was unknown in 1912, should be handled. There was also the
evolution of world radio treaties to set up standards betweennations.

Through all this the concept of Amateur Radio evolved, in large part
due to the efforts of those such as H.P. Maxim, Charles Stewart, K.B.
Warner and many others, They faced considerable opposition, because
there were many who would have liked Radio to be a strictly commercial
or government technology.

For example, the 1912 regulations limited amateurs to 1000 watts input
and waves no longer than 200 meters, and required licensing of all
transmitting stations and all operators. Many simply left the air
because they felt the new rules were too restrictive, but others
pressed on to see what could be done.

One may wonder why the regulations didn't just outlaw amateur radio
entirely. I think there were three reasons:

First were the efforts of Maxim and the others, testifying before
Congress and committees as to the need for Amateur Radio.

Second was the general feeling during the Progressive Era that the
average person should have at least some access to radio transmitting.

Third was the widely-held idea that the low power of 1 kW and the short
waves below 200 meters were essentially useless for commercial
purposes, so why not banish the amateurs to them?

A similar situation developed after WW1 ended, and again it took a
considerable effort to get amateurs back on the air. One added factor
in 1919 was that thousands of amateurs had proved the worth of their
self-training in radio during the war.

Efforts to secure the place of Amateur Radio in the regulations
continued through the 1920s, culminating with the 1927 treaty
regulations that recognized Amateur Radio as a separate and distinct
radio service, with its own bands and rules guaranteed by treaty as
well as national laws.

Licensing of all radio transmitters and operators had some far-
reaching effects. For example, licensing of commercial operators
created not only a lot of jobs but a whole profession. Every radio
service needed licensed Radio Operators of various levels for various
tasks. Whether it was routine transmitter checks at a daytime-only AM
BC station, running a vital maritime shore station, or any of dozens of
other jobs, the licensed Radio Operator was an absolute necessity, by
law. And these became pretty good jobs, with decent pay andbenefits.

Someone could have a Ph.D. in EE, the Nobel Prize in physics, years of
military radio experience, etc., etc., but without the proper License
they were not a Radio Operator and could not legally do any of the
Radio Operator's jobs.

Amateur Radio was often the first step in the licensing process of
commercial operators, though not all commercial operators started outas
hams.

The end result was that for several decades a commercial license of the
right type, plus a high-school-equivalent education and a clean record,
were practically a Golden Ticket to a decent-paying career.

This doesn't mean all the jobs or the licenses were easy to do or get,
nor that a Radio Operator didn't have to know his/her stuff. Just that
it was a way for folks who knew something about Radio to get a decent
living without a college degree and without low-priced competition,
both domestic and "offshore".

At the same time, none of the licenses, commercial or amateur, required
anything close to the knowledge of an four-year EE degree. Nor were
they meant to.

Even the military followed suit. For example the US Navy had various
classes of Radioman, each requiring a considerable amount of training,
experience, and proof of skills and knowledge.

Another result of all this licensing was that the government didn't
really have to do all that much enforcement. Licensing produced a
culture where respect for and compliance with the regulations was taken
very seriously, and nobody, commercial or amateur, wanted to risk the
loss of an operator or station license. They were too hard to get in
the first place, and even more difficult to replace if revoked.

It was a pretty good system - maybe too good.

The problem was that the Captains of Industry didn't like paying for
all those licensed Radio Operators, nor their benefits, for what seemed
to them to be simple, easy jobs. Unionized or not, the License
requirements meant the Captains couldn't hire just anybody for the
jobs, nor could they combine certain jobs to reduce the head count, nor
could they neglect doing certain things to reduce expenses. Nor could
they export the work.

So the Captains of Industry got the regulators, and the
regulations,changed.

Over a number of years they succeeded in all but eliminating the
concept of the skilled, knowledgeable, *licensed* Radio Operator. Saved
lots of money and aggravation. All we have left now are pieces of the
old rules and requirements.

Some might say that the new technologies no longer required specialized
Radio Operators, and in some cases that's probably true. But I think
the dismantling of commercial Radio Operator licensing was more about
the deregulation for the sake of bigger profits rather than the lack of
need for operators.

And since they did it for commercial services, the same concepts were
applied to the Amateur Radio Service. But the Amateur Radio Service is
still all about the technically knowledgeable, operationally skilled
Radio Operator.

Or at least I think it should be.

73 de Jim, N2EY