There are three license levels in the United States - Technician Class, General Class, and Extra Class.  These license are granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  The most popular license for beginners is the Technician Class license, which requires only a 35 multiple-choice question written examination. The test is written with the beginner in mind. Morse Code is not required for this license or any amateur radio license. With a Technician Class license, you will have all ham radio privileges above 30 megahertz (MHz). These privileges include the very popular 2-meter band. Many Technician licensees enjoy using small (2 meter) hand-held radios to stay in touch with other hams in their area. Technicians may operate FM voice, digital packet (computers), television, single-sideband voice and several other interesting modes. You can even make international radio contacts via satellites, using relatively simple equipment. 

Here is what I recommend you do to get your Technicians Classes License.

•  Find an amateur radio operator who can help mentor you and answer your questions.
•  You will need a manual to help you prepare for the examination.  I suggest the manual The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual.  You can purchase this manual from the American Radio Relay League at http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/.  This manual has easy-to-understand explanations of rules and theory as well as the entire technician question pool with answers.
•  Take the technician class test.  Amateur Radio Testing is offered in Spokane once a month by the Inland Empire VHF Club. The testing is held the 2nd Thursday of each month at 5 pm except July and August.  The testing is at Spokane Community College, Building 1 ( old main ) upstairs in room 1-252.  Please contact Mary AA7RT at 509-991-2192 or AA7RT@arrl.net to sign up for testing.   For more information on testing go to the VHF Club website at http://www.vhfclub.org/.

For more information on getting started in Amateur Radio visit the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Getting Started website at http://www.hello-radio.org/.

Extra Class license training help

Jack AD7FO has just finished a training class for the extra class license.  He developed an 85 page syllabus (in MS Word format) which was used in conjunction with the ARRL Extra Class manual to teach an Amateur Extra license class.   He is willing to make it available to anyone interested in teaching the extra class license or for self study of students pursuing the license on their own.   This is the first edition of this syllabus and in return he would like user feedback on any errors or suggestions for additional material so it can be improved for future students. 
Contact him at ad7fo@arrl.net for more information or an electronic copy.