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 Previous: It Seems to Us . . . Antenna Restrictions |  Next: AO-40 Gives Earthlings Another Scare |
FT HUACHUCA, AZ, Aug 29, 2001--Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) members across the US this summer took part in a successful simulated emergency test. Described as one of the broadest disaster-preparedness exercises ever staged by MARS, "Grecian Firebolt 01" took place from June 16 through August 6. The exercise tested the ability of MARS members and allied state and federal agencies to cope with not one disaster but a whole series.
During MARS Grecian Firebolt 01, June brought a simulated Atlantic hurricane, July an earthquake in the lower Mississippi Valley closely followed by another in southern California, and August a Pacific storm battering Hawaii--four major incidents in all!
 Army MARS chief Bob Sutton, N7UZY/AAA9A (left) and Eastern Area Coordinator Robert Hollister, N7INK/AAA9E, set up an HF operating site at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia for "MARS Grecian Firebolt 01." |
"The four-phase MARS exercise was, by far, the largest in geographical scope and the best executed emergency communications exercise that MARS has witnessed in its 76-year history," said Army MARS chief Bob Sutton, N7UZY/AAA9A.
In Kentucky, a handful of hams representing Navy, Air Force and Army MARS branches operated side-by-side hustling simulated emergency traffic generated by the virtual major earthquake. In coastal Virginia, a portable "flyaway" HF station established a MARS command post right in the middle of the fictitious hurricane. In the State of Washington, MARS members rallied to track down health-and-welfare information on families caught up in the mock earthquake calamity in California.
More than 450 MARS members in 35 states responded to process 1221 pieces of simulated emergency traffic. "The number and diverse group of disaster relief agencies involved and the participation by the MARS membership of all three services was a significant accomplishment," Sutton said. "The interoperability between the [military] services and other disaster relief agencies was most noteworthy."
Sutton himself, with HF gear in tow, flew from his Arizona headquarters to Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, to participate in the Atlantic hurricane phase and observed the response firsthand. For the Atlantic hurricane, planners adopted the meteorological history of an actual hurricane that had swept the coast in 1955. For the Mississippi Valley earthquake, MARS special staff member Pat Lane W4OQG/AAA9CE drew on the expertise of the Memphis-based Center for Earthquake Research and Information, which constantly monitors the mid-American New Madrid (Missouri) geological fault.
 MARS Chief Sutton and Eastern Area Coordinator Hollister pose by an Alpha-Delta/Outbacker "Outreach" portable antenna set up at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia for the so-called "flyaway" HF station. "Flyaway" is a MARS term to describe an air-portable HF rig with power supply, tuner, and antenna. |
To add spice to the script, MARS members in the Ohio Valley were confronted with a follow-on earthquake without prior announcement in the exercise operations plan. Ironically, a real--although minor--earthquake did take place during the New Madrid exercise. The same thing happened the following week during the West Coast exercise based on the San Andreas fault in Southern California. That incident captured the attention of many members, said Western Area MARS Coordinator James Banks, KK7RV/AAA9W. His eastern area counterpart, Robert Hollister, N7INK/AAA9E, cited hams in Lexington, Kentucky, for demonstrating interoperability among the three services--a newly emphasized goal of the system.
"Five members representing all three services operated from the Lexington Army Reserve Center," said Kentucky State Director Barry Jackson, WB4N/AAA4KY. "We had three rigs on HF--including one on PSK31." In addition, he reports, Navy MARS member NNN0LES set up a VHF packet link with Air Force MARS station AFA2SW, who relayed traffic to the Air Force packet net. "We processed 63 messages, and we were on the air for the entire 33-1/2 hours of the exercise."
Jackson said Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) members joined in feeding information to the MARS center.
Hawaii, too, emphasized interoperability. During the August 3-6 simulated Pacific hurricane, three Army operators and one each from the Navy and Air Force joined 16 hams in handling traffic through the MARS Hawaii gateway, ABM6USA, for relay to MARS headquarters at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
Reports from participants are likely to find immediate use in new MARS training materials. Hollister called for further experimentation with PSK31 and other digital modes that perform well during the often static-laden summertime, when hurricanes and tornadoes are most prevalent. "I laud the efforts of those who are working with these modes and continue to perfect their traffic handling procedures," he said.
MARS is a Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the Army , Navy, and Air Force. The program welcomes Amateur Radio operators who are interested in military communications on a local, national, and international basis as an adjunct to normal communications.--Bill Sexton N1IN/AAA9PC
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