ARRLWeb: MARS to Integrate On-Air Operations

Air Force MARS Chief Don Poquette (left), retired after 26 years active duty in communications. Army MARS Chief Stu Carter (center), who took office last December, attended his first Chiefs’ Meeting. Retired US Navy Captain and Chief of Navy-Marine Corps MARS Bo Lindfors has headed Navy-Marine Corps MARS since 1997. [James Banks, Photo]

For long-haul help in a communications emergency, the Amateur Radio operator members of MARS eagerly offer their service to the nation's first responder agencies, and these hams are trained, equipped and motivated to deliver. But when that emergency comes, who do you call for assistance? Army MARS, Air Force MARS or Navy-Marine Corps MARS? And how? Solving that conundrum became the key topic for this year's Military Affiliate Radio System biennial leadership conference held during the Dayton Hamvention May 18-20.

Chiefs Stuart S. "Stu" Carter of Army MARS, Bo Lindfors, Navy-Marine Corps MARS and Don Poquette, Air Force MARS took the first bold steps to integrate the three services' on-air operations after their decades of functioning as separate organizations with differing standard operating procedures (SOPs). The three MARS arms agreed to establish joint emergency nets in each of their 10 regions; make each other's military frequency allocations available to all; share net control assignment across the three services, and standardize voice operating procedures.

On the technology front, Army MARS agreed to assume responsibility for the military version of Winlink 2000. It will be upgraded to operate independently of the Internet if that system ever fails. MARS traffic will be securely firewalled against other non-MARS amateurs using Winlink on other frequencies. Simultaneously, Navy-Marine Corps MARS became the new home of MARS Automatic Link Establishment development, relieving Army MARS of that commitment. Members of all three services will continue on the ALE development team.

"It was an awesome event," Army's Carter said of the Dayton meeting. "No time was wasted moving from decision to action."

With the 2007 hurricane season here, Navy's Lindfors messaged on return from Dayton: "I ask that all Region Directors (on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts) immediately contact their Army and Air Force counterparts to coordinate frequencies. We won't be able to promulgate a new policy in time, so I trust your judgment to set up a system that works."

Air Force MARS Chief Poquette, who retired after 26 years of active duty in radio communications, departed on an optimistic note. "Yes, full interoperability is in sight," he said. "Hopefully within one year, if everyone keeps working at it -- and I think they will." Implementing operational integration means MARS members will have much on their plates as the year unfolds.

One lesson frequently discussed in leadership meetings has been the evident ignorance among first responders as to the emergency services available from the overall total of some 5000 MARS members. One of Carter's initial moves after taking office last December was to inaugurate a public information program emphasizing the role of region and state leaders, as well as individual members, in publicizing MARS availability.

Another pending concern is coordination of missions among MARS, RACES and ARES; all three provide emergency communications in disaster. According to Bill Sexton, Army MARS Public Relations Liaison, "MARS sees itself as the 'long-distance carrier' in any emergency scenario, linking federal agencies with state agencies and on-site command posts via HF, while ARES and RACES provide essential close-in communications primarily by VHF."

"We do not compete with these other very critically needed emergency communications entities; we enable them to extend their customer's messages from the local level to a potentially global audience," Carter said. "We are partners, with the same goal -- to provide emergency support when our nation's citizens need it most."

The long-haul mission of MARS underwent a paradigm change of its own over the past year with adoption of Winlink 2000 as the prime mover of its messaging system, replacing VHF repeaters and HF Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs). As of June 1, 28 Participating Mailbox Offices (PMBOs) and 3 Common Message Servers (Internet transfer nodes) were in operation, with another PMBO and CMS on the way at HQ Army MARS at Ft Huachuca, Arizona.

At a separate meeting in Dayton, MARS leaders joined Steve Waterman, K4CJX (AAA9AC), Victor D. Poor, W5SMM (AAA9WL), and Stephen Hicks, N5AC of the Winlink Development Team.

It was agreed that Army MARS will assume responsibility for safeguarding and upgrading the Winlink 2000 software code. "The MARS portion will be separated from the amateur side to ensure no crossover of messages," Carter said, "The architecture is being changed so as to ensure there is always an HF link to and from each mailbox." This will be completed well within 2007, he said.

On the basis of these advances, Navy-Marine Corps MARS agreed to participate in the new messaging system. "Addition of Navy-Marine Corps MARS members into the now Tri-Service messaging system enables us to create a better balanced network, with a more robust capability than ever before," Carter said. "I applaud the vision of Chief Lindfors; his partnership will enable MARS to provide the best possible support to our nation's Military and Federal Agency responders. "Everyone who ever sent an e-mail, can use this system comfortably, easily and from the most austere locations," he said.