All in a Summer\'s Work at MARS

N1IN writes " In Kentucky, a handful of hams representing Navy, Air Force and Army MARS operated side by side at the Lexington Army Reserve Center, hustling (simulated) emergency traffic generated by a (virtual) major earthquake. In coastal Virginia, a portable “flyaway” HF station from Ft Huachuca AZ established a MARS command post right in the middle of a (fictitious) hurricane. Out in the state of Washington, MARS members rallied to track down news of people’s families caught in an (imaginary) California calamity.


These were just a few of the highlights of the broadest disaster preparedness exercise ever staged by the Military Affiliate Radio System.


The occasion was “MARS Grecian Firebolt 01,” a test organized by Army MARS to see how the system’s amateur members and allied state and federal agencies would cope with not one disaster but a whole series. 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, the exercise began June 16 and ran through Aug. 6.
And how did the MARS members fare, 453 of them from Army MARS alone responding in 35 states to process 1,221 pieces of simulated emergency traffic?


"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,” Army MARS chief Bob Sutton N7UZY (MARS call AAA9A) declared. “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. The interoperability between the [military] services and other disaster relief agencies was most noteworthy.”


“All who were involved with the planning and execution can be justly proud of their accomplishments,” added Sutton, who had flown from his Arizona headquarters to Fort A.P. Hill VA with HF gear to participate in the Atlantic hurricane phase and observed the response at first hand.


The scripting was truly impressive. For the Atlantic hurricane, planners adopted the meteorological history of an actual hurricane that swept the coast in 1955. For the Mississippi Valley earthquake, MARS special staff member Pat Lane W4OQG (AAA9CE) of Memphis TN drew on the expertise of the Memphis-based Center for Earthquake Research and Information, which constantly monitors the mid-American New Madrid geological fault.


New Madrid MO is where the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in the Americas were centered in 1811-12. To add spice to the script, MARS members in the Ohio Valley were confronted with a follow-on quake without prior announcement in the exercise operations plan.


Interestingly, a real (if minor) quake took place during the New Madrid exercise. And it happened again the next week during the west coast exercise based on the San Andreas fault in southern California.


That one “captured the attention of many members who may have had doubts of the possibility of a disaster ever actually happening,” was the wry comment of James Banks KK7RV (AAA9W), the western area MARS coordinator.
His eastern area counterpart, Robert Hollister N7INK (AAA9W) cited the hams in Lexington KY for their demonstration of interoperability among the three services, a newly-emphasized goal of the system.


Kentucky state director Barry Jackson WB4N (AAA4KY) described the operation in his after-action report: “Five members representing all three services operated from the Lexington Army Reserve Center. We had 3 rigs on HF (one PSK), NNN0LES [Navy] brought in his VHF packet station and set up a link to AFA2SW [Air Force] who relayed the traffic to the Air Force packet net. We processed 63 messages, and we were on the air for the entire 33-/12 hours of the exercise.” Jackson later noted that ARES and RACES members joined in feeding information to the MARS center.


Hawaii, too, emphasized interoperability. During the Aug. 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 Ft Huachuca AZ.


After-action reports from state and area managers forwarded criticisms as well as kudos to Chief Sutton. Their comments are likely to find immediate use in new training documentation now being readied for the MARS organization.


Said eastern coordinator Hollister: “During the summer months we generally experience our worst propagation due to thunderstorms, etc. [and almost always during hurricanes and tornadoes—ed.] Further experimentation and practice using PSK-31 and other digital modes that perform during these static-laden periods is certainly called for. I laud the efforts of those who are working with these modes and continue to perfect their traffic handling procedures.”

Bill Sexton N1IN (AAA9PC)"

 

Wow. Im only fifteen so i cant get my mars licsenes yet but according to the MARS program applications, you can be 17 and join with parent signiture so....can't wait till im seventeen!

- 73, Justin

 

Justin

Don't believe there is an age limit to pass traffic on some of the Amateur Radio Traffic nets.  

Check with some amateurs in your local areas, usually these nets are down around the 75m area.  Some of the old hams will be more than happy to teach you how to pickup and pass traffic.  

This will allow you to do alot of similar things the MARS folks do while letting you develop relationships with people locally that may have to do this for real if traditional lines of communications go out.

Lots of fun, especially when you relay a message and find out the originator was someones son serving overseas!

Give it a try, at worst you'll meet some new folks to talk to. (Heck, you've already done the hard part -- you've got your HF privilages)

Cheers

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (w7ist @ June 01 2004,20:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Wow. Im only fifteen so i cant get my mars licsenes yet but according to the MARS program applications, you can be 17 and join with parent signiture so....can't wait till im seventeen!

- 73, Justin[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I am 16 and I am an auxillary MARS member for Delaware. You can join auxillary at any age. My call is AUX3AC.

Best wishes,

Justin Kates
www.kb3juv.com

 

Hello

I was a A.M.A.R.S. years ago my call AAR9TY would like information on how to get back into the program.
I have all my equipment back up on line and need information.

Thank You
Radio KD6TJC

 

To get back into MARS, you would need to contact your current state director. Do a search on your state and MARS.

NA4IT
AAV4WF/T

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kd6tjc @ June 02 2004,20:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hello

I was a A.M.A.R.S. years ago my call AAR9TY would like information on how to get back into the program.
I have all my equipment back up on line and need information.

Thank You
Radio KD6TJC [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Hello,

I am the assistant state director for US ARMY MARS for your region. I tried E-Mailing you, but your E-Mail was returned "undeliverable". If you send me an E-Mail, I will get you on your way to rejoining MARS. My QRZ address is current.

73’s

Patrick Smith
KF6NYR

 

Given that this was posted two weeks before 9/11, they should have been well prepared for the aftermath of the attacks.  I wonder how well the system worked for the real thing a few weeks later?

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (W2DUG @ June 03 2004,12)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Given that this was posted two weeks before 9/11, they should have been well prepared for the aftermath of the attacks.  I wonder how well the system worked for the real thing a few weeks later?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
It actually worked very well during and a few weeks after 9/11. It also has been working very well ever since. This exercise is done every year, a couple of times a year. Thousands of pieces of traffic (voice and digital) are passed into a digital network that spans the globe and does not depend on the internet; not to mention the voice traffic and phone patches from Mesopotamia.

As the MARS moto goes, Proud, Professional and Ready!
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