Posted: 5/14/2015 1:56:31 PM EDT
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R 122030Z MAY 2015 FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA TO ALNAVMARCORMARS INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ ZEN/CHIEF AIR FORCE MARS SCOTT AFB IL BT UNCLAS SUBJ/TRANSITION OF NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS (MILITARY AUXILIARY RADIO SYSTEM PROGRAM// REF/A/PHONECON/NCTAMS LANT/NAVIDFOR/FCC-C10F/STRATCOM/08 MAY 2015// REF/B/DODI 4650.2/MILITARY AUXILIARY RADIO SYSTEM (MARS)// REF/C/DODD 3025.18/DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES// RMKS/1. IAW REF A, NAVAL COMPUTER AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS AREA MASTER STATION ATLANTIC (NCTAMS LANT) INTENDS TO WORK WITH U.S. ARMY MARS AND U.S. AIR FORCE MARS IN TRANSITIONING THE NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS (NAVMARCORMARS) PROGRAM BY 30 SEP 2015. THE INTENT OF THE TRANSITION IS TO BEST ALIGN THE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT NATIONAL MISSION REQUIREMENTS. 2. EVALUATION OF THE NAVMARCORMARS PROGRAM BY FLEET CYBER COMMAND (FCC)/COMMANDER 10TH FLEET (C10F), NAVAL INFORMATION DOMINATION FORCES (NAVIDFOR), AND NCTAMS LANT DETERMINED THAT THERE ARE NO U.S. NAVY SERVICE UNIQUE REQUIREMENTS. 3. NCTAMS LANT WILL WORK WITH OTHER U.S. NAVY, U.S. ARMY, U.S. AIR FORCE, U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY REPRESENTATIVES, AND NAVMARCORMARS VOLUNTEERS TO DEVELOP A TRANSITION PLAN FOR NAVMARCORMARS MEMBERS WHICH MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF REF B AND REF C. 4. CURRENT NAVMARCORMARS INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AND CLUBS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS TO U.S. ARMY MARS OR U.S. AIR FORCE MARS PROGRAMS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. U.S. ARMY MARS MEMBERSHIP CAN BE REQUESTED AT HTTP://WWW.USARMYMARS.ORG/RESOURCES/APPLICATIONS-AND-FORMS AND U.S. AIR FORCE MARS MEMBERSHIPS INFORMATION CAN BE REQUESTED VIA E-MAIL TO [email protected]. 5. ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED SEPCOR FOR MARS STATIONS UNDER MILITARY AUSPICES, AGENCY STATIONS, AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS WHO ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THE DHS SHARED RESOURCES (SHARES) HF RADIO PROGRAM. 6. AT A MINIMUM, FUTURE NOTICES WILL BE PROVIDED VIA CHIEF, NAVMARCORMARS MESSAGE. OTHER MEDIA WILL BE IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE TRANSITION COMMUNICATIONS PLAN. 7. THE U.S. NAVY GREATLY APPRECIATES THE THOUSANDS OF MARS VOLUNTEERS, PAST AND PRESENT, WHO HAVE BEEN INTEGRAL TO THE SUCCESS OF MARS. NCTAMS LANT WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF TRANSITION EFFORTS AND REQUESTS YOUR ASSISTANCE TO HELP START THIS NEW CHAPTER IN MARS OPERATIONS. 8. NCTAMS LANT POC: BO LINDFORS, COMM 757-443-9055, DSN 312-646-9055, [email protected] AND CHRIS JENSEN, COMM: 757-443-9063, DSN: 312-646-9063, [email protected]. 9. FCC/C10F POC: MICHAEL KEGLEY, COMM: 301-688-2387, [email protected]. 10. U.S. ARMY MARS POC: PAUL ENGLISH, COMM: 254-947-3141, [email protected]. 11. U.S. AIR FORCE MARS POC: DAVID STAPCHUK, COMM: 618-229-5964, [email protected]. 12. INTERNET RELEASE IS AUTHORIZED.// BT NNNN |
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Doh!!
If they are going that route, why do the Army and Air Force need unique MARS programs. Why not simply make everything MARS? I guess a shipboard MARS operator (if they even still have them) will now be part of the Army MARS program. Just doesn't seem right, to this former Navy man. 
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Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Quoted:
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That's too bad, I know two operators who are WW2 Navy vets, and Navy MARS is basically their whole life at this point. :/ Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Well, they are WW2 vets, so they're probably a little "long in the tooth," plus the Navy probably means a lot to them. |
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Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Quoted:
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That's too bad, I know two operators who are WW2 Navy vets, and Navy MARS is basically their whole life at this point. :/ Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Let's not judge them until we get to be their age. |
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Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Quoted:
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That's too bad, I know two operators who are WW2 Navy vets, and Navy MARS is basically their whole life at this point. :/ Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... 
Some have great difficulty getting out and this may be there only real way to help others |
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Some have great difficulty getting out and this may be there only real way to help others Quoted:
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That's too bad, I know two operators who are WW2 Navy vets, and Navy MARS is basically their whole life at this point. :/ Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world.......
Some have great difficulty getting out and this may be there only real way to help others This. Don't be so judgmental. SOme of the hams in PGH are shut-ins that live to help others. |
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So, what purpose have they served in the past decade?
I got out of the Navy when sat phones were coming on the scene. The number of MARS calls we patched through were slim to none once we installed the satellite. After I got out they put internet on all the ships so folks can communicate electronically (real-time) instead of by passing floppy disks around in the form of USOgrams. With all of the technological changes, what have the MARS operators been doing? Surely they're not making phone patches anymore. fwiw I thought MARS had been rolled up into DHS anyway. I thought that's what my Army MARS buddy told me anyway. |
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Quoted: So, what purpose have they served in the past decade? Making it easier to rationalize owning a 5kW capable amplifier?  Worth keeping the back up communications capability and trained cadre would seem to be enough of a reason.  Not a MARS operator so just making some outside of the system guesses. |
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Quoted: MARS? I'm a Navy ET, and I thought that program went away at least four decades ago. I have never once heard of it in actual use in my entire twenty years on active duty. I think JaxShooter's Army MARS buddy is correct about the mission changing over to DHS . |
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Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Quoted:
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That's too bad, I know two operators who are WW2 Navy vets, and Navy MARS is basically their whole life at this point. :/ Making ham radio your life, and only hobby is really limiting yourself in this world....... Episode 25, W4NTO, Ham Radio is his Life. At 96 years old, a 40+ year Widower, and Never a Father-what else does he have? |
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MARS? I'm a Navy ET, and I thought that program went away at least four decades ago. I have never once heard of it in actual use in my entire twenty years on active duty. Not quite that long ago. I was an ET as well and we were still doing MARS calls when I got out in 95. |
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Not quite that long ago. I was an ET as well and we were still doing MARS calls when I got out in 95. Quoted:
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MARS? I'm a Navy ET, and I thought that program went away at least four decades ago. I have never once heard of it in actual use in my entire twenty years on active duty. Not quite that long ago. I was an ET as well and we were still doing MARS calls when I got out in 95. Damn. We had email and Inmarsat and pots lines when I got to the fleet in 97. |
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Damn. We had email and Inmarsat and pots lines when I got to the fleet in 97. Quoted:
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MARS? I'm a Navy ET, and I thought that program went away at least four decades ago. I have never once heard of it in actual use in my entire twenty years on active duty. Not quite that long ago. I was an ET as well and we were still doing MARS calls when I got out in 95. Damn. We had email and Inmarsat and pots lines when I got to the fleet in 97. That would be about right. I think we added Inmarsat about a year or two before I got out. Email was something being discussed but nothing was done until after I left. I ran the ship's networks so I would've had fun implementing that.
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I was active in NAVMARCO MARS in 1990-94ish. Messages were passed via RTTY. Some old timers, and me, had Model 28 teletype machines but for the most part it was electronic via TNC. There was quite a bit of traffic then. I imagine its nothing like it used to be. The MARS program was also to insure a reliable backup method of traffic nets/radio operators that could seamlessly integrate to the military/government system in the event of major catastrophes/war in the U.S. |