Military Affiliate Radio System

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name = Military Affiliate Radio System


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abbreviation = MARS
motto = "Proud, Professional, and Ready"
formation = November, 1948
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purpose = Emergency and auxiliary communications support for the United States Armed Forces
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region_served = Worldwide
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remarks =The Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) is a United States Department of Defense sponsored program, established as a separately managed and operated program by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The program is a civilian auxiliary consisting primarily of licensed amateur radio operators who are interested in assisting the military with communications on a local, national, and international basis as an adjunct to normal communications. The MARS programs also include active duty, reserve, and National Guard units; US Navy and NOAA ships, and US Coast Guard cutters and shore stations.

MARS has a long history of providing worldwide auxiliary emergency communications during times of need. The combined three-service MARS programs (Army, Air Force, and Navy-Marine Corps) volunteer force of over 5,000 dedicated and skilled amateur radio operators provide the backbone of the MARS program. Their main benefit of MARS membership is enjoying the amateur radio hobby through an ever-expanding horizon of MARS service to the nation. MARS members work by the slogan "Proud, Professional, and Ready".

History

The organization that led to the Military Affiliate Radio System was called the Army Amateur Radio System (AARS). AARS was created in November1925 by a few dedicated pioneers in the United States Army Signal Corps led by Captain Thomas C. Rives. His original intent was toenlist the talents of volunteer amateur radio operators as aready source who could train soldiers in the then new technologyof radio, as well as pursuing radio research and development toimprove radio equipment within the Army. In addition, thissupport would be particularly useful during the mobilization offorces by providing a pool of already trained radio operators.Their efforts were very successful, and the present-day MARSprogram is the direct descendant of the work of those earlypioneers.

During the years 1925 through 1941, the AARS continued tooperate and functioned more or less as an extracurricularactivity for members of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, with itsscope limited by the meager budget of the pre–World War IIdepression years. The AARS organization continued to operate until the UnitedStates entry into World War II, at which time radio amateurs weredenied the use of the airwaves when on December 7, 1941, both theamateur service and the Army Amateur Radio System weredeactivated. Following World War II, the U.S. Army recognized the greatimportance of reactivating the AARS to train vitally neededcommunications personnel at a relatively low direct cost to thegovernment, and in 1946 the AARS was reactivated. The AARSfunctioned as such until the creation of the Military AmateurRadio System in November 1948 with the establishment of separateArmy and Air Force MARS programs, reflecting the creation of theAir Force as a separate service. The program's name was changed to the current MilitaryAffiliate Radio System on September 2 1952, in recognition of theorganization's changing nature with the growing number ofcivilian volunteer members. Eventually, the Navy-Marine Corps MARS program was establishedofficially on August 17 1962, and began operations on January 11963. This followed on the heels of the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy'sconcern for viable and extended communications capabilities.

During the Korean War, Vietnam War and Gulf War, MARS was most known for its handling of "Marsgram" written messages and providing "phone patches" to allow overseas servicemen to contact their families at home.

MARS continues to be very active today. Its primary mission is providing auxiliary to the US Military and emergency communications to such National agencies as FEMA and Homeland Security. MARS is also available to assist state, and local emergency response agencies; both public and select private agencies, such as the Red Cross.

On a day-to-day basis MARS members are available to handle messages to and from service men and women: active duty, reserve, guard, or retired and certain employees of the Federal government who are stationed outside the U.S.

Missions

Military Affiliate Radio System provides Department of Defense sponsored emergency communications on a local, national, and international basis. MARS also provides auxiliary communications for military, federal, civil, and/or disaster officials during periods of emergency. They assist the military and other organizations in effecting normal communications under emergency conditions. One major mission that MARS has had for many years is to handle morale, welfare, and official record and voice communications traffic for Armed Forces and authorized U.S. Government civilian personnel stationed throughout the world. MARS establishes programs to create civilian interest, recruit qualified volunteers, and furnish training in military communications, techniques, and procedures. Every year, MARS conducts an appropriate military and amateur radio cross-band exercise as an integral part of the annual Armed Forces Day. They provide a reserve of personnel trained in military radio communications, techniques, and procedures as well as to initiate efforts to improve radio-operating techniques. MARS members test state-of-the-art technology through experimentation and testing.

Armed Forces Day Crossband Test

MARS celebrates Armed Forces Day annually with a traditional military to amateur crossband communications test and a message-receiving test. These tests give amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills and receive recognition from the Secretary of Defense or the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise. A QSL card is provided to those making contact with one of the military stations. Special commemorative certificates are awarded to anyone who receives and accurately copies the digital Armed Forces Day message from the Secretary of Defense.

Participating military stations transmit on selected military MARS frequencies and listen for amateur radio stations in the amateur bands. The military station operator will announce the specific amateur-band frequency being monitored. Usually, the military MARS stations are at places such as Ft. Detrick, Ft. Huachuca, Andrews AFB, and Nellis AFB.

MARS Today

The Military Affiliate Radio System is just as active today as it ever was. Morale and welfare messages are no longer the largest activity in MARS due to the increased use of the Internet and e-mail by deployed military personnel. MARS now has an increased role in providing interoperability communications between Army National Guard and Air National Guard forces and civilian state agencies. MARS also provides beta testing of new technologies such as Voice over IP and antennas.

MARS participates in exercises such as Grecian Firebolt to help support military communications. MARS members from all around the world played a role in Grecian Firebolt 2005 by sending exercise Essential Elements of Information (EEI) reports through the MARS radio network. The EEI's consisted of scenario disaster information. When the EEI's were received, they were sorted and sent to Army intelligence centers. MARS plays a large part in reporting up-to-date information on disasters and requesting military assistance using a dispersed and redundant radio network.

MARS also supports government agencies such as FEMA, and participates in programs such as SHAred RESources (SHARES).

Customers

*Department of Defense
**Department of the Army
**Department of the Air Force
**Department of the Navy
*** Including the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard [ [http://www.navymars.org NavyMARS.org website] ]
**Joint Director of Military Support (JDOMS)
*Department of Homeland Security
**Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
**Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
**National Communications System (NCS)
**National Disaster Medical System (NDMS)
*Department of State

References

* [http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/d46502_012698/d46502p.pdf Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 4650.2]
* [http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r25_6.pdf Army Regulation 25-6]

References

External links

*Official Websites
** [http://www.netcom.army.mil/mars/ US Army MARS]
** [http://www.navymars.org US Navy-Marine Corps MARS] (USN, USMC & USCG)
** [http://public.afca.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=7037 US Air Force MARS]
*MARSgrams
** [http://odin.aafes.com/mars/marsgram.asp On-line MARSgram message form (sponsored by AAFES)]
** [http://www.navymars.org/egram/egram1.html MARSgram form at Navy-Marine Corp official site]