Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Status of US Navy/Marine Corps MARS

There has been a lot of conjecture about the current status of the US Navy/Marine Corps MARS program based on previous statements regarding their future after October 1, 2009, and the defunding by their parent command (see my story on this blog posted May 22 at http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2009/05/nnwc-proposes-to-disestablish-navy-mc.html).

Here is the latest based on a message sent to the membership posted to the service website at http://www.navymars.org/

DE NNN0ASA 064
R 011300Z OCT 2009
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: CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 05-09 - AREA DIRECTORS
A. NTP 8(D) DRAFT, CHAPTER 2

1. PER DIRECTION FROM COMMANDER, NAVAL NETWORK WARFARE COMMAND, THE AREA DIRECTOR BILLETS WERE DELETED AND THE AREA DIRECTOR'S STATIONS (NAV1, NAV3, NAV4 AND NAV5) WERE DEACTIVATED AS OF 30 SEP 2009.

2. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THE CURRENT DEPUTY DIRECTORS WILL ASSUME THE CALL SIGN OF THE AREA DIRECTOR AS FOLLOWS:

NNN0ASE AZ - PACIFIC AREA (NNN0FUL AZ)
NNN0ASF NEK - SOUTH AREA (NNN0AVT NEK)
NNN0ASG MI - CENTRRAL AREA (NNN0EPY MI)
NNN0ASI PA - NORTHEAST AREA (NNN0FBK PA)

3. A NEW VERSION OF NTP 8 WILL NOT BE READY FOR A WHILE. THEREFORE, IN ADDITION TO THE DUTIES OF THE CURRENTLY DEFINED DEPUTY DIRECTOR, THE VOLUNTEER AREA DIRECTORS NAMED ABOVE WILL BE ASKED TO FULFILL THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS OF PARAGRAPH 222 OF REF A: B., D., E., F., H. AND K.

4. IN PARAGRAPH 223 OF REF A, CHANGE THE DESCRIPTION FOR THE ONE TO READ:
QUOTE ONE: ASSISTANT DIRECTOR UNQUOTE

THE DUTIES OF THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WILL BE TO ASSUME THE DUTIES OF THE AREA DIRECTOR AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH 3 ABOVE WHEN THE VOLUNTEER AREA DIRECTOR IS NOT ABLE TO FULFILL HIS/HER DUTIES. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT ASSISTANT AREA DIRECTORS BE APPOINTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO ENSURE CONTINUITY.

5. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL AREA MEMBERSHIP RECORDS ARE NOW HELD AT NAVMARCORMARS HQ. STATE DIRECTORS SHOULD CORRESPOND DIRECTLY TO AND FROM NNN0ASA VA ON MEMBERSHIP MATTERS, KEEPING THEIR AREA-THIRTEEN INFORMED SO THE AREA ROSTERS CAN BE MAINTAINED. 2093/1S AND OTHER MEMBERSHIP RECORDS/LETTERS CAN BE SENT TO NNN0ASA BY THE FOLLOWING
MEANS:

A. SCANNED AND SENT BY E-MAIL TO NNN0ASA(AT)NAVYMARS.ORG AS A PDF ATTACHMNENT. TO MINIMIZE FILE SIZE DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE SCANNED IN BLACK AND WHITE WITH A MINIMUM RESOLUTION OF 300 DOTS PER INCH. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ADOBE ACROBAT, THERE IS A FREEWARE PROBRAM AVAILABLE THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO PRINT ANY SCANNED OR WORD PROCESSING DOCUMENT TO A PDF FILE. THE PROGRAM IS CALLED 'PDFCREATOR' AND CAN BE FOUND BY A GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THE NAME.

B. FAX TO HQ ON (757) 887-4971

C. MAIL THE PREFERRED METHOD IS SCANNED AND SENT AS A PDF FILE AS IT IS FASTER.

6. KEEP A COPY OF THIS BROADCAST WITH NTP 8(D) DRAFT UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A NEW NTP 8 IS ISSUED.

7. MARS: TOGETHER WE CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING.
BT
NNNN

In an earlier message the Chief of USN/MC MARS wrote:

DE NNN0ASA 065
R 091100Z OCT 2009
FM NNN0ASA VA
TO NNN0ALL
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS INFO BCST 37-09
1. DEPUTY CHIEF NAVMARCORMARS: ON TUESDAY, 13 OCT 09, LT BILLY COONS WILL DETACH AS DEPUTY CHIEF, NAVMARCORMARS. LT COONS IS TRANSFERRING TO NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE WILLOW GROVE PA WHERE HE WILL BE ASSIGNED AS THE ELECTRONICS MATERIAL OFFICER. LT COONS HAS MANAGED TO KEEP ME STRAIGHT SINCE JANUARY 2008 AND WILL BE SORELY MISSED. WE CERTAINLY WISH HIM THE TRADITIONAL 'FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS.'
THIS COMPLETES THE UNMANNING OF ALL THE MILITARY BILLETS ASSIGNED TO NAVMARCORMARS. WE HAVE OUR WORK CUT OUT FOR US.

The Navy MARS service continues to function, but without any paid players running it. Only time will tell the final outcome in this continuing saga of the Navy/Marine Corps MARS service.