House Armed Services Committee "Urges" MARS Coordination

(Blog Editor's Note: It is about time that the three services is finally combined under one roof. I have written about this for years in MT. If we must keep this mess called MARS, then it is time to quite wasting precious spectrum resources by having three separate MARS services-LVH.)

Story courtesy of ARRL.org

On May 18, the US House of Representatives approved HR 4310, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. This bill authorizes appropriations for military activities and prescribes military personnel strengths for Fiscal Year 2013. When the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) sent the bill to the House, it included language in support of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) and called for the three MARS branches -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- to be brought under one umbrella. (Editor’s note: For a full text of the HASC’s report, click here. The MARS section begins on page 222).

“The Committee appreciates the important role played in support of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the armed forces by volunteer and Amateur Radio operators who comprise the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS). Under Department of Defense Instruction (DODI) 4650.02, MARS provides contingency radio communications support to US Government operations. The committee understands that use by MARS of high-frequency (HF) radio to convey situational awareness and information in the event of natural or man-made disaster provides an important back-up to more technologically sophisticated communications systems that can be disrupted or destroyed as a result of unanticipated failures or deliberate hostile actions.

“DODI 4650.02 places policy oversight for MARS within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration/DOD Chief Information Officer (ASD(NII)/DoD CIO). However, since NII has been disestablished, the Committee is concerned that oversight of the MARS program is unclear, and that there is a lack of standardization in policies, processes and procedures among the three MARS branches within the Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps, since MARS is independently managed within each service. As such, the committee encourages the Department to clarify and maintain policy oversight of MARS within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and to update DoDI 4650.02 with respect to the disestablisment of NII. Further, the committee urges the Department to appoint an individual manager with authority and responsibility for coordination of MARS policies and activities across each of the three MARS branches and within the Department to ensure holistic policy oversight of the MARS program. The committee also encourages the service secretaries and the geographic combatant commanders to integrate MARS more fully into their operational planning and activities, in accordance with the guidance and direction outlined in DoDI 4650.02.” -- Thanks to Virginia State MARS Director David Trachtenberg, N4WWL/AFA3TR, for bringing this to our attention

Bizarre - DoD/Army MARS Exercise? What was this all about?

We certainly had some strange comms late yesterday afternoon and last evening EDT time on some US Army MARS frequencies. Both Jack Metcalfe in Kentucky and my MT colleague Hugh Stegman in California (via his twitter feed @UtilityWorld) reported what appears to be a high level DoD/Army MARS comm exercise.

There were three primary freqs reported:

Freq (Army MARS Designator passed)
14484.0 (KMC)
14487.0 (KME)
20994.0 (KSM)

I'm posting up each of their intercepts so that you can see what was heard.

14484.0 LOOKING GLASS in contact with 9 TANGO FOXTROT. 9TF passed exercise traffic to LOOKING GLASS. 9TF noted LOOKING GLASS would be "off station" in 11 mikes: 1953 USB Voice (29/MAR/2011) (JLM)

14484.0 9 UNIFORM SIERRA ALPHA calling TOP HAND & POKER FACE & raised POKER FACE for AAR8AY. AAR8AY holding traffic for STEP MOTHER. 9TF looking for a new frequency for direct contact with POKER FACE. Moved to 20994.0 USB (KSM) at 2028 UTC: 2019 USB voice (29/MAR/2011) (JLM)

14484.0 USB USAF exercise, unit w/ traffic for STEPMOTHER, others weak. ~2019, ongoing. (Hugh Stegman via Twitter)

14484.0 USB AAN6ELP 2026 clg Stepmother w/traffic. Then wkg ALPHA LIMA JULIET with IMMEDIATE grade msg coded in line format. (Hugh Stegman via Twitter)

14484.0 POKER FACE requesting phone patch, but 9TF not phone patch capable. Placed call & unid station confirmed he would be looking for POKER FACE on RF-17 at station CONCRETE. Also passed UHF MUX frequencies 325.4 & 344.4. 325.4 UHF WBFM just now active here: 2112 USB Voice (29/MAR/2011)(JLM)

14484.0 POKER FACE & 9TF in comms. 9TF passed 4 line message from AAN0BOI & POKER FACE said he would maintain this frequency as primary until he went off station. 325.4 UHF WBFM also still active here at this time.: 2138 USB Voice (29/MAR/2011)(JLM)

14487.0 TOP HAND receiving traffic from 9 TANGO CHARLIE. 9 TANGO FOXTROT suggested a move back to primary frequency KMC (14484.0). At 2325 UTC 9TF relayed traffic through 9USA to TOP HAND: 2336 USB Voice (29/MAR/2011) (JLM)

A very interesting set of comm intercepts indeed and many thanks to Hugh and Jack for sharing them. Now we shall see what pops up to let us determine what this was all about.

Army MARS HF ALE Now Going Regional Like CAP

Right on the heels of the USAF Civil Air Patrol establishing regional HF ALE networks that has been documented here on the MilcomMP blog, it now looks like the US Army MARS folks are following in their footsteps.

Recently Monitoring Times Digital Digest columnist Mike Chace reported the following on the UDXF newsgroup:

> 14846.0Khz dig 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE stations "9UA", "R9C", "A9F",
> "R9UACARMYMAR", "A9FARMYMAR" UNID MIL organization (on USB) 23:53:51UTC
> (2011-02-24) (mco in Portland, ME USA on StarChat#wunclub)

14846.0 kHz is a definite US Army MARS frequency and Mike's report abobe the first ever of ALE activity on that freq. In addition, the ALE addresses observed are different than what has been used in the past. That sent me packing to the net to see if something had changed

It didn't take long to uncovered the material below from a public website with some selected Army MARS docs:

"At the end of January 2011 . . . HQ Army MARS has authorized ALE operations at the regional level for training and familiarization.

"The sole purpose of this authorization is to develop skill, knowledge and familiarization with ALE operation and technologies inside the Army MARS membership. It is not Army MARS intent to develop large scale or permanent ALE networks involving the general membership at this time.

"The reason for this authorization is because ALE technology is in common use by government and military HF radio users. Experience and understanding of this technology is required for a well rounded background in HF radio communications, and potential customer support involving an ALE network. HQ Army MARS hopes opportunities for members to develop this background may become available at the Region level.

"Region Directors are in charge of the frequencies assigned to the Region. Scheduling nets, assigning frequencies, management of operations, etc is under the authority of the Region Director or his designee. ALE training is a Regional Activity. Only those stations so approved by the Region Director, or his designee may participate in ALE training. ALE training will only occur during the times and on the frequencies so designated by the Region Director. This will only occur if the Region Director determines there is a need for the training, and when he has the staff resources and time to accomplish it. There shall be NO ALE activity of any kind on Army MARS frequencies outside of the times specified by the Region Director, unless otherwise expressed by HQ Army MARS.

"This bulletin should not be considered a directive for the Region Directors to commence ALE training.

"ALE operation is not authorized for the general membership on any Army MARS frequency except those specifically under the Region Director’s control, and so designated by the Region Director or his designee for specific periods of ALE Training.

"ALE Addressing
"Each station operating ALE shall have an ALE Address unique to the network it is operating. The ALE address is commonly derived from the stations call sign, but this is not always the case. It is improper to refer to these as “ALE Call Signs”.

"ALE Addresses are made of three character “words”. A three digit address is one ALE Word. A four to six digit address will be two ALE Words, and so on. The more words used in an address, the slower the network becomes. It is for this reason, only 3 or 6 character address will be used.

"The most common ALE Addressing convention used in MARS corresponds to FTR 1047/3-1998. This method uses two ALE Words and is used where a network made up of stations from several services is expected (Such as the Tri-Service ALE Network). The first ALE Word contains the unique portion of the station’s address. It is repeated several times by the ALE equipment when making calls, etc. The second ALE word is only sent once, and indicates the stations affiliation or home organization. The ALE address may be based on the stations call sign as follows:

"An Army MARS station call sign is broken into two parts. The first three characters of the Army MARS call sign is unique to the Army MARS organization, eg, AAA, AAM, AAN, AAR, AAT, AAV. The last three characters are unique to the station, eg, 8RE, 1XY, etc. Since ALE sends these parts in opposite order, the word unique to the station first, the word unique to the organization second, we reverse the order of these elements of the station call sign to create an ALE address. Example:

MARS Station Callsign AAR8RE
ALE Address 8REAAR

"Members with billet call signs that exceed six characters (ex, AAM8EUT) should use their individual member call sign for the basis of their address.

"ALE NET Addressing
"ALE may also be used in a Net mode, where several stations all bearing the same Net Address can be called together on the same frequency. ALE Net Addresses shall follow the following convention for CONUS stations.

A - Region, # Number zero through nine, - Q

"For example, a Region 1 ALE Net Address will be A1Q. A region 4 ALE Net Address will be A4Q."

So looks like here on the MilcomMP ranch we will be on the prowl for new USA MARS regional ALE activity. Should be interesting to see what pops up in the next few weeks. Between the CAP and Army MARS mil/gov HF folks surely have some new and interesting monitoring activity ahead and my aspirin bottle will get some use. If you observe any CAP or US Army MARS ALE activity regardless of frequency, we would certainly appreciate it if you would pass it along to the email address in the masthead.

MARS Gets New Name As It Fine Tunes Mission

This story is courtesy of the ARRL.org website and their weekly email newsletter:

On Wednesday, December 23, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued an Instruction concerning MARS, effective immediately. This Instruction gives the three MARS services -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- a new focus on homeland security and a new name: Military Auxiliary Radio System. The Instruction is the first major revision to MARS since January 26, 1988 -- as such, the first revision since the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, two major events that changed the way Amateur Radio dealt with emergency communications.

The DoD defines a "military auxiliary" as "an organized body of volunteers prepared to supplement the uniformed services or any designated civilian authorities by provision of specialized autonomous services when called upon or when situations warrant," and gives the Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary as examples of auxiliaries.

In the past, MARS had focused primarily on emergency communications and health and welfare support. The DoD's Instruction now directs the three MARS services to provide "contingency radio communications" to support US government operations, DoD components and "civil authorities at all levels," providing for national security and emergency preparedness events. MARS units will still continue to provide health and welfare communications support "to military members, civilian employees and contractors of DoD Components, and civil agency employees and contractors, when in remote or isolated areas, in contingencies or whenever appropriate." MARS must also be capable of operation in "radio only" modes -- without landlines or the Internet -- and sustainable on emergency power (when public utility power has failed); some MARS stations must be transportable for timely deployment.

The Instruction, however, does not mention which of the three MARS services will take the lead when responding to events. According to sources, this has been seen as a critical issue in conforming to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) that calls for "unity of command." As now constituted, the three separate MARS services are supposed do "interoperate," but command-wise, each operates independently. Some MARS members had urged clarification on this issue to avoid confusion during an emergency, sources said.

The Secretaries of the Army, Air Force and Navy are to encourage participation in MARS, the Instruction states, saying this may be accomplished "by establishing and funding an active MARS program within each Military Department, which shall then assign a MARS-licensed staff representative to manage operations, readiness, planning, procedural and technical development, documentation, standards, training, equipment, program and membership administration, and other matters necessary for mission accomplishment."

The Secretaries are also tasked with bringing new personnel into their MARS services. The Instruction calls on them to establish programs "to promote civilian interest, recruit qualified volunteers, sponsor them for basic background checks and furnish them suitable training in contingency support communications."

The Instruction also dictates that MARS leaders will now report to three DoD officials; before this revision, they only reported to one person. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security and Americas Security Affairs (ASD [HD&ASA]) now has primary responsibility for the MARS Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) mission. In addition, MARS leaders will report to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration/DoD Chief Information Officer (ASD[NII]/DoD CIO) and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Material Readiness (ASD[L&MR]). In the 1998 charter, oversight of MARS was assigned to a single top official, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence.

This revision -- which was years in the making -- keeps the Navy/Marine Corps MARS intact; until now, members of this MARS service were concerned that their part of MARS might be terminated by Navy commanders.

The Instruction also gives some new perks to MARS members. Active duty military personnel who are affiliated with MARS may be able to earn Reserve points based on service in MARS and, in cases of permanent change of station, qualify for weight exemption for transportation of MARS communications equipment. All members may be considered for benefits associated with DoD civilian service, such as access to DoD morale, welfare and recreation Category C recreational facilities and access to DoD credit unions.

Membership in any of the three MARS services is open to qualified active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel, as well as those in civilian agencies who report to civil authorities or their supporting organizations (including nongovernmental organizations) and private US citizens who meet age, education and other criteria -- such as an FCC-issued Amateur Radio license -- imposed by a DoD Component MARS office.