In the 2011 Armed Forces Day event I worked 5 of the military stations. I sent every one a QSL card to the address listed in the ARRL bulletin. Now, eleven-and-a-half months later I have received exactly ONE QSL card in return. I am sure these operators find replying to QSL cards less glamorous than making crossband contacts, but I say that they shouldn't bother to even publish a QSL address if they are not going to reply to them. 

Even slower than a turtle! I sent one of their automatic ATU's back for repair, and from the day I sent it until the day I got it back was 13 weeks to the day!! (Thirteen weeks is one-quarter of a year.) These guys are glad to take your money and sell you their products, but try to get something repaired and you are in for a long wait.

It seems to me that it could be a good idea for a ham radio club to sponsor an Explorer Post or (also under the Scouts, and maybe a better fit) a Venture Crew. Does anyone have any experience with their club doing this? In talking with our District Scout leaders about the October Jamboree-on-the-Air their District Executive asked if our club would be interested in sponsoring and activating a Venture Crew devoted to radio communications. So, does anyone have any experience or suggestions on this?

May I say, so that no one is confused, that I am an ARRL member, just not a Life Member. As stated by the previous post'er, how could there be an amateur radio without the League.
      Having said that, I think that saying that ARRL membership is a good investment is a dubious claim. A good friend of mine had a "life" subscription to 73 Magazine, and they went belly up. Just a few days ago I overhead a QSO where another ham had a "life" subscription to WorldRadio and, as we all know, they have now discontinued printed publication.
      My original point remains: if you are over 50, a life membership in the ARRL just isn't worth it.

At some point, ARRL Life Membership just isn't worth it. Do the math. The median life expectancy here is the USA is currently 74.8 years. A life membership costs 20 times the current annual dues. That means anyone over 55 is (on average) never going to get back a value equal to what they've paid. This line of reasoning makes a good case for taking out a Life Membership when you're young!
      Of course, getting your money's worth isn't the only reason to "invest" in a Life Membership. As a Director once explained to me, these Life Member revenues go into an income earning fund, and their intentions are to use that fund's earnings to pay for subscription costs, without having to touch the original investment.
      Now I realize that financial wizards and bean counters will want to complicate this simple logic by factoring in future inflation that we annual members will experience, and they will probably want to calculate the "net present value" of a lifetime membership that you buy now. If you want to make your financial decisions based on that kind of complex calculation, have at it. The simple fact remains that you are essentially buying a 20 year subscription, and that just isn't worth it if you don't expect to live for 20 more years.
       

At the Richmond (VA) Hamfest I asked the boothpersons at the MARS booth about persistent rumors that the 3 different services were going to be merged into ONE altogether MARS program. They replied that a decision had already been made "in the Pentagon" to merge the 3 MARS services into one. Is this official? I ask because, if this decision has, in fact, been made, you'd think that something would be published about it in the various ham publications. So HAS a decision been made, or is this just another retelling of the same old rumor?