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Author Topic: MARS Mission and How to Join  (Read 5280 times)

AB0UK

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« on: February 11, 2005, 07:03:29 PM »

Does MARS have a simple and concise mission statement?  What is it if it exist?  I remember MARS from 35 years ago and obviously it has gone in a different direction.

How does one actually get into MARS.  I tryed to join about a year ago and was caught in a typical catch 22.  I was sent an application to complete.  It said I had to have 12 hours of training before getting a call sign and it had to be on a net.  But, they forgot to tell me where and how to find the nets....something about local nets frequencies vary.  But, no place to find the frequencies.  (BTW, how do I check in without a call sign?)

Thanks for any light.

Jim, AB0UK
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N3ZKP

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2005, 07:56:15 AM »

Jim,

<< Does MARS have a simple and concise mission statement? What is it if it exist? I remember MARS from 35 years ago and obviously it has gone in a different direction. >>

I don't know about a mission statement, but the mission HAS changed from 35 years ago. For the most part, there is no longer the crying need for phone patches and MARSgrams, although these are still done on an infrequent basis. The primary mission of all three branches is communications support to the DoD, state governments, local governments and selected NGOs, in that order. BTW, this has all been said several times already in this forum.

<<How does one actually get into MARS. I tryed to join about a year ago and was caught in a typical catch 22. I was sent an application to complete. It said I had to have 12 hours of training before getting a call sign and it had to be on a net. But, they forgot to tell me where and how to find the nets....something about local nets frequencies vary. But, no place to find the frequencies. >>

Did you return the application? If not, no wonder you had no further contact. If you did, what happened after you returned the application? Did you make any follow-up contact?

With all due respect, I am sure you were not told you had to complete the training BEFORE you received a call sign. One of the first things that happens after your application is accepted and processed is a call sign is assigned to you and you are notified of this fact, along with the times and frequency(s) of your local state or area net(s). I am unaware of any procedure other than this.

If it did indeed happen as you suggest, then someone dropped the ball. What MARS branch and what state are you referring to?

<<(BTW, how do I check in without a call sign?) >>

You don't. Without a MARS call sign you have no legal authority to transmit on MARS frequencies.

I am sure any of the branches would be happy to have you as a member.

73

Lon, NNN0OOR / NNN0GAW ONE MDE
Proudly serving those who serve



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KC5FM

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2005, 09:26:28 AM »

"How does one actually get into MARS. I tryed to join about a year ago and was caught in a typical catch 22. I was sent an application to complete. It said I had to have 12 hours of training before getting a call sign and it had to be on a net. But, they forgot to tell me where and how to find the nets....something about local nets frequencies vary. But, no place to find the frequencies. (BTW, how do I check in without a call sign?)"

I am sorry you are having this difficulty, Mr. Harris.

First, to get into MARS, go to http://www.navymars.org and complete the application.  If you want to join Army or Air Force MARS programs, I can't help you as much.  There are links to the other two programs on that web site.

Second, you will get a callsign (no, you can't check into a MARS net without one).  You will be told where the nets are.  You will be provided training materials at no cost to you.  You will get clear instructions on the training requirements.  

IF you fail to get any of these items after you have joined Navy-Marine Corp MARS, please feel free to communicate with me by email (not in this forum) to tell me who you are and where you are as well as what it takes to make you become "unstuck".  I will need to know that, so I can get your request to the proper channels.

Let me know how more I can help.

Lloyd Colston    Mayes County Emergency Management
Pryor, OK  USA    http://www.mayescem.us
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AB0UK

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2005, 06:42:30 PM »

With all due respect gentleman no one really answered my question as to what is the mission of MARS today.  Someone said "communication support."  Please elaborate more on that.  Remember my experience with MARS goes back to 35 years ago plus.  I would really like to understand what it is doing these days before I decide to try again to get into it.

My home is in Colorado and my interest is in Air Force MARS.  I am very loyal to the Air Force.  I've tryed several times over the last three years to get a handle on this and have ran into road blocks in every instances.  I even left my name and contact information at the Hamvention MARS booth one year and never heard a word from anyone.  Yes, I was told by email that I had to have 12 hours of training before I could be issued a call sign.  That was my understanding of the way it was explained.

Jim, AB0UK
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N3ZKP

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2005, 08:54:11 PM »

<< With all due respect gentleman no one really answered my question as to what is the mission of MARS today. Someone said "communication support." Please elaborate more on that. >>

Gee, I thought I was pretty clear. Let me re-state it, then.

The PRIMARY mission of all branches of MARS is to provide supplimental, non-classified, traffic and message handling capability to the Department of Defense, state government agencies, local government agencies, and Non Governmental Organizations (who have established Memorandum of Understanding between theirselves and MARS).

Be advised that Air Force MARS is the smallest of the three branches and many area may have no members at all. I have no idea how widespread the AFMARS nets are.

73

Lon, NNN0OOR / NNN0GAW ONE MDE
Proudly serving those who serve


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N3ZKP

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2005, 09:01:55 PM »

<< I even left my name and contact information at the Hamvention MARS booth one year and never heard a word from anyone. >>

I have no comment other than to say Navy-Marine Corps MARS follows up on every such contact wanting information on our branch. The initial contact back is done by the Chief, Navy-Marine Corps MARS himself. The information is then passed to the State MARS Director for the state in which the person lives for followup.

<<Yes, I was told by email that I had to have 12 hours of training before I could be issued a call sign. That was my understanding of the way it was explained. >>

I still think there was a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. Training is done, for the most part, on the air and it's not legally possible to get on the air without a call sign. I would love to see a copy of that email, if it still exists.

73

Lon, NNN0OOR / NNN0GAW ONE MDE
Proudly serving those who serve


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WA4MJF

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2005, 06:15:16 AM »

Although I'm Army MARS, one of the things
that USAF MARS does is provide official
and morale phone patches to aircraft of
all services.  In fact, I notice from my
monitoring, that AMC (MAC or MATS for the
older fellows)aircraft use MARS
more than GHFS.  The USAF MARS phone patch
stations have DSN for the offical calls, something
that the USA MARS patch stations don't have.
I don't know about USN MARS patch stations.

ACC (SAC and TAC combined, for you older fellows)
and Navy aircraft are the second most
number of stations I hear, with a smattering
of USCG aircraft.  

ACC aircraft seem to use GHFS more for official
patches.

73 de Ronnie
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N3TSY

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MARS Mission and How to Join
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2006, 07:42:19 AM »

I am not a MARS operator, but the Kunsan AFB MARS station is where I got started in ham radio in 1994. I was searching for MARS info this morning and happened to find the link below as well as this thread.  Hopfully this helps and directly answers your question.

http://public.afca.af.mil/LIBRARY/MARS1.HTM

73's
Craig   N3TSY
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