I imagine there is a lot of animosity among some Army MARS members.
I feel that the Tri-Service SOP was dominated by Navy influence. and what has transpired since this year's Dayton Hamvention seems to support the belief that Navy again attempted to bulldoze the operation with threats to quit if things weren't written to Navy specs, with the final result being the other branches (and DoD) calling their bluff.
The result has been a very splintered interpretaiton of Voice operations using terms that don't qualify for the plain speak direction we are moving toward with all of the MARS Agency stations and operators joining our ranks.
For those in high places intent on destroying voice operations, Navy's input over the last year must have been a Godsend
Terms like "Close Down, Net call followed by the NCS call and the proword OUT for net check-ins, full calls on initial check-in for branches that actually use full phonetics and adhere to FEMA Region designators, a 12 page Tri-Service SOP, since that is all Navy set aside in thier training materials - where the 55 page written guide which would have adequately outlined the basics of proper NCS operations was scrapped for the abbreviated Reader's Digest Version.
All of this took it's toll on Air Force and Army voice oeprations. Now, a year later, Navy doesn't dominate Dayton, and decides to "Close Down"
It really takes a lot of restraint to not simply say "Good Riddance", but it is not the rank and file Navy operator that has been driving the Bull Dozer, and all Army and Air Force members should realize that and temper their remarks; myself included....
Bitter; I have to admit that I am somewhat bitter.
After throwing away a year, losing a lot of cohesiveness, introducing so much indecision into how nets should be called, foreign terms introduced that moved us away from plain speak requirements, grossly abbreviated SOP only to meet the arrogance of a space limitation in Navy's training material, first adamantly rejecting Winlink, then acceptance with complete attemtps to dominate it's further development to Navy specifications..... Yes, I am some others are a bit bitter.
We all could have moved together and provided a well versed and knowledgable communications force, each bringing unique qualifications to the table.
Instead, one branch pulled a basic condensed version of "divide and conquer", then left the arena when the warriors were sufficiently confused as to what procedures to use and policies to adhere to in the execution of their mission.
In Army MARS, one of our training topics has always been "Working through Interference", but it never prepared us for this kind of powerplay QRMing.
I hope it isn't too late to return unity to the Army and Air Force. We never had any problems between our services.
I also hope that all Navy members wil find nirvana; whether it be in Air Force, Army, or in total defiance of the rest of humanity.
From what I have seen here, there are some of each represented in the comments.
David (I'll share mine)
KD4NUE Glynn County ARES EC
AAR4IE Army MARS / SHARES
AAM4GA GA ASMD