I understand the concept and mission of MARS, but I am wondering, what does MARS do, realistically?
This is from the mission statement: "Handle morale and quasi-official record and voice communications traffic for Armed Forces and authorized U.S. Government civilian personnel stationed throughout the world."
I see that there are numerous nets, and I know that emergency communications is a part of the mission. So, outside of the EmComm part, what are MARS operators doing? Are the nets any different than the standard amateur radio nets, where operators often just rag chew? Are operators actually passing traffic to oversees personnel?
From the description, MARS appears to be a good service to belong to, but I can't help but think it ends up being not much more than many ARES groups, where they always prepare but seldom "deploy." Are the armed forces really using MARS for morale and "quasi-official" communications?
Perhaps one of the operators can help clarify the day-to-day reality of MARS.
Thank you all.