I joined MARS in June, 2012 right after I got my General License, which was probably too soon (i.e. a mistake). I had been active on 2m with analog and DStar, but had no HF radio or experience, no antennas, tuners, etc etc etc. So it has taken me a little time to put all that together, except now my 6 month "/t" training status is up (I finished all my basic training reqs, except for air time)..... NTL, due to the delay in my HF expertise (& lack of gen HF exp & equip), I withdrew my MARS membership, although I am still getting all the emails, etc. I don't know if I have been officially removed or had my status changed to "leave of absence." - either is ok with me.
The leadership here in Oklahoma was very nice and courteous, but I did detect (I think) a little pressure on them to get an active group all wrapped and qualified.... During this process I noticed a new "m.o." being preaching from MARS leadership about being a comm support operation for not just the DOD branch, but to FEMA, local fire, police, etc, which is probably a good thing, but it does overlap with many of the other ham emergency ops groups that are already plugged into the local emergency needs - maybe better plugged in....
In Oklahoma there are a lot of hams, but very few MARS volunteers, & I don't quite know why. Seems MARS has a hard time recruiting people and maybe a hard time retaining them, & I have some thoughts, but nothing verifiable.
If I was retired I'd love to spend more time with my radios & with MARS. However I am still employed, and still have many other commitements that get in the way of my hobby..... so a lot of compromises take place, which does get in the way of doing MARS nets & such.....