First, volunteerism is motivated by purpose. Demonstrated purpose, not hypothetical, “this is our mission” stuff plastered in a few bureaucratic paragraphs. The rubber meets the road when real, tangible, understandable, worthwhile results occur. When organizations like today’s MARS have inflated missions that have no obvious, visible results, then it is all dreamland.
Oh, claims of accomplishments made by contractors to continue to justify their paid positions have the look and feel of the advertisements that they are. For example, simply making a series of contacts to a station in the Middle East is no big deal. Not too long ago there was a boastful release in ARRL media about MARS having made such a contact or message transmission.
While I realize you’re new, during the Vietnam War there were thousands upon thousands of messages and phone patches to and from service personnel over there through many MARS members stateside. Without doubt, the greatest individual testament to that effort was from the late Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA (AFA7UGA?) Routine MARS activity for Barry, both from Washington and Arizona. Did that motivate MARS members and non-MARS members to want to serve those who serve and their families? You bet. It motivated the Hell out of me. I was a teenager and I wanted to join and help out. I did as long as I could.
The disrespect you’re concerned with begins with the MARS organization itself. If it respected its members, it would allow them to communicate freely on nets once official net messages and roll has been called. Today, as I am told, it’s more like “shut up” until another roll call. No personal communications, exchanges, etc., permitted. What a way to make the time spent seem boring and a waste of time. Training while on the air? How can that happen if everybody must just sit there, shut up and say nothing?
Volunteers are “paid” with praise and recognition. How can you thank someone for checking into a net if nothing can be said but “roger, out?”
I would venture to say that there are thousands who would love to help those in the military. If health and welfare traffic isn’t needed anymore, then how about able ham volunteers teaching basic communications to regular, reserve or national guard troops? It would save contractor expenditures. Oops, the contractors won’t pass that traffic. It’s career-threatening.
If you treat people like excrement, then when you really need them, they won’t be there. They’ll resign to find something else to do to help make a difference, like ARES or RACES or CAP or the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Like the fellow said in the post before you. If you want to judge how good a volunteer program is, look at its attrition rate. The best method I can think of in how to measure how well it is being managed. And please, no lame excuses about membership database errors.
Let me finish with a short course in “good citizenry,” by saying what it isn’t. It isn’t failing to criticize out of “respect.” If we don’t critically examine and speak up about what our government institutions and employees do, then we have failed as citizens. It is our responsibility as Americans to do just that. And, if you think it’s disrespectful to do that, then, perhaps, you need to relocate to a totalitarian country, full of folks who say nothing out of “respect.”