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Author Topic: Inspirational.  (Read 30867 times)

AFA6MD

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Inspirational.
« on: September 17, 2014, 05:30:01 PM »

Recently joined AirForce MARS and could not be happier. Time between application and when I received the MARS Personnel Action Notification: under a month.

Camaraderie? Non stop elmering! Naysayers? Non. Chest pounding officials? No. Challenging? Certainly.

"The opportunities offered by MARS for you to serve in public service support are limited only by your willingness to participate in the many programs that make this a unique organization." You bet!

You want to be an outstanding radio operator and belong to an elite organization that is tasked with providing emergency communications support?

You believe in The Amateur's Code?
http://www.qcwa.org/amateur-code.htm

You got your ticket especially because of 47 CFR 97.1 (a), (b) and (d)?
http://www.arrl.org/part-97-text

Apply!


73 de AFA6MD/T
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KC2QYM

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2014, 01:04:04 PM »

Why I would not join MARS:
Filled with overstuffed, over the hill men who think they're elite.
Nets where everyone sounds like they're turkey calling
Over the hills guys reliving past glory thru their affiliation with some psuedo military liason
Not deluded enough to think that by joining MARS I am really helping my country
Aversion to dangerous, gungho weirdos who think that the military takes them seriously.
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KB3VWG

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2014, 02:01:06 PM »

Why I would not join MARS:
Filled with overstuffed, over the hill men who think they're elite.
Nets where everyone sounds like they're turkey calling
Over the hills guys reliving past glory thru their affiliation with some psuedo military liason
Not deluded enough to think that by joining MARS I am really helping my country
Aversion to dangerous, gungho weirdos who think that the military takes them seriously.

AFA6MD,

Welcome...

BTW...I'm in my early 30's and always wanted to join an AF auxiliary (I originally wanted to do Civil Air Patrol as a kid).

My application process was a little more rockier than yours; but that's because Army and Navy MARS are more prevalent in my area.

Hope to hear you on air or in training one day!


KB3VWG
AFA3LL/T
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AFA6MD

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2014, 02:14:24 PM »

Why I would not join MARS:
Filled with overstuffed, over the hill men who think they're elite.
Nets where everyone sounds like they're turkey calling
Over the hills guys reliving past glory thru their affiliation with some psuedo military liason
Not deluded enough to think that by joining MARS I am really helping my country
Aversion to dangerous, gungho weirdos who think that the military takes them seriously.


The Radio Amateur is:

CONSIDERATE   never knowingly operating in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.
http://www.qcwa.org/amateur-code.htm

q.e.d.

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AFA6MD

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2014, 02:25:15 PM »

AFA6MD,

Welcome...

BTW...I'm in my early 30's and always wanted to join an AF auxiliary (I originally wanted to do Civil Air Patrol as a kid).

My application process was a little more rockier than yours; but that's because Army and Navy MARS are more prevalent in my area.

Hope to hear you on air or in training one day!

AFA3LL/T


Dear OM,

Great to hear your story! My State Director belongs to my best Elmers, this - combined with my interest in EmComm - made me choose to join.
I'm in my forties, nowhere near being over the hill  ;D  and enjoy the technical challenge that MARS is giving me: high speed HF data comms, encryption, you name it... Doing 599s did not do it for me anymore. But, one man's meat is another man's poison! Live and let live is what I think and The Amateur's Code is the way to go. Hope you have fun in Region 3 too!
Since posting I have completed training and am now refining my techniques and station. Cool stuff!

Looking forward to staying in contact!

73 de AFA6MD

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W1MSG

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2014, 02:28:43 PM »

Why I would not join MARS:
Filled with overstuffed, over the hill men who think they're elite.
Nets where everyone sounds like they're turkey calling
Over the hills guys reliving past glory thru their affiliation with some psuedo military liason
Not deluded enough to think that by joining MARS I am really helping my country
Aversion to dangerous, gungho weirdos who think that the military takes them seriously.


The Radio Amateur is:

CONSIDERATE   never knowingly operating in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.
http://www.qcwa.org/amateur-code.htm

q.e.d.



What exactly does that have to do with a Forum post?

I was a member of Army MARS while I was still on active Duty right before I retired in 2011, and the previous post is right, Active Duty does not take them serious. I recorded a net and played it for the guys in my Commo section, I thought one of the guys was going to stop breathing from laughing so hard ..

They are grasping at straws to come up with a real world mission that doesnt exist, it was different back in the day when they had MARS stations at most bases that would do phone patches for soldiers who wanted to contact home, but with todays technology that has gone the way of the Jeep and Huey ...

If you enjoy it, thats great, but you will find more people who poke fun at them then join them ..

73

Craig
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AFA6MD

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2014, 09:04:44 PM »

...Let me mention a few examples of how the Phone Patch Net assists military aircraft on a daily basis.

A few weeks ago, a U-2 aircraft flying outside the continental United States contacted the Phone Patch Net on its primary HF frequency requesting several telephone patches as a result of warning lights coming on and aircraft systems shutting down. The pilot made a call for assistance and our operators responded by patching the pilot through to his base command post, operations center, and other locations, where he received instructions on what to do and where to land.
The following week, a C-17 over the North Atlantic lost cabin pressure and had to make an emergency landing. The communications for this were provided by the Phone Patch Net.

Let me give you one more example. A while back, a civilian airliner carrying hundreds of passengers over South America encountered severe weather that affected the plane’s instrumentation and jeopardized its ability to continue safely en route to its destination. The pilot – a former Air Force officer – used an on-board HF radio to contact the Phone Patch Net for assistance. The MARS operators were able to connect the pilot to the Operations Center of a destination airfield for instructions, allowing the airliner to land safely.

While you won’t hear or read about incidents like this, such calls are more common than you might imagine.
This information isn’t classified. After all, the phone conversations are transmitted “in the clear” over unencrypted HF radio frequencies – meaning anyone with a shortwave radio and sideband reception can monitor these phone patches. The equipment needed to monitor these transmissions is no more sophisticated than this Sony shortwave radio receiver that fits in my shirt pocket.

Each year, Air Force MARS Phone Patch Net operators conduct more than 2,000 phone patches for military aircraft – most of which are related to ongoing mission operations. Importantly, the military’s use of the MARS network frees up more sophisticated and costly military communications assets for other purposes – and in today’s austere budget environment with the challenges of sequestration, this is a net plus.

Let me cite some other examples of how MARS operators support the nation’s communications needs. ...

http://www.shortwaver.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/infraguard.pdf

q.e.d.

73 de AFA6MD

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WD8DBY

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2014, 06:15:44 AM »

MARS of today operates under 4 mission sets:

1.  Provide HF contingency communications support to the DOD and the Services (Army, Navy/Marines and Air Force).
2.  Provide contingency communications support for Defense Support to Civil Authorities.
3.  Provide communications support to geographic combatant commanders for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
4.  Provide moral and welfare support to deployed DOD personnel.

Let me break down those missions and give you some recent examples of what that means:

- Just this week, MARS members were at Eglin, AFB providing HF training to active duty soldiers on HF frequency selection, HF wave propagation and field expedient HF antennas.  While that training was happening, the AF phone patch net was conducting phone patches for an Army Reserve unit training exercise.

- This weekend we have MARS stations alerted for Hurricane Rudy in the Philippines in coordination with DOD and a combatant command. 

- Last weekend, we had MARS members participating in an international HF exercise with the UK Army Cadets.

- Two weeks ago, a Marine unit was training with the AF phone patch net while they were deployed on a field training exercise. 

- Three weeks ago we had MARS members training National Guard soldiers in Michigan on the art of HF communications. 

- Four weeks ago, MARS members as well as an Air National Guard unit participated in an international HF competition that included participants from 5 countries.

- At the end of October, more than 500 MARS members from all three MARS Services participated in a nation-wide contingency communications exercise with DOD forces. 

- In August, MARS and our Canadian counterparts participated in a multinational exercise with a US combatant command training on humanitarian assistance response efforts.

- Over the past year, MARS members have provided HF training to Soldiers in OR, PA, MI, IL, TX, and UT. 

- MARS members in TX did an HF demonstration for a group of VIPs from Chile.

- This past spring, MARS provided HF communication for an Army HQs participating in a multinational HF exercise.

Those are just a few examples in addition to all the great examples provided by AFA6MD of what today's MARS members are doing to support the DOD.  I will leave you one final thought:  MARS of today is very different from the MARS of just a few years ago; we are continuing to evolve.   Paul   
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W1MSG

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2014, 08:58:19 AM »

This kind of reminds me of a Mars Net

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJCfUm21BsI

If you enjoy it I'm happy for you. With the exception of the AF Phone patch stuff, which I am sure went through an actual AF Mars Station, if all of the Mars programs were shut down I doubt anyone would notice, especially the Active Duty folks.

The powers that be continue to grasp at straws trying to give the programs relevance in todays Military and it just wont happen. The only reason it is still in existence is it virtually costs nothing, with the exception of the Army Mar's paid employee's, and I am sure they are only there because of a favor being called in by a retired COL... 
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AFA6MD

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2014, 08:27:25 PM »

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

Teddy Roosevelt speaking at the Sorbonne in 1910.
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N5INP

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2014, 11:10:05 AM »

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KC2QYM

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2015, 06:54:53 AM »

I am a critic and I admit it; I can be harsh but not unfair.  If MARS is so engaged in a number of so called 'missions'/activities why doesn't some big pants MARS leader get some of this great story into QST?  I never see a word about MARS in QST unless the MARS crossband tests are going to happen.  Get your story out so maybe a number of us doubting Thomas' will take you all seriously.  Who the heck is coordinating MARS outreach to the greater ham community?  They certainly have not been successful.  That's why I've concluded that MARS members bask in their own sense of uniqueness; they don't want to open their  welcomes to many...just a handful of buddies.  Prove me wrong...get your story out or just keep believing that you still matter.
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WD8DBY

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2015, 10:11:24 AM »

I am a critic and I admit it; I can be harsh but not unfair.  If MARS is so engaged in a number of so called 'missions'/activities why doesn't some big pants MARS leader get some of this great story into QST?  I never see a word about MARS in QST unless the MARS crossband tests are going to happen.  Get your story out so maybe a number of us doubting Thomas' will take you all seriously.  Who the heck is coordinating MARS outreach to the greater ham community?  They certainly have not been successful.  That's why I've concluded that MARS members bask in their own sense of uniqueness; they don't want to open their  welcomes to many...just a handful of buddies.  Prove me wrong...get your story out or just keep believing that you still matter.

Thanks for your comments...take a look at February 2015 QST article on page 87:  "MARS Volunteers Reach Out to Amateur Radio Community to Test Interoperability."
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WD8DBY

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #13 on: February 24, 2015, 10:51:00 AM »

I am a critic and I admit it; I can be harsh but not unfair.  If MARS is so engaged in a number of so called 'missions'/activities why doesn't some big pants MARS leader get some of this great story into QST?  I never see a word about MARS in QST unless the MARS crossband tests are going to happen.  Get your story out so maybe a number of us doubting Thomas' will take you all seriously.  Who the heck is coordinating MARS outreach to the greater ham community?  They certainly have not been successful.  That's why I've concluded that MARS members bask in their own sense of uniqueness; they don't want to open their  welcomes to many...just a handful of buddies.  Prove me wrong...get your story out or just keep believing that you still matter.

Take a look at this ARRL Letter from 9 Oct 2014 titled:  "Late October Exercise to Test MARS-ARES Interoperability." 
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2014-10-09#toc05
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WD8DBY

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RE: Inspirational.
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2015, 10:56:13 AM »

I am a critic and I admit it; I can be harsh but not unfair.  If MARS is so engaged in a number of so called 'missions'/activities why doesn't some big pants MARS leader get some of this great story into QST?  I never see a word about MARS in QST unless the MARS crossband tests are going to happen.  Get your story out so maybe a number of us doubting Thomas' will take you all seriously.  Who the heck is coordinating MARS outreach to the greater ham community?  They certainly have not been successful.  That's why I've concluded that MARS members bask in their own sense of uniqueness; they don't want to open their  welcomes to many...just a handful of buddies.  Prove me wrong...get your story out or just keep believing that you still matter.

Take a look at this ARRL Letter from 14 August 2014 titled:  ""Pacific Endeavor-14" Exercise Stresses International Cooperation"
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2014-08-14#toc03
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