Initial Address
New State Army MARS Director
Comments From Your State Director - NOV 05
New Year Greetings/TNX
Holiday Message From NM State Mars Director
Info For New Recruits
Army MARS in New Mexico Today
Greetings
I am pleased and honored to be appointed State Director for New Mexico Army MARS. It's a big job with many responsibilities and I am committed to making every effort to build upon the strong base Thad Stevens leaves as he steps down from the position.<.p>
The basic goals of the MARS program, to be "Proud, Professional, and Ready" are unchanging. My goals and priorities for New Mexico Army MARS are to continue to foster preparedness, growth through recruitment, communication, participation, technical development, and the view that all members shall share in the rewards and pleasures of the service.
I want to express my appreciation to Thad Stevens for all his hard work and for his dedication to the service for the past three years. I owe a personal debt to Thad for his friendship and support during my time in Army MARS. There was never a time I couldn't get an answer from Thad on a question, whether administrative or technical, and he has already graciously offered his help to ensure a smooth transfer of authority in our program.
We are fortunate to have an eager and effective staff already in place. Newly a ppointed Administrative Officer, Emergency Operations Officer, and Training Officer have responded to their responsibilities with enthusiasm and are doing an excellent job. I will do everything I can to ensure they have the support they need to continue their good work.
Finally, I ask the support of all members to work with me to help New Mexico Army MARS continue to grow and prosper over the coming years. Without your individual efforts there is no program.
Regards and 73s,
Ed Bingler/AAA6NM
PLEASE WELCOME ED BINGLER/AAR6QJ AS OUR NEW MEXICO ARMY MARS STATE DIRECTOR. HIS TERM WILL BEGIN THIS WEEK. ED'S NEW BILLET CALL WILL BE AAA6NM. ED HAS HAD EXPERIENCE IN BOTH ARMY AND AIR FORCE MARS AND SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE MAKING HIM MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR THE SMD POSITION. I AM SURE ALL WILL ENJOY WORKING WITH ED DURING HIS 3 YEAR TERM.
ED WILL BEGIN HIS TERM WITH ALMOST A FULL ADMIN STAFF. WE STILL NEED AN ASSISTANT SMD. EXPECT SOME CHANGES TO BE MADE, HOWEVER, OUR MAJOR STATE GOALS WILL REMAIN THE SAME.
THE NORMAL TERM FOR SMD IS 3 YEARS. HQ AND THE CURRENT SMD MAKE A JOINT DECISION WHO (IF ANY) IS QUALIFIED. THE CURRENT SMD CAN MAKE A SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION. HQ MAY OR MAY NOT CHOOSE TO GO ALONG WITH THAT RECOMMENDATION. HQ ALSO HAS THE OPTION TO ASK THE CURRENT SMD TO STAY ON FOR ANOTHER TERM IF THERE ARE NO QUALIFIED CANDIDATES.OUR ADMIN STAFF WAS APPOINTED BEFORE WE HAD ANY QUALIFIED CANDIDATES STEP FORWARD. THIS IS A GOOD THING IN THAT IT WILL REDUCE THE WORK LOAD OF THE INCOMMING SMD. NORMALLY THE INCOMMING SMD CHOOSES HIS/HER OWN ADMIN STAFF. HOWEVER, OUR SITUATION WAS DIFFERENT.
PLEASE REFER ALL SMD RELATED QUESTIONS TO ED FROM HERE ON OUT.
I ENJOYED WORKING WILL ALL MEMBERS DURING MY 3-YEAR STINT. IT DEFINATELY WAS TOUGH WORK; TOUGHEST VOLUNTEER JOB I'VE EVER HAD!
(Above post excerpt from NMSMD 001-05-DEC (NM ARMY MARS/NEW SMD)/TNX)
....... Greetings!
I. December Propagation. Propagation models for the month of December have been run and show some interesting results. Looks like we should see dual frequency openings between 1800 to 2200Z with >90% reliability. Results have been sent to ALLNM Army MARS as email attachments.
II. Digital Traffic During Katrina. Of the traffic sent during Medical Link/Katrina 60% was sent by radio and of that 85% sent by a digital modes (primarily through MMCS), 5% sent by voice. This is a significant shift toward the use of our RF digital resources over what we have seen in during our exercises.
The membership should note that the majority of traffic in and out of the effected areas during Katrina was handled on MMCS and station-to-station using Pactor-I by TNC. Adjoining states handled over 300 messages using Pactor-I. I do not know specific reasons as to why Pactor was used over other robust soundcard modes. Maybe someone can comment on this topic? We were unable to hear this activity because states were using 4, and 5 Mhz bands during the day. In fact our NM 4 and 5 Mhz frequencies turn out to be very useful. I had made our NM frequencies available to other Region-6 states during the day because propagation allowed NM to utilize the same frequencies concurrently without interference. Nice concept !
III. Intra-State Traffic. With a few exceptions all NM Intra-State traffic continues to be sent to our NM Gateway for posting on the BBS. NM MARS members can obtain traffic through the use of a VHF PACKET TNC digital system. Copies of the messages for the week will be sent during the Administrative Net for stations without VHF Packet capability. I will continue the practice of sending carbon copies of Alert Notifications to “ALL NM ARMY MARS STATIONS” by email for exercise or actual event, as well as, other info that include attachments.
IV. New Administrative Staff. Please welcome our new Admin Staff:
AAR6NB / AAM6ANM State Administrative Officer (SAO) AAR6NC / AAM6ENM State Emergency Operations Officer (EOO) AAR6SF / AAM6TNM State Training Officer (STO)
V. Roadrunner. NM Army MARS will no longer support the Roadrunner as a "Quarterly" newsletter. Regular new will be posted to our NM Army website. All services are welcome to send articles in electronic format to our webmaster, Frank, AAR6KE. Frank will screen articles as per OPSEC guidelines. As of this time Fred / AAR6ZM would like to make either an annual or semiannual newsletter available, but details have not been worked out. All FOUO information will only be sent out via email attachments. Army info will be made available to Navy and Air Force members through their SMDs.
VI. Reminders. 1. We no longer have "Zones" in New Mexico. Therefore, all individual Participation Reports are to be sent to Flores/AAR6NB/AAM6ANM our new SAO who has agreed to assume the zone coordinator responsibilities of compiling the individual reports. The "drop dead date" is alway 030359Z of the coming month. For the month of November 05, this means Jude must have your report on his desk no later than 030359Z DEC 05. Otherwise your hours will not be counted for November! (Remember 030359Z Dec 05 is Friday evening 2059T !) 2. I am in my new QTH and slowing moving my "goodies" our of storage. Right now I can only listen in on the nets. Will be digging holes for antenna masts in the next week or two so should have some wire in the air soon. Hope to experiment with some new antenna ideas and will report results on the Tech Net.
See you on the air…
SGD Thad Stevens, NM SMD (12 NOV 05)
NM ARMY MARS HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN ADVANCING OUR ORGANIZATION. WITHOUT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS, NCS STATIONS, AND REGULAR NET CHECK-INS AND ASSISTANCE OF NAVY/AIR FORCE MARS MEMBERS, WHO HAVE SUPPORTED OUR EXERCISE EFFORTS, MOST OF THE GAINS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVABLE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO MARS DURING 2004.
LETS MAKE 2005 A BANNER YEAR!
WISHING YOU AND LOVED ONES A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS N E W Y E A R 2 0 0 5 ! ! !
(Above post taken from NMSMD 006-05 (NEW YEAR GREETINGS/TNX)
I WISH TO THANK ALL NEW MEXICO US ARMY MARS MEMBERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT DURING THE YEAR 2004. WHILE ENJOYING THE HOLIDAY SEASON PLEASE THINK OF WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED THIS YEAR. AND WHILE RELAXING IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR WARM HOUSE REMEMBER OUR AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS DEPLOYED OVERSEAS WHO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CELEBRATE IN PERSON WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES.
WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2005.
THAD STEVENS/AAA6NM NM STATE MARS DIRECTOR US ARMY MARS
I. Dedication.
1. We strive to find and retain responsible individuals with the following characteristics:
a. Time and dedication to complete our rigorous 6 month training program.
b. Time and dedication to fully accept the responsibilities of our participation requirements in terms of air hours, training, nets, exercises, willingness to contribute by holding staff positions and/or contributing time and effort toward maintaining/improving our state wide VHF voice and data system.
Army MARS is not a certificate on the wall. Here in New Mexico we have found that 50% of our trainees wash out of the program within a year. We run a tight program and strive to maintain an organization of dedicated, well trained, and enthusiastic members who are comfortable with the strict military structure of Army MARS.
The following is a list of equipment you will need access to in order to fully participate in New Mexico Army MARS nets, exercises, and send/receive traffic.
I. HF
1. Transceivera. Capable of operation from 2 to 26 MHz on LSB and USB.
b. (Note that some ham radios will not function to spec in the 5 to 6 MHz band.)
2. Sound Card Interface xcvr-to-PC for digital modes.
3. PC running Windows 98 or above.
4. Antenna or antennas capable of operation from 2 to 26 MHz. (a resonant ham band antenna, such as a coaxial fed dipole/trap dipole or vertical, with an antenna tuner is not an suitable substitute).
5. Suggested, TNC for Pactor/Packet operation. (For stations within VHF range of our digital Packet system Pactor is not necessary, but would be a good idea as a backup mode. Stations can also utilize Pactor for obtaining traffic directly off our Gateway stations.)
II. VHF
1. VHF transceivera. Capable of operation from 142 to 149 MHz.
b. Capable of operation on 4 frequency pairs, 2 duplex, 2 simplex (minimum).
c. (Can be an older commercial rig such as Micor or Master Exec).
d. Capable of functioning with TNC.
2. TNC
a. Capable of operating Packet with sysop, tcp/ip, netrom, and a mailbox.
b. (suggested TNC is a KAM XL, 98, or 98+. Note that the dual port KAM XL can be used on both HF and VHF. Other models; PK-98, PK-88, Pk-89, MFJ-1278B, AEA-232.
III. Computer Capability
1. PC running Windows 98 or above.a. Sound Blaster compatible sound card.
b. Cables for Sound Card interface.
2. Internet connection is a good idea but not necessary.
3. Software:
a. Suggested; an open source office suite.
b. A high quality, name brand, virus checker.
c. A high quality, name brand, firewall (if PC will be connected to the Internet).
Thad Stevens / AAA6NM
Posted: 12 AUG 04
The role of MARS in recent years has undergone a series of changes that have enhanced our capabilities and services to our customers. The amount of health and welfare traffic we handle has diminished to near zero. When traffic of this nature is handled it is typical to utilize our phone patch resources. This usually occurs during the early stages of a military campaign (currently no phone patch stations in NM). Most of our activities are exercises, ie training for the “big one”. Most of normal day to day traffic is inter and intra state MARS administrative or exercise related.
This is basically the same scheme our Guard and Reserves use, sometimes for years, before they are called up. Most of our traffic is inter and intra state MARS administrative or exercise related. During exercises greater and greater volume of traffic is handled digitally by a “sound card mode” (MT-63, MFSK-16, AMTOR) or PACTOR-I. Currently, many stations receive traffic from HQ via the Internet, although it is available on the RF digital Gateway. All intra state NM traffic is now being sent through the NM Gateway and available on the VHF BBS. At times some of it is CC via the Internet to all NM members. Our NCS (Net Control Stations) are typically instructed to read traffic they pick off our state BBS as traffic during their net.
In the recent past NM somehow got away from using our VHF BBS. However, currently, if stations do not have VHF capability and do not check into any nets they, unfortunately are “out of the loop” as far as current info. We do have a couple of members who have obtained traffic via the Region-6 HF PACTOR gateway on a regular basis while traveling with a high degree of success.
All our current documentation is disseminated electronically. A special request can be made for hard copies from HQ through the SMD, but there is a considerable time delay.
Recently we have become very strict in implementing membership participation and responsibility regulations. We had got to a point (2 years ago) where we had about 40 members with only 5 regular participants. We now have 20 members with 10 regular participants, a big improvement on participation and a reduction of the “dead wood”. We will continue to strictly enforce Army MARS participation policy to the letter.
Feel free to email should you have any questions. Thank you for your interest.
Thad Stevens/AAA6NM
NM State Director
US Army MARS
Thad Stevens, AAA6NM
Posted: 14 July 2004
I. Grecian Firebolt 04 Results.
In terms of the amount of traffic and interoperability with NM Navy MARS, the exercise was a huge success for
New Mexico. Information from HQ indicates that across CONUS this was one of the most successful Grecian
Firebolt exercises to date.
Unfortunately NM Army had only 4 members who actively participated on one or more nets. This represents 1/5 of our membership. Traffic handled is shown below:
+ TOTAL NUMBER OF MESSAGES PROCESSED IN STATE OPERATIONS:
TOTAL PROCESSED=168
+ TOTAL NUMBER OF MESSAGES ORIGINATED IN STATE OPERATIONS:
(SENT/RCV BY INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS:)
TOTAL PROCESSED=230
Those members that did participate are to be commend on the amount of traffic handled. Also, I wish to thank the NM Navy MARS who constructed their exercise oporder to match ours and diligently maintained stations on Navy and Army frequencies who were set up to handle traffic with a direct link into the Army Region-6 Gateway, as well as, MT-63 station-to-station intra-state capability. This proved to be a great asset to our successful completion of the exercise particularly during the time when our state gateway was no available. Thank you all for your participation.
II. Project Digital Path Progress (HF Phase-II).
Of the traffic sent during the Grecian Firebolt-04 exercise 80% was sent by radio and of that 75% sent by a digital
mode/ 25% sent by voice. This is a significant shift toward the use of our RF digital resources over what we have
seen in the past. This shift is due to the volume of traffic we are processing and due to the fact that we are
typically restricted from using the Internet for inter-state traffic and traffic originating within 100 miles of the
exercise incident.
I am happy to see additional stations on board with digital capability. We hope to have their resources available for the next exercise. Time has come for all NM stations who wish to participate in our NM Army MARS activities to work toward moving into the 21st digital traffic-handling century by upgrading their stations. More information is available from our STO, Bulletins 17,18, 19, and 20-04 four part digital training series from our weekly State Training Net at 2301Z Sundays on KEA. Join us and hear new digital modes used and tested. III. Intra-State Traffic.
With a few exceptions all NM Intra-State traffic is now being sent to our NM Gateway for posting on the BBS. NM MARS members can obtain traffic through the use of our VHF PACKET digital system. Most traffic will include NCS instructions indicating the message is to be read as traffic during formal net time. This policy will continue for the benefit of those who do not have digital capabilities, as well as, for copy practice on our nets. I will be sending carbon copies to “ALL NM ARMY MARS STATIONS” by email for exercise or actual event alerts, as well as, other info that may or may not include attachments.
See you on the air…
SGD Thad Stevens, NM SMD