System was created in response to 9/11 it saw the need and provided for a parallel  heads-up message called an Incident Notification. Now the Road Ahead identifies the  Incident Notification as a service that MARS is uniquely equipped to provide with its  widely-distributed membership, experience with EEIs, and Winlink messaging system,  and that requires no deployment to fulfill the mission. With his radios and his telephone  Les Lohr demonstrated just how it’s supposed to work. 

                    Interoperation and MOUs

There has been some recent confusion over Army MARS use of Memorandums  of Understanding—MOUs—with the agencies we support.  Or rather, with some of the  agencies Army MARS supports.

Just to make it clear for everyone, I’m going to invent a new term right here and  now—only to be used tonight for clarification purposes. That new word is “HOU” Æ Hotel . . .  Oscar. . .  Uniform, and it stands for “Handshake of Understanding.”  The  HOU is an informal arrangement between MARS and a local EMA, EOC, 911 call  center, fire department or other emergency response agency with which we cooperate  on a regular basis.  In fact, it’s what interoperability is all about and requires no formal  documentation. More about that in a moment.

On the other hand, a Memorandum of Understanding—MOU—is an official  document that sets out in formal language (1) what each party will do for the other, (2)  the resources available and the limits that apply to their cooperation and (3) the Points  of Contact for administering it.

First, know that:  An MOU must be submitted through channels, for approval at  Ft Huachuca.  That’s a fairly complex procedure with many legal ramifications.  It is  signed between the Army and the agency Army MARS will support.  There should be no  discussion of negotiating an MOU without first consulting HQ as to its probable  feasibility.  Negotiations will “only” be conducted between HQ Army MARS – by the  CAM – and the proposed agency to be served.  It is an agreement between the U.S.  Army and the agency.

A few days ago it was necessary to remind the Force that Army MARS in  general does not negotiate MOUs with individual counties. In the U.S. there are 3,017  counties plus 601 cities with populations over 50,000.  Administering MOUs in such  numbers obviously is out of the question.  We don’t have 3,718 Army MARS members,  and if we did, that would only equate to one Army MARS member to every county or  large city—some cities have millions of people in them—an impossible situation.

Please notice I said “in general” we would not negotiate MOUs with counties.  There are other provisions for MOU arrangements with major metropolitan counties or  regional groupings but that’s not a state-level concern – and likely will not be.. 

About military units:  Sometimes questions arise regarding MOUs between  Army MARS and National Guard or Army Reserve units.  Because all four of us (Army  MARS, Active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard) are elements of the  Department of the Army, our relationship is spelled out in AR 25-6, so documented  formal agreements are “not” necessary.

Now back to the H O U. I’d like to make clear that no current working  arrangement with local agencies is affected by the MOU rule, nor is any future such  working arrangement prohibited.  Interoperability in general and the MARS Incident  Reporting System (also known as EEIs) in particular depend on having HOU  understandings—so press on, but never overextend your local MARA capability, and be  sure to keep your State Director in the Loop.  He or she is the first person who can help  you lend a hand. 

As with an MOU, both parties shaking hands on an informal relationship should  be fully aware of the other’s needs and the limits of the other’s capabilities. POCs  should be clearly established, too, including placement on each other’s phone tree. But,  the comparison with MOUs ends there.  And As I said, don’t enter into an HOU without  informing your SD. 

         To repeat: HQ Army MARS will “on rare occasion” consider MOUs at the state  level but not with lesser civil entities except in exceptional circumstances. To clear up  one point, Army MARS has ZERO MOUs with state entities – None.  HQ Army MARS  and your Chief do want and do encourage working relationships with county EMAs,  EOCs and the like.  

With that understood, the “HOU” metaphor has served its purpose tonight and we  can retire it now.

        MARS 101—What it can do and what it cannot do

We’re now one-third of the way into the MARS 101 training cycle. In previous  nets I have reported a few comments from members. Now I’m going to offer some of my  own based primarily on the message traffic crossing my desk. 

Obviously it’s too early to make any judgment as to how well the interactive  training was conceived and conducted. I’ll just deal with some specific points that in my  opinion need attention. Before doing so, however, let me say I stand by my judgment  two weeks ago when I commented on this net—borrowing some baseball talk—“I’m  expecting a lot . . . and from what I read and hear, you are stepping up to the plate and  hitting home runs.” 

Now that was a generalization. Merriam-Webster says a generalization is a  general statement. The word general itself means—I quote again--”relating to,  determined by or concerned with main elements rather than limited details.” Unquote.

So if I mention a few “limited details” like an occasional pop fly or a runner caught  between bases, it doesn’t mean we aren’t still winning this game. We most definitely  are.

But it concerns me that early in the on-air training cycle you could hear members  who clearly had not put enough time into studying the e-mailed material. I also saw a  few messages from leaders suggesting they hadn’t either.

Making the training work: I’ll take my share of the blame for not conveying  convincingly enough that MARS 101 was going to be hard work. Maybe the  unimaginative and sometimes slack approach to training taken in the past played a part.  At any rate, it should be clear by now that one quick scan through the weekly e-mailed  101 units isn’t doing the job. This kind of training only works if all the members get their  homework done before getting on the air to discuss it interactively. 

 I believe I pointed out during my last net that you should read the training  materials as soon as you get it, then a day or two later and again before the training  net…take notes, be prepared to discuss your knowledge and questions on the air.  I  meant it. It’s also apparent that some trainers were unfamiliar and therefore  uncomfortable with the “interactive” part of this training. 

We’ll take a called strike on that one. However, one of the Tiger Team members,  Paul Drothler AAV4DJ picked up on this while monitoring multiple nets during the initial  week. Based on his own long experience in industry and on extremely short notice, Paul  has drafted an expanded training manual which the Tiger Team distributed to Region  Directors this week. I can’t think of a better example of what the Road Ahead is all about  than the personal initiative and competence Paul displayed in responding to an  unexpected challenge. That’s leadership!

Leaders take note:  And while we’re on that subject, here’s another concern of  mine: the several messages to HQ asking about some things already well covered in  the Road Ahead document, and/or the training materials. It should be particularly  embarrassing to hear someone saying on the air, “I don’t know” or even worse,  delivering misinformation, simply because someone in a leadership position hadn’t done  the homework expected of the members.

What I am saying is: there is no excuse for anyone conducting training to get on  the net and say:  “I don’t know what this means” or “I don’t know why I’m teaching you  this material.”  This happened in “at least” two states last week—I’m embarrassed by  this unpreparedness and by the non-support of this very important initiative by  “appointed Army MARS leaders”—folks our membership look up to.

Finally, I want to respond to several comments that some of the training material  is unclear. These seem to come down to the fact that concepts like chain of command  hadn’t been covered in greater detail as they surely would have been in a military class. 

A few minutes back I quoted the dictionary on the meaning of the word “general.”  To repeat, it means relating to main elements rather than limited details. That’s the  purpose of both the 101 course and the main Road Ahead document. To quote from the  latter, “The Road Ahead is not intended as a detailed plan, but rather a road map setting  the broad direction and priorities for Army MARS leadership.”

A tremendous amount of material needs to be covered in limited net time, so I  hope everyone will cooperate in focusing on the essentials. There will be plenty of time  to explore the details in the training schedules coming up after 101.

Empowerment for the MARS member

I’m indebted to Utah State Director Randall Shreve AAA8UT for a shrewd size up  of the Road Ahead. I like his vision.

Randall digested this week’s unit of the 101 training cycle, the one on chain of  command, and was reminded of a word often used in the business world. The word is  “empowerment.” 

He wrote: “I am hearing many members struggle to understand the simple, but  effective concept that is the new benchmark for us to be thinking of as we engage in  emergency communications.

“In business, empowerment gives employees the ability to make real-time quality,  production or safety decisions to enhance the organization's ability to meet objectives. It  is a win-win scenario. Management (Chain of Command) is still involved, but  not every decision comes from the top at all times.

“Empowerment to the MARS membership now gives the member who is  called in the middle of the night for communications assistance the means to make real­time decisions based upon the framework of the training, MARS standards and the  circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Yes, there is a chain of command that we must respect and use. But when there  isn’t the luxury of time to receive a ‘green light’ from top-down, MARS members are  intelligent, well trained and capable of evaluating a set of circumstances. That's where  empowerment comes into play.”

                    Three new State Directors, one back from Iraq

Since the first of the year three new leaders have stepped into what they no  doubt consider the toughest job in MARS, and who knows—they may be right. Certainly  nobody will work harder than State Directors putting the Road Ahead into effect. So  here’s a belated on-the-air salute to Oregon’s Jeff Sperley AAA0OR and Michigan’s  AAA5MI, who by now are well installed in their jobs. To MAJ Jeff Hammer, who took  over as Indiana SD this week, I say for the second time, welcome back. He’s recently  returned from a tour in Iraq with the Indiana National Guard. Before that he served in  Afghanistan. You may have seen his article in QST about establishing a MARS station  there.

For most of last year Major Hammer pretty nearly qualified for the title of Iraq  director for Army MARS. He set up the Baghdad club station, organized a team of  service personnel to get their amateur licenses and most significant of all saw to  delivery of MARSgrams. I look forward to hearing all about that experience at the  Dayton Hamvention.

Let me add a word for all the state directors in Army MARS. I fully realize that as  the CAMS and CAMOs and training directives and Chief’s Net lectures pour out of Ft  Huachuca, you’re the ones who carry the load, and with the Road Ahead the load is  about as heavy as it gets. I’m confident that the Tiger Team will agree with me on that,  because three of the members are or have been state directors themselves. 

            A change in the training plan

The leader of the Tiger Team, Bob Mims AAA1RD, reports a change in the  MARS 101 training schedule. After Easter, Unit 11 will be “External Operations.” It will  deal with away-from-home activities such as Agency Augmentation (at EOC's, etc.),  deployment to disaster zones, or assisting reserve units on exercises. The accent will  be on preparing to operate externally and of course on the rule that all away-from-home  operating is strictly voluntary.  The new Unit 11 follows on from the National Incident  Management System discussed in Unit 10, which governs civil support operations. The  previous topic of Unit 11, Advancement and Recognition, will be handled on regular  training nets in the future.

Let me add an important reminder on future training nets: After the MARS 101  cycle concludes in May, regular training will not simply revert to the documentation  used in the past. It will be guided by the Road Ahead doctrine.  Everyone should  be keeping the MARS 101 material and notes as reference material, just like they keep  the SOP and the OPLAN.

Conclusion

I’m getting excited about seeing as many of you as possible at Dayton in May.  I  look forward to coordinating with my friends, Chief Bo Lindfors, N-MC MARS, and Chief  Al Eiermann, AF MARS.  We again will coordinate/strategize/come together about the  Jointness opportunities that face us.  Each of us knows that the whole of MARS is  greater and more powerful than the three parts.  MARS will likely change in the months  ahead, as the DoD concentrates on having MARS provide better Civil Support in  CONUS.  Our relationships with entities like TSA, FEMA, DHS, SHARES will be  strengthened as we partner and concentrate on providing Civil Support in America.  Our  overseas missions will not change.  There is a new found recognition in the federal  government and within the Department of Defense that MARS is a resource that our  government can ill afford to not leverage.  So, take heart, the training we are doing  today, will enable us to better support that goal well into the future.

Good night and God Bless,  CAM - Out