Chief, Army MARS Net Notes, 10 Jul 2009
The last few days have been hectic ones even without any surprises on the tropical storm front. I pressed the region directors pretty hard to get a maximum turnout for the MARS 101 Second Round. Bob Mims AAA1RD and his Tiger Team were busily freshening up the lesson units so they’d offer new interest for members who already have qualified for the course. My national training director, Larry Nicholson AAA9TC, has been revving up his distribution system to handle all the training material. And so Round Two of this rigorous training cycle got underway this right on schedule this week.
Again, my thanks to all who achieved their goal in Round One, good luck to all who are running the race in Round Two. I offer a special salute from Ft Huachuca to the coaches of this terrific team, the training officers and instructors who day in and day out carry on what is probably the hardest single task in Army MARS. Their job has never been more important, and certainly has never been more challenging than right now. Training Team Leadership take a bow and please accept my BIG round of applause.
By the way, let me clarify that if you completed some lessons in Round One, you do not need to retake them in Round Two. But it would be useful to read the newer version of the lessons because as I said Larry, Bob and the Tiger Team have been making adjustments to all of them.
OK, enough talk about immediate issues. Let’s take a break. Many of us have been fully engaged for more than six months moving the Road Ahead from a strategic dream to a tactical reality. In just over three months, the Round Two final exam results will be in, and then we’ll see the future shape of Army MARS. At least we’ll have a firm grasp on the numbers of members who met the challenge and thereby told me that they “want to be part of the Army’s relevant EMCOMM Support to Civil Authorities.”
Now I ask you: What then? Is the job done when those last final exams are tabulated? Must we face an inevitable letdown after the slightly feverish pace during the last nine months of creating and implementing the Road Ahead? Will there be nothing new and engaging to look forward to?
My answer is: “absolutely not.”
This Chief of Army MARS is not forgetting the frustration so many members felt during the seemingly endless months of waiting to take on a real mission that we could pursue with pride—and with results. We certainly don’t want to return to those days.
My deputy Jim Griffin AAAA9B and I have started work to identify a significant undertaking that will involve the entire membership after MARS 101 is completed this fall. I emphasize entire membership. We recognize that not all of you can be WinLink Sysops, or members of Emergency Response Teams, or special instructors for supported agencies. There are important tasks any member can undertake without deploying or acquiring new equipment or going off to school. You’ll be hearing more about this as 101 Round Two draws to a close. Until then, let’s concentrate on finishing implementation of the Road Ahead and let’s be ever ready to quickly implement the skills we’ve garnered during this current Hurricane Season.
I have these five items this evening:
--- Initiative and Preparedness in North Carolina
--- New England’s New Approach to Deployment Training
--- MARS 101 OCONUS
--- Hands-on Support for Agencies
--- Changes at NETCOM
The Army MARS Road Ahead in Action (1)
I want to quote from the conclusion of our Road Ahead document and then I’ll tell a story with a happy ending.
Here’s the quote: “The Army MARS mission is constant but dynamic. It says to emergency response agencies at every level: We’re here to help. What do you need?”
Now for the story which concerns two North Carolina MARS members who did just that.
A statewide COMEX was coming up last month that would be involving ARES but hadn’t invited MARS participation. The state EEO, Russ Oder AAM4ENC, discussed the situation over lunch with Interoperability Officer Bob Felt AAM4INC, some days before the exercise. They happened to know about it through their ARES connections.
As emergency operations officer, Russ had his own Winlink-in-a-suitcase station. The two of them decided to approach the county emergency manager at Asheville, one of North Carolina’s major cities and epicenter of the coming exercise, as well as the section ARES coordinator. The exercise scenario called for a total comms blackout at one point. The MARS team demonstrated how it could fill the gap at that crucial point. The EM director bought the plan on the spot.
Here’s the story as told by Bob Felt, a retired Naval Captain living nearby
QUOTE “This was a statewide exercise sponsored by DHS and the North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) Division, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday 23-24 June. The scenario was a shallow earthquake, 4.2 magnitude, centered 13 miles SE of Asheville, NC. The game plan involved major structural damage to roads and bridges, loss of Interstate access to Asheville, loss of all utilities, dam breaks, sewerage eruptions, mass evacuation of hospitals, loss of the statewide VIPER network (Voice Interoperability trunk network), and loss of Internet. Total lights out for cell phones, POTS etc. We had simulated total chaos and complete isolation of Buncombe and surrounding counties with the rest of the world.”
I’m still quoting Bob Felt:
“The emergency management director provided us space down the hall from his command center where we co-located with the ARES group, and the rest was history. Russ and his HF WINLINK station handled approximately 80 total emails (in and out) during the two-day exercise. Power and food were provided by the EOC. There was no exercise activity in the evening and we were not required to remain over night. The HF Winlink system worked flawlessly. There were no non-receipts. Most of our connects were with GA and TN stations. Staff provided outgoing email in many forms: oral dictation, typed paper copy and on thumb drives from the Incident Command Center.
“This was a win-win for all.”UNQUOTE
Bob sent some excellent photographs of the operation to Bill Sexton AAA9PC. I’m going to include one when these notes are emailed. It too is a great example of responding to the occasion.
Thanks, Bob, for an excellent reporting job and thank you, Russ, for superb performance as state EOO. It certainly was a win-win for Army MARS. The two of you didn’t wait for somebody else to activate your services, and when the opportunity came along you were ready to move, and you did move.
There were some useful lessons learned, including the value of two-man teams with one keyboarding and the other running messages back and forth.
Russ Oder, by the way, is a transplanted Floridian who before moving to the North Carolina mountains was a civil servant for the state. Bob served as an Oceanographer in the U.S. Navy but joined Army MARS while he was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea in 1994. Both live near Asheville where their MARS responsibilities as EEO and Interoperability Officer are least likely to be hindered by the hurricanes that regularly lash the coast some 200 miles to the East.
I’m grateful to Region Four Director Jim Hamilton AAA4RD for the heads-up on this outstanding work. Please, leaders and members, be sure to keep headquarters informed of such individual personal accomplishments along with the formal data on your units operations required in AARs.
The Road Ahead in Action (2): New England
The six states in Region 1 took an interesting approach to the training scheduled for MARS 101 this spring. The subject that week was Unit 11 on Deployment, So they had a deployment.
Southern New England SMD Matt Hackman AAA1SN conducted the training from an actual deployment site at Ft Devens MA. Region training nets were able monitor actual field operations at Ft Devens and a remote deployment team some 80 miles south at Camp Rell CT. This allowed the bulk of the region’s members to participate in a realistic emergency scenario without leaving home.
Seven Army MARS operators plus one from Air Force MARS activated HF, VHF and Winlink stations late Friday at the MA site. Two SNE Army MARS members set up both a 20W (SGC SG-2020) and 100W (Icom 735) at Camp Rell to operate HF voice. Both locations worked from battery power (with overnight recharging). Both locations proved challenging in terms of the terrain available and high noise levels on site. The exercise continued through Sunday morning.
Preliminary review of the After Action Reports took place on the air during MARS 101 training. SD Hackman noted, “A lot of lessons were learned about preparedness and bringing spares.” He found Unit 11 covered more than enough information to structure a basic deployment. Among the lessons learned:
--Erecting a resonant dipole cut specifically for the primary frequency (for voice), along with a broadband antenna (such as a folded dipole) for Winlink, is critical to effective net operation.
-- Provision must be made to overcome the poor grounding inherent in the typical site assigned by higher authority. A “surface wire grounding kit” or “artificial ground” may be required.
--Man-made noise can cause severe problems if relocation is not possible, and that’s often the case where somebody else dictates your site. Hardware solutions have to be considered.
Thank you, Matt. We’re all better off being reminded of how to make the most of less than optimum conditions, which is what actual incidents have a habit of throwing at emergency responders.
Preliminary Report on MARS 101 First Round
The results of Round One of the MARS 101 training cycle haven’t been fully tallied yet, but two entries on the yard-long preliminary spreadsheet really jumped out at me. I’ll take this opportunity to express my admiration for AEM3AO who completed the course in Afghanistan, and AEM3AQ, who completed it in Baghdad, Iraq. Both scored in the 90’s on the final exam. Given the circumstances, that’s a great accomplishment for them and a proud event for MARS.
Seven more members completed Round One in Germany. I’ll salute one of them in particular, Mr. Daniel Wolff, AEM3WF, the Region 11 Director, for this latest accomplishment of many in his years of exemplary service representing Army MARS in the Europe-Middle East-Africa area.
We don’t have final totals but though I mentioned 759 last net, the staff estimates that it will exceed 800 completing Round One. Super!!
Hands-On Support for Our Agency Partners
As I said at the beginning of the net, these have been hectic days. The last two or three of them were a case of self-inflicted “hectic.” We had a problem that only headquarters could work out. That was the need to pull together, energize and implement a better way of coordinating agency support—not just WinLink support but all the ways in which MARS can and does accomplish the CIVIL side of our mission.
After years of talking about support but not having many real live customers to support, Army MARS is very much involved today with furnishing actual resources and actual personnel and specialized training to actual Agencies. This is not an exercise, it’s for real. But I never really recognized or understood the magnitude of this task, as I’m sure that only a select few of you understand the true magnitude of this HUGE undertaking. I failed to gear up for it. In particular, I overlooked the fact that Agency support doesn’t happen only during emergencies, it’s an every-day task—Agencies need routine and continual Care and Feeding—some more than others. And, it doesn’t just happen at the top of the chain of command; it’s a task for all Agency and Army MARS leadership.
With all the best intentions, headquarters sent out a plan for rationalizing the way we approach the every-day side of civil support. It was a timely plan and it was needed. However, we didn’t fully staff the content of the message. Reaction from the field correctly pointed out that CAMO 22-2009 didn’t address some the problems that the states and regions face in their relationships with supported agencies.
The choices I had were to go with a partial program that solved some headquarters issues and fix the field leadership’s problems later, or simply to pull back CAMO 22-2009, and get it right from the start. My decision was to pull back the CAMO 22-2009. Jim Griffin, Grant Hays and I are developing a total rewrite to develop and define the MARS Agency Support Team’s mission, charter, methodologies, relationship with RDs and DSs, deliverables, experience/expertise requirements, training requirements, and reporting requirements. The new program will be called CAST (CAM’s Agency Support Team). Though CAST members will take direction from Grant Hays, AAA9O, Jim Griffin, AAA9B, will also be involved with CAST operations. Both will report to me on Agency activations and progress. This will and must be a carefully orchestrated operation. CAST members will not be exempt from normal MARS 101 training or NIMS training requirements. In fact, they should be the best qualified and experienced ambassadors of Army MARS. More on this CAST program by next Chief’s Net. I want to chew on it a little while longer. Rest assured, RD’s SD’s and Special Staff members will work together to provide the very “Smartest and Best” support to our Agency partners, while maintaining integrity of RD, SD, Special Staff and HQ leadership and relationships. Agencies and their operating environments and needs are varied and complicated. Some need loads of input from us, many do not.
I apologize for the confusion, but please appreciate that this kind of experience is gained as we grow Army MARS into a frontline element of homeland security, and that’s a very positive thing.
Changes at 9th Signal Command (Army)
Tradition means a lot, even in a modern technology-oriented Army. That was the reason for what you might call the “hyphenated name” of the headquarters to which Army MARS reports. “Network Enterprise Technology Command” pretty much tells what the organization does. The “9th Signal Command” part preserves its history. Organizationally speaking, it’s our history too, since Army MARS is part of NETCOM. It’s a history to be proud of. I’d like to share a bit of it with the net before closing.
In 1918—during World War I—the 9th Service Company was formed in Honolulu to provide telephone and telegraph service for the troops stationed in Hawaii. The Army didn’t begin experimenting with HF radio until 1925--that’s the year MARS was born—and the 9th Signal Company inaugurated service between the Mainland and Hawaii in 1929.
On December 7th, 1941 the 9th was at Ground Zero, coming under air attack on Ft Shafter, Hawaii. Throughout World War II it provided Comms to U.S. - held islands in the Pacific and also provided operators for the troop transports out of San Francisco. It quickly grew to battalion strength and won the first of two Meritorious Unit Commendations before being inactivated after the war. The next activation occurred in 1968, and the unit, then bearing the name 972nd Signal Battalion, served two deployments in Vietnam and won another Unit Commendation.
In 1997, as the unit history tells it, “from the ashes of inactivation, the phoenix rose again” as headquarters of the 9th Army Signal Command. 9th ASC became the single operator and manager for the Army’s information structure. Finally, as part of the Army’s department-wide transformation, the newly redesignated NETCOM/9th ASC became a direct reporting unit (DRU) assigned to the Army’s Chief Information Officer (CIO/G6) on Oct. 1, 2002.
The original 9th Service Company consisted of one captain, 5 corporals and 15 PFCs. Today the 9th Signal Command (Army) numbers nearly 17,000 service members, civilians and contractors, and embraces four theater commands overseas plus a 5th command now taking shape within CONUS.
With that impressive background, it’s not surprising that the Commanding General, MG Susan Lawrence, has determined to shorten our organization’s name to the one with all the history. Army MARS now belongs simply to the 9th Signal Command (Army).
I guess this is an appropriate place to mention one other, if much lesser, change at Ft Huachuca. My previous boss has been transferred and I have taken his place as Chief, Current Operations as part of what is now the 9th SC(A) G-3 staff. You can be sure my new/increased responsibilities won’t affect my involvement in and dedication to Army MARS—you still get me from midnight until 0600. ☺
CONCLUSION
Let me thank the HQ Army MARS Staff (Jim Griffin, Grant Hays, Smitty, Barry and Carmen) for their dedication and best effort to guide me when needed and supporting me always. Theirs’ is a hard job – tracking me down, getting my undivided attention and making me understand their thoughts. I also want to thank my Tiger Team and Larry Nicholson for what I consider a superb job with the MARS 101 training program. Special thanks to Bill Sexton for helping me keep track of what needs discussing during these Chief Nets, and to my RDs and SDs who support Army MARS with dedication and distinction.
We will not have a Chief’s net two weeks from tonight, as I’ll be on a long awaited vacation from 16-30 July – wow, two weeks in IOWA!! Next CAM net will be on Friday, 7 August 2009.
Until then, God Bless and CAM Out.