Pentagon Radio Volunteers Move to New Office (M.A.R.S. moves in)

American Forces Press Service ^ | Jim Garamone

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2009 – A military institution designed to provide emergency communications has moved to new quarters in the Pentagon.

Gary Sessums, left, Navy Capt. Rick Low and John Grimes discuss communications capabilities at the new Military Affiliate Radio System office in the Pentagon, Oct. 21, 2009. DoD photo by Sally Sobsey  
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

John G. Grimes, the former assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration, cut the ribbon on the new Military Affiliate Radio System office on the fifth floor of the Pentagon today.

The facility is packed with shortwave radios, radio-telephone patches, computers and data links. It is manned by the Pentagon Amateur Radio Club. "This is a great facility, manned totally by volunteers," Grimes said. "It's a crucial capability for our country."

The system - known by the acronym MARS - began in the early 1950s. It was a worldwide network of shortwave radio enthusiasts who would spring into action in the event of a nuclear war or natural disaster. Thousands of civilian and military ham radio volunteers manned the system.

"In the years before the Internet, deployed servicemembers kept in touch with families and friends using MARS," said Gary Sessums, a contractor in the Pentagon and one of the stalwarts of the radio club.

From the Korean War to the Gulf War, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines used "Marsgrams" to keep in touch. Ham radio operators called these "health and welfare" messages.

The shortwave broadcasts have been superseded by the Internet, and servicemembers in many parts of the U.S. Central Command area can use cell phones and voice over Internet protocol to speak with those back home. Still, in the event of an emergency, high-frequency communication is generally the first to recover, and even the most modern technology can get overloaded.

Allan Hubbert, a volunteer in the Pentagon, noted communication problems during President Barack Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration as an example. "During the inauguration, there were so many people on cell phones that it overloaded the system," he said. "We could still operate, and helped back up the system down on the [National] Mall."

More than 60 volunteers help to man the Pentagon node of the system. They will turn out in force to help with communications for the Marine Corps Marathon, which will be held in the area this weekend. "In that case, we can help act as a bridge between the military and various local and regional agencies," said Navy Capt. Rich Low.

With more than 6,000 volunteers worldwide, the system now also backs up the Department of Homeland Security. "There have been many crises or disasters that have struck where the first word out of an area is via [shortwave radio], and someone has their little gas generator going," Grimes said. "That's not likely to change any time soon."

	A volunteer mans his radio at the new Military Affiliate Radio System in the Pentagon, Oct. 21, 2009. DoD photo by Sally Sobsey   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution
	John Grimes, former chief information officer for the Defense Department, cuts the ribbon ceremonially opening the new Military Affiliate Radio System office in the Pentagon, Oct. 21, 2009. DoD photo by Sally Sobsey   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution

[SandRat]

Back to the Future.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Dad was a MARS guy back in the 60’s. We had terrible flooding in the spring of ‘65....

My Dad was part of a local network of MARS volunteers that put in long days and nights relaying emergency information to and from local LE agencies.....

Somewhere in my Mom’s basement is an old news clipping about his heroism. Now I gotta go look for it.....

[Texas Fossil]

I was NNN0INH for just shy of 20 years.

Packet radio changed MARS, then came along the Web.

In an all out no commo situation it is still necessary.

My Collins Twins are still sweet.

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[mylife]

HAM DX SWL ping

[mylife]

You know there are a load of R390’s there!

[mylife]

“There have been many crises or disasters that have struck where the first word out of an area is via [shortwave radio], and someone has their little gas generator going,” Grimes said. “That’s not likely to change any time soon.”

During hurricane Ike, I was listening to operators on Galveston during the storm.

Phones, internet and all that, was kaput.

[mylife]

Arne Corro is manning the MARS shack? LoL!

[AlexW]

I was active in Army MARS during the 60s and 70s.
My favorite time was being able to raid the Ft. McPherson
electronics warehouse during a convention.
My Chevy Suburban was filled to the gills with lots of goodies.
I also did lots of msg traffic during Viet war.
I also had an old model 19 RTTY, thanks to MARS.

[SandRat]

Boy Scouts Still learn about this; Jamboree on the Air (JOTA)

[Professional Engineer]

Fidel??

[mylife]

Thats great! and it still does capture some kids imaginations right off the bat.

I hear young operators from time to time out there.

Do the scouts ever link to the Space station? I know that they communicate with kids at schools via shortwave.

[mylife]

Sure looks like it doesn’t it LoL

[SandRat]

I suspect some do. Though I personally don't know of any that have.

[mylife]

I think the idea is just awesome.

[SandRat]

Scouts also have JOTI - Jamboree On The Internet

Most recent one was on 17-18 October 2009

JOTI is an annual event when Scouts and Guides all over the world make contact with each other by means of the Internet. It is a real Jamboree during which Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared, thus contributing to the world brotherhood of Scouting. JOTI is a world-wide event mainly for Scouting groups in all youth programme sections, although members may participate individually.

[KobiMaru]

I was flying a mission over Afghanistan in ‘03 and a MARS volunteer got me a phone patch back home to my wife. I got to say goodnight to her as we flew back to base—neither of us will ever forget it.

[mylife]

Somehow SW seems cooler to me.

The original wireless

[Professional Engineer]

[Professional Engineer]

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

A great bunch of people....

[SandRat]

True, but that also why we still expose the Scouts to CW and Semaphore (not required for advancement anymore but we still try to teach a little bit of it).

[Clinging Bitterly]

I'm happy to see AF at least is still making new investments in MARS. Navy MARS is being or has been disbanded, I understand.

Of course MIL does have a lot of SAT based capability these days but I don't believe it's universally available, especially where the need exists to communicate with civilian entities.

I'd love to have a nice R390. Not collecting anything like that right now though, I'm concentrating on building up mobile & portable gear and saving for a new HF rig. Having lots of fun after getting back into it this year. There have even been some REAL F-layer 10M openings during the last week or so - one opening lasted a full 24 hours (and I just recently pulled my little HR2600 out of storage and put back in operating shape so the timing could not have been better).

[mylife]

Isnt that great! People do it all the time

Field Day Iraq

Podcast here "Field day Iraq 2009

[mylife]

That is Hilarious!

[Clinging Bitterly]

Dang, a PK-232. I still have one of those. They are a nice RTTY/Packet box but a modern PC soundcard is all you need for most slow speed digital modes these days.

[Bobalu]

I also still have one of those old HR2600 rigs.

[ASOC]

LOL

My....goodness, thanks for posting. Clearly in a Pre-PC America. And Radio Havana is still on today, but with better rock and roll!

BTW - I have one of those in my collect of old radios.

S-40, S40A and S-40B some of the best radios they put out.

[mylife]

All I got in the Navy was 40 word “familygrams”

All I know about this stuff is when the SHTF, These technology’s will still be available

[mylife]

Its funny how the technology has melded

[Clinging Bitterly]

Yup, that's it. A plain looking rig but dang, they work.

Mine had been installed in my pickup and it was really grungy when I put it away. I hooked it up last month and it had no TX audio out and checking the dynamic mic cartridge it was open. Went to a thrift store and bought a Crap Shack tape recorder mic for 3 bucks. The cart from that fit perfect, and after seeing full power out and getting good on air reports I cleaned it up and it's looking and working like new.

It's all original, no mods yet but I am going to put some standard jacks in the rear for ext. speaker and data - and perhaps change that godawful orange backlight to a different color.

[VoiceOfBruck]

Tnx for the ping - I’m actually a member of that club & helped them move into the new station.

[Clinging Bitterly]

...when the SHTF

The reason I'm working on portable stuff these days.

[Bobalu]

I recommend doing the mod for 26-30mhz coverage.
It’s an easy mod, you can find info on the web and it could be useful if the balloon goes up. Will allow you to talk to cb’ers and bootleg hf’ers....

[_Jim]

26-30mhz coverage. Will allow you to talk to cb’ers and bootleg hf’ers.

Ahem ... that will get you 'busted' in these parts ...

[_Jim]

Today, you can hear Cuber jamming Radio Marti 24/7 ...

[Bobalu]

Just stick to 10mtrs.

If the $hit hits the fan then the expanded coverage would be useful to have....at least get the mod details and be ready to mod if needed. :-)

[Erasmus]

We had a little event at a camp outside of town and I helped the 3M radio club as an operator.

10 meters was open to Europe that day in the early 90’s, even from our little tent with a doublet set up.

I raised a station near Berlin and had a Cub Scout talk to him for a few moments. The first thing the Scout asked was, “do you have a piece of the Berlin Wall?”

“I sure do,” came the answer.

[Clinging Bitterly]

The chipswitch will take it down to 12M. But it's a lot of work (a whole new custom CPU) to access one tiny extra band. Oh yeah there's that other one in between but ya can't swing a dead cat and not kick loose a "real" CB rig that's not being used.

The other HF freebanders could be just about anywhere in the bands, I think a lot of them used to hang around 3 MHZ somewhere but really it depends on the particular crowd and country you want. I do keep in mind circumstances where rigid allocations might not be particularly important and some of my other stuff goes full GEN nice and easy, and in the range 150 KHz to 450 MHz there aren't a lot of places I can't go, and having the capability is not against the rules.

[Clinging Bitterly]

Hey have you gotten your ticket yet?

[Bobalu]

Exactly the right attitude...having the capability ain’t against the rules.

[Cindy]

THREAT BUMP.

[Cindy]

Uh, make that THREAD BUMP.

[Clinging Bitterly]

That sonofabitch. I never saw that ad before, great!

When I was a kid I had a 5R10A - which is a lot like the S-38D but without the BFO. Looking back I don't know why they made one like that, the only diff I can tell is a switch and a couple wires. Thin margins I suppose - it was definitely their entry level receiver. I had a home made external BFO for it, built by a neighbor who was a Ham.

That was a five tube AC/DC design. No matter what it seemed like something on the outside was hot - I usually let the antenna be the hot part, but you know old house wiring wasn't always polarized right and I always had to check. I didn't need no steenkin ground. Hooked up to a couple hundred feet of old speaker magnet wire strung up the back hill and I was tuned in to the world. Of course the Radio Moscow station at Vladivostok was always the strongest thing on the air but I also listened to the 40M Ham band quite a lot.

[mylife]

Nope. I just never seem to have the time to get over there.

I swear I will get it done before the year is through.

[mylife]

Very cool

[mylife]

The reason I'm working on portable stuff these days.

I plan to start off with portable

[Clinging Bitterly]

You have to just do it. And be sure and take the General exam after you pass the Technician, because you just never know. IMO it isn’t that difficult (I don’t think it has changed a lot since ‘82).

[Clinging Bitterly]

And the features included in even the entry level stuff are amazing compared to days gone by. Nice, because I don't think a person ought to have a lot of money tied up in something they want to be lugging around in all kinds of environments.

I'm still trying to decide exactly what I want in a new rig. For the money Yaesu seems to have the best prices but they are somewhat more menu driven than the Icoms. I have been looking hard at the FT-897D because I like the internal battery capability. But recently the FT-450 has caught my eye. It only goes up to 6M and does not take internal batteries, it's cheaper than the 897D and it is built more rugged in a cast aluminum chassis. Not having 2M/440 won't be a loss to me, I have rigs for those bands coming out my ears. They are FM only but really, for practical local comms a FM HT and a good antenna is all you need.

[mylife]

I really really want the Icom 7000 but the FT-897D may actually be more useful for less money.