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Proud, Professional, and
Ready!
Paul Drothler/AAV4DJ (outgoing SMD, AAA4TN)
Following the attack on our
Country September 11, 2006 most emergency service organizations have been
busy developing ways to be more effective. Army MARS has been no different
and has spent considerable time redefining our mission, implementing new
services and preparing to better meet the needs of our country. Many
significant things are likely to be announced in the near future.
By now everyone has heard about the importance of completing the IS 100, 700
and 800 courses. It is encouraging that so many of our members have already
completed those courses (as well as others). These courses are of
significant value and will prepare each of us to better serve our customers.
Common language and unified command are just a couple of the concepts
covered. If you have not already started these self-study courses then
please do so. The information is available on the
www.tnmars.org web site as well as the
www.fema.gov web site.
Another emergency exercise
was conducted on 11 MAY 2006. There was noticeable improvement in many
categories and, once again, we thank everyone for their participation. It
has become very apparent that the members put a lot of thought into the
preparation of the individual After Action Reports. Our training program
will be adjusted to reflect any identified deficiencies.
Our most recent “Tune-Up
2006” exercise, which was conducted over a five day period, represented an
excellent means to increase our interoperability with other states, service
branches and organizations. Our digital modes have proven their value. The
Winlink 2000 system performed flawlessly. We are thankful to the many
members who actively participated in this exercise. After Action reports are
just starting to arrive and will be consolidated in to a State level report
which will be shared with the membership.
We have had a few members
forget to renew their MARS license in a timely manner. This is just a
reminder that your MARS license expires on the same date as your FCC
license. Please take a look at your expiration date and mark your calendars
accordingly. A renewal application is required along with a copy of your new
Amateur License.
We have many changes going on
in Army MARS and they are all directed toward increasing our level of
preparedness. If you are not regularly checking into the nets you are
missing some excellent training. All members should participate in as many
of the nets as possible. It is the very best way to keep up with the
changing times.
When this article goes to press we will have a new SMD for TN. I am very
confident that Ed, AAT4GM, along with his dedicated staff will continue to
lead our organization in the proper direction. I am very proud to be a part
of the TN MARS team as we continue to move forward… Proud, Professional and
Ready!
AAT4GM/Ed Daszkiewicz (left) receives
the SMD hat and the AAA4TN
billet call sign from outgoing SMD,
AAV4DJ/Paul Drothler (right).
Transition
Ed Daszkiewicz / AAA4TN (current SMD)
Greetings everyone. As we all
should be aware of at this time, the position of SMD has changed hands once
again. Paul, AAV4DJ, has held the position as State MARS Director for just
under 2 years now. I would like to be the first to say that he has done an
amazing job.
Starting in Augest of 2004,
Paul managed to give the TN MARS program the leadership it so badly needed
at the time. He has given us all a direction in which to go and a set of
goals to strive for.
As the new (old) SMD, I am
going to have to fill some serious shoes just to keep up with what Paul
started two years ago. I have a plan to keep the program going, and I hope
that all members will contribute to what only we as a team can achieve: to
make TN MARS the absolute best Army MARS program going. With each one of us
stepping up and doing all he or she can, this goal is not only possible but
is almost assured.
I would just like to end by
thanking Paul one more time for everything he as done. By his example, we
now have a good idea of what we can do and how solid teamwork will make it
happen.
Thanks, Paul, for everything.
Emergency Operations Update
Howard Bradley
AAM4ETN
In last month’s newsletter, I discussed the exercise on the 19th of April
and mentioned two different approaches to exercises. The April exercise was
not tightly scripted in order to resemble an actual emergency and little
information was released prior to the exercise. The one we have just
completed had a much more detailed scenario, a fair amount of information
was sent to the members beforehand, and the exercise ran for five days,
covering all of our nets. Two different approaches and different goals: this
one was designed as a “tune-up” exercise prior to Grecian Firebolt-06 and
served the purpose very well. Thanks and congratulations are due all our
participating members, including the out-of-state members (including two AF
MARS members) who helped make the exercise a success. The details of the
exercise we just concluded will be going out to all Tennessee members via
the state After Action Report from AAA4TN so there’s no need to repeat that
here--except for one little item at the end of this column.
Grecian Firebolt-06
begins on June 10 with MARS participating from June 11-23. We have not
gotten much information from Fort Huachuca so far, but there is a 13-page
Operations Order covering MARS participation on the “unofficial”
www.armymars.net
http://www.armymars.net/ available by
clicking on the obvious link. I’ll be ploughing thru that Oplan and getting
the essential information out to our members prior to the MARS starting
date. Tennessee Army MARS has had good participation in the previous Grecian
Firebolt exercises and I hope we can make an even better showing this year.
The overall concept of
Grecian Firebolt is a nationwide emergency exercise which involves the
military, FEMA, and a host of other agencies including state and local
disaster relief agencies, the Red Cross, SHARES, etc. The exercise is, to
put it mildly, huge—but so were the hurricanes and they weren’t an exercise.
We are fortunate to be able to support an exercise of this size and
complexity—it can be a terrific learning experience for our members who
participate.
Participate. That word
again. I’ve saved the best (or worst) for last. Our recently concluded
exercise was scheduled for five days covering all three of our nets each
day. This was done very deliberately so that almost all of our members would
be able to participate at least one time. Some of our members were away,
some had equipment disasters recently and there were a few other valid
excuses. The results?
We
currently have 53 members on the roster. There were less than half of those
that participated in the exercise. Of the ones that did participate, only
about 8 sent any traffic. The members that did participate, especially those
that prepared, sent and relayed messages should be proud of the job they
did. I know the Staff is certainly proud of them. The ones with valid
excuses? We’ll look forward to being on the next exercise with you. That
leaves the people with no excuse, some of whom have done nothing for years.
Why are they in MARS? This isn’t about being on every net, it isn’t about
having digital equipment, and it isn’t about being an experienced Net
Control Station. It is simply about doing your duty—what you agreed to do
when you became a MARS member. What kinds of citizens turn their backs on
their duties? Think about it. The world has changed.
State Training Officer
Chris AAV4WR / AAM4TTN
I have been putting much
thought into why training on our nets is difficult to accomplish. The
following is what I have thought of so far:
-
Propagation – Bad
propagation where a station cannot hear well.
-
Topics – Finding a topic
of interest and having expertise in the topic.
-
Preparation time.
-
Resource materials
availability.
-
Same members checking in
or “preaching to the choir”.
-
Training method – finding
one that works for you and the group.
-
Lack of participation
from members on the net.
These are just my thoughts. What are your barriers? Send a
message via Mars or email me at
aam4ttn*tnmars.com
(To email Chris, copy the
preceding email address into your email client and substitute an "@" for the
"*" in the address.)
For the next few
newsletter articles, I will present many different training methods.
The first is the Lecture
Method/Reading – Lectures are probably most useful for giving a general
introduction to a topic area, which is then followed by more active
individual work. This is the most used method to date on our MARS nets. We
fall back on this because it is the easiest and most familiar technique. We
all are far too used to the “lecture” method. Many of us are either bored
with this method or do not learn well when this method is used. For those
NCSs that can break out of this mold, I encourage you to do so.
Army Mars members are
training themselves to be effective communicators and to this end the “Send
as Traffic” training method would be a great alternative method to use to
try to avoid the lecture and to develop listening to and understanding
methods of traffic handling while receiving training topic information:
Send as
Traffic Method
One of the most lacking items on our nets is the practice
of formatting, sending and receiving of messages. I feel that one of the
underutilized methods of Mars training is in putting the basic training
topic info in a routine formatted message and send it as traffic to the net.
In the NCS training Manual are numerous examples of these messages.
There are two ways we can
do this. One is to pick one person on the net to receive the traffic. Second
is to send the traffic to the whole net. When sending traffic to the whole
net, make sure that they Rodger in the beginning to announce that they are
ready to copy (in net roster order and I don’t exempt out of state
check-ins; they joined us for a reason and we should let them participate).
Then make sure each station Rogers for the reception of the message, again
in net roster order.
In the next few weeks,
All NCS and ANCS will be receiving a packet of “Training Messages” to be
used on their nets. I encourage each one of you to send at least one per
net. I also encourage the membership to do their best to copy each message,
and use the information presented to promote discussion and further
information on the topic from the group.
I would like to thank all
of you for your assistance and participation.
Another Terrorist Attack
Coming Soon?
CBS News:
U.S. Officials Believe Recent Incidents Point To An Imminent Threat.
"These
individuals are often hiding in plain sight in cities like Torrance and now
Toledo."
--John Pistole, FBI deputy director
U.S. officials believe
Canadian arrests over the weekend and three recent domestic incidents in the
United States are evidence the U.S. will soon be hit again by a terrorist
attack. Privately, they say, they'd be surprised if it didn't come by the
end of the year, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart in a CBS News
exclusive.
The first of the domestic
incidents, all of which drew little attention at the time, began with the
holdup of a string of Torrance, Calif. gas stations last summer. Muslim
converts who bonded together in prison planned to use the robberies to
finance attacks on 20 Army recruiting stations.
Los Angeles Police Chief
William Bratton admits they stumbled on the plot during a search. "Make no
mistake about it," Bratton said. "We dodged a bullet here...perhaps many
bullets."
Police in Toledo, Ohio,
busted another cell in February. This one consisted of three men training to
attack U.S. forces overseas. Once again, luck played a role. When they tried
to enlist someone in their mosque to help, he turned them in.
"These individuals are
often hiding in plain sight in cities like Torrance and now Toledo," says
John Pistole, an FBI deputy director.
Two months ago, a pair of
Atlanta men, one a Georgia Tech engineering student, were arrested not long
after communicating by e-mail with two of the suspects arrested in Canada
over the weekend. The Atlanta men are charged with videotaping domestic
targets, including the U.S. Capitol and the World Bank.
Analysts now conclude
similarities between all the cases were dramatic: All were self-financed,
self-motivated, and in each case the men were seeking out others to join
their cell.
In short, Osama bin Laden
didn't pay for these plots, recruit for them or even know of them. They were
all totally homegrown--even amateurish. But if four, including the one in
Canada, have been uncovered in just 11 months, officials fear there are
inevitably other plots that have not been and are maturing even now.
The next attack here,
officials predict, will bear no resemblance to Sept. 11. The casualty toll
will not be that high, the target probably not that big. We may not even
recognize it for what it is at first, they say. But it's coming--of that
they seem certain.
(CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights
Reserved.)
Two Years of 100%
Reporting
Mike Bishop/AAM4ATN
I would like to congratulate everyone for the 2 years of
100% in reporting. I know we can continue in this manner so keep up the good
work!
Emily/AUX4EB, my wife
Gerri, and I attended the Dayton Hamvention. It is something we plan each
year and really enjoy. Emily and I attended the MARS meeting and met Chief
Kathy Harrison/AAA9A and Grant Hayes/AAA9E, and we feel they are taking ARMY
MARS into the future.
One way ARMY MARS is doing this is by updating the digital
message service by using WINLINK 2000. TN ARMY MARS now has 2 RMS stations.
The primary station is AV4ATN, and the secondary is AV4BTN. AV4ATN is in
Cleveland and is running in the shack with equipment provided by AUX4EB. The
station equipment consists of an SCS PTC-IIpro PACTOR III modem and a
Kenwood 570D radio. AV4ATN scans 10 frequencies and accepts connections from
PACTOR I, II and III, and as soon as the 2m digipeater is operational, it
will also accept connections via VHF. The BBS will continue to be
operational. AT4TTN is the primary station and AAT4KV is secondary station.
I wish to thank Steve Waterman/AAR4WU/T for all his hard
work in the MARS program. Steve has spent countless hours setting up AV4ATN
as well as all the MARS PMBOs and is always just a phone call away when help
is needed. Steve is a GREAT asset and we are fortunate and proud to have him
as a member of TN ARMY MARS.
As the State Admin
Officer, I receive PARTICIPATION REPORTS as traffic on a net, as email, and
in the digital modes. One thing I have noticed is the different ways these
reports are passed as traffic on a voice net. The following is an example of
the correct way to pass your report via voice over a net.
THIS IS ALPHA ALPHA
VICTOR FOUR SIERRA ZULU
MESSAGE FOLLOWS NUMBER
TWO FOUR ROUTINE
TIME ZERO TWO ONE TWO
THREE FOUR ZULU JUNE TWO ZERO ZERO SIX
FROM BISHOP SLANT ALPHA
ALPHA VICTOR FOUR SIERRA ZULU
TO BISHOP SLANT ALPHA
ALPHA MIKE FOUR ALPHA TANGO NOVEMBER
BREAK
SUBJECT COLON
PARTICIPATION REPORT FOR I SPELL FOXTROT OSCAR ROMEO FOR MAY TWO ZERO ZERO
SIX
I SPELL ALPHA HYPHEN
FIGURE ONE FIGURES FIVE EIGHT
I SPELL ALPHA HYPHEN
FIGURE TWO FIGURES FOUR FOUR
I SPELL BRAVO HYPHEN
FIGURE ONE FIGURES ONE SEVEN
I SPELL BRAVO HYPHEN
FIGURE TWO FIGURES THREE NINE
BREAK
OVER
(You notice at the end of
the FROM and TO line you do not have to give the state; ie.. SLANT TANGO
NOVEMBER when sending a PARTICIPATION REPORT.)
Thank you for your
continued support.
TN Army MARS Staff
To use an email address
below, copy and paste it to your email client, and then replace the asterisk
with an "@".
AAA4TN/Ed
Daszkiewicz Jr.• State Director
aat4gm*tnmars.com •
931-788-1705
AAM4ATN/Mike
Bishop • Administrative Officer
aam4atn.bishop*us.army.mil
• 423-559-8361
AAM4ETN/Howard
Bradley • Emergency Operations Officer
howardbradley*att.net •
931-592-2712
AAM4ITN/Carmen
Thompson • Interoperability Officer
aam4itn*bellsouth.net •
931-358-4623
AAM4TTN/Chris
Bindrim • Training Officer
ke7gz*comcast.net •
423-744-7898
AAV4ZX/Bill
Baker • TN Army MARS eNEWS Editor/Publisher
cpt_baker*comcast.net •
865-670-1716 |
