DE AGA3C NR 10
R 221818Z MAY 2007
FROM AGA3C
TO ALL AF MARS MEMBERS AND STATIONS
INFO CHIEF ARMY MARS
INFO CHIEF NAVY-MARINE CORP MARS
BT
SUBJECT AF MARS CAST 07-10
THIS IS A JOINT ARMY, AIR FORCE AND NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS BROADCAST.
DURING DISCUSSIONS AT THE DAYTON HAMVENTION, ALL THREE MARS CHIEFS AGREED
TO THE FOLLOWING:
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOP): OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR ALL THREE
SERVICES ARE BASED ON THE ALLIED COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURES. UNFORTUNATELY,
WE ALL INTERPRET THEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS. WE WILL HAVE
TRAINING REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL THREE SERVICES WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP
A SINGLE PROCEDURE TO BE USED ON ALL MARS NETS. WHEN THE SOP HAS BEEN
WRITTEN AND MODIFIED BY ON THE AIR TESTING, IT WILL BE PROMULGATED FOR
USE BY ALL SERVICES AS THE STANDARD.
WINLINK 2000 OPERATIONS: DISCUSSIONS WITH THE WINLINK 2000 DEVELOPERS
HAVE RESULTED IN TWO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. FIRST, THE MARS PORTION WILL
BE SEPARATED FROM THE AMATEUR SIDE TO ENSURE NO CROSSOVER OF MESSAGES
AND SECOND, THE ARCHITECTURE IS BEING CHANGED SO AS TO ENSURE THERE IS
ALWAYS AN HF LINK TO AND FROM EACH MAILBOX. THESE CHANGES WILL ALLOW NAVMARCORMARS
TO UTILIZE WINLINK 2000. THE NEW ARCHITECTURE IS EXPECTED IN THE FALL.
WINLINK 2000 CODE: ARMY MARS HAS EXECUTED AN AGREEMENT WITH THE DEVELOPERS
TO MAINTAIN A DEPOSITORY OF THE SOURCE CODE FOR WINLINK 2000. THE CURRENT
DEVELOPERS RECOGNIZE THAT THEY WILL REACH A POINT WHEN THEY WILL NOT BE
ABLE TO CONTINUE AND WANT TO HAVE THE CODE AVAILABLE SO IT MAY BE KEPT
UP TO DATE IN THE FUTURE.
FREQUENCIES: WE AGREED THAT ALL FREQUENCIES CAN BE USED BY ALL THREE
SERVICES AS NEEDED. ALSO, NET CONTROL STATIONS CAN BE FROM ANY SERVICE.
SCHEDULING OF NETS ON FREQUENCIES WOULD STILL BE DONE BY THE
SERVICE THAT MAINTAINS THE GOVERNMENT RECORD FOR THE FREQUENCY. THIS APPLIES
TO HF, VHF AND UHF.
VHF FREQUENCIES: WE HAVE REPEATEDLY ENDORSED FULL INTEROPERABILITY
ON VHF. WITH OUR RANGE OF VHF FREQUENCIES BEING REDUCED TO THE 25 ALLOCATED
BY THE MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS BOARD, IT WILL BE VITAL
THAT WE FULLY SHARE THESE FREQUENCIES AS 'MARS' NOT AS INDIVIDUAL MARS
SERVICES.
DISASTER RESPONSE: IN THE PAST WE HAVE ACTIVATED SERVICE MARS NETS
THAT OPERATED IN PARALLEL WITH LITTLE OR NO INTERACTION. WE WILL PROVIDE
GUIDANCE TO OUR REGION DIRECTORS TO SET UP JOINT REGIONAL NETS ON THE
BEST FREQUENCY AVAILABLE TO BE USED FOR RESPONSE TO ANY EVENT WITHIN A
REGION. THE TWO REMAINING FREQUENCIES CAN BE USED FOR PASSING TRAFFIC
OR HELD IN RESERVE FOR WHEN PROPAGATION CHANGES.
AUTOMATIC LINK ESTABLISHMENT: ARMY MARS STATED THAT SINCE THEY HAD
NO CUSTOMERS THAT REQUIRE ALE, THEY WILL NOT PURSUE FURTHER USE OF ALE.
NAVY-MARINE CORPS AND AIR FORCE MARS WILL CONTINUE TO PURSUE ALE DEVELOPMENT
AS WE DO HAVE CUSTOMERS USING ALE. MEMBERS OF THE THREE MARS SERVICES
ARE INVITED TO CONTINUE THEIR SUPPORT OF THE MARS-ALE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
TEAM.
PROVIDING THE REIGNS OF COMMUNICATIONS--IN EMERGENCIES
