Photo By Staff Sgt. Jennifer Atkinson | Members of the Chilean military discuss Military Auxiliary Radio System capability...... read more read more
AUSTIN, Texas - Although they’re not from outer space, the Texas State Guard MARS Detachment is definitely reaching out across the atmosphere to bring people closer together.
Older military members may remember MARS, the Military Auxiliary Radio System, as a way to keep in touch with family while stationed in Vietnam, or other far-flung posts around the world. The concept was, and is, fairly simple - a volunteer “ham” radio operator, using a phone patch switching station, receives a request via high-frequency radio to connect someone to a standard phone line.
Although “MARSgrams” saw peak use during the 1960s and 70s, the technology has weathered the ensuing decades well, and with the technology’s relative simplicity, the MARS program is making a comeback.
Since the basic infrastructure used, radio towers and phone lines, are already up and running, using MARS doesn’t cost the military anything past purchasing switching stations and other high-frequency equipment.
Recognizing how valuable this type of communication is during disasters, the Texas State Guard stood up a special MARS detachment in 2008. Prior to that, TXSG members supported other parts of the Texas Military Forces for short periods in low-risk areas using personal equipment.
“Texas Army MARS has approximately 120 members across the state, many retired or ex-military,” said retired Col. Brian Attaway, director of communications for the Texas Military Forces. Each volunteer holds a Federal Communication Commission amateur radio license, and an Army MARS license issued by Army MARS headquarters in Arizona.
Currently, 32 members of Texas Army MARS are also members of the TXSG MARS Detachment and have completed the required background checks, and hold a TXSG identification card as a ”Warrant Officer One,” denoting their technical expertise in HF radio operations, particularly the most difficult zero to 500-mile communications range, said Attaway.
TXSG MARS high-frequency teams deploy into disaster areas, providing long-range voice and Internet email through a worldwide network of radio “gateway” stations connected to the Internet. The gateway stations are located away from the disaster, relieving some of the load on possibly fragile infrastructure. Satellites, which carry most of the normal day-to-day communications load for modern society may not work because of damage in affected areas.
Texas Army MARS teams were deployed in state active duty status for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and for Hurricane Alex in 2010. MARS detachment members have participated in all state hurricane and disaster exercises since in 2009.
The Army's Network Enterprise Technology Command at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is responsible for the Army MARS Program, focusing on providing contingency communications support to the Army and Department of Defense. The command also provides support to civil authorities, said Paul English, Army MARS program manager.
While most of the 1,300 Army MARS stations are in the United States, manned by volunteers in their homes, there are also many overseas, English said. Government-run MARS stations at both the state and federal level include the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration.
While the main mission of MARS is contingency communications, English said that it still can and does provide phone patches for soldiers and units. In fact, Army MARS is working with the National Guard Bureau to expand this phone-patch capability.
The phone-patch test has been very successful in Texas, seeing slow and steady growth from 2008 to 2014.
Proving the usefulness of the MARS program, a ham operator known by his designator AC7NA, shared in a very special phone patch.
The patch request originated on a Navy destroyer in the Pacific, asking to connect to a sailor’s home in Minnesota to check on his pregnant wife. After learning she had been admitted to the hospital in labor, a ham operator in Minnesota tracked down the phone number to labor and delivery, connecting the sailor and his wife in time for the birth of his daughter.
“It was pretty emotional for me to listen to the newborn baby crying in the background, the cheers on both ends of the conversation, and the gratitude expressed by the couple to the ham who made this connection possible,” wrote AC7NA, also known as Brian, discussing the phone patch capability on an Internet ham radio forum.
“I have HF phone patch capability, and I'm ready to use it if the opportunity presents itself,” he wrote. “The equipment is cheap and could definitely make a difference in someone's life!”
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2014 09:48 |
| Story ID: | 137276 |
| Location: | AUSTIN, TX, US |
| Hometown: | AUSTIN, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 591 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, MARS-men are from Texas?, by SSG Jennifer Atkinson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT