In article , Leo
writes:

The FACTS are that MARS needs those civilian operators to make the
program work.

Actually, no. :-) See the Army Communicator write-up on "Grecian
Firebolt 2002" at -

www.gordon.army.mil/AC/Wntr02/MARS.htm

Army Communicator is the Signal Center's quarterly magazine,
distributed only to Signal Corps folks but archives are open to the
public on the 'net.

For interest's sake, I did a bit of research on the Web, and found the
following information on the home page for the US Military Alliliate
Radio System:

http://www.asc.army.mil/mars/default.htm

That one is maintained at Fort Huachuca, AZ, the NETCOM Hq
for MARS for the U.S. Army. For the other branches -

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/c...98/d46502p.pdf

for the current (21 Nov 03) issue of Directive 4650.2 from DoD, PDF
version. That Directive spells it out for all U.S. military branches.

http://public.afca.af.mil/LIBRARY/MARS.HTM

for the Scott AFB USAF Communications Agency Hq.

http://www.navymars.org/ for USN-USMC

There's a bunch more, such as a brief mention on the bottom half of
page 128 of "Vietnam studies Communications-Electronics 1962-1970"
monograph by Major General Rienzi at the U.S. Army Center For
Military History (CMH). That shows a photo of an AN/FRC-93 in use
in Vietnam, making a phone patch back to the states. Rienzi says
that 42,000 phone patches a month were being done by MARS
stations in Vietnam at the close of that period. That's an excellent
record and something to be proud of, but it was also over 30 years
ago when the U.S. had about a third of a million military serving in
southeast Asia.

Closer to date, Grecian Firebolt 2002 was an exercise of 600 MARS
stations (all branches of the military) simulating a terrorist attack on
the USA. That is reported to have gone off well in liason with several
civilian emergency services. [Army Communicator issue cited] The
article doesn't specify that civilians were involved although it
mentioned several Guard units (National and Air, not independent
state "guard" units).

The quick timeline of MARS -

1925 AARS or Army Amateur Radio Service organized, small, Army
only, never more than 5600 up to 7 Dec 41.
1941-1946 pause for WW2.
1946 AARS resumes operation.
1948 Reorganization, includes new separate AF, renamed MARS.
1962 USN-USMC joins MARS, all military branches now in MARS.

In the overall U.S. military picture, MARS was never a significant
communications service. It was, in the '65 to '70 period, very good
as a morale-boosting service for servicepeople such as those in
Vietnam (who could get to a 'Nam MARS station...not always
possible). MARS facilities were never required to support, let alone
supplant the very large communications structure of the U.S.
military and most MARS stations used (to be delicate) cast-offs
for their station equipments. The exception was the procurement
of the AN/FRC-93 HF transceiver, the commercial version (full
crystal bank) of the Collins KWM2. [I have the TM on it and can tell
where to get it for free PDF download...even for Canadians... :-) ]

The Army Communicator is a good source of information on U.S.
military land radios and is open to public access. So are older
issues of Signal (monthly) published by AFCEA at that website.
Army Communicator is found at Fort Gordon, GA, website at

http://www.gordon.army.mil/

AFCA (Air Force Communications Agency) has a nice website out
of Scott AFB (near St. Louis, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi).
There's a nice small museum there at the public lobby of AFCA
but their standout is their publications. For an overall history of Air
Force oriented communications, the free download of "From Flares
To Satellites" is most informative, well-written, good illustrations of
past to present. [rather a large download, good for a coffee break
while it rolls in]

Note: At the end of the 1950s, the USAF started phasing into
taking over of land-based HF communications while the US Army
phased slowly into implementing the DSN (Digital Switched
Network) and higher-speed data communications. Army was still
the mainstay of field communications by radio in southeast Asia
from Saigon to all other parts by everything from UHF radio relay
through underwater cable to troposcatter relay for 200 to 300 mile
shoots over all terrain. Army pioneered the communications
satellite use on a 24-hour, multi-channel basis in the mid-60s,
linking southeast Asia with Hawaii. Advancement, breaking new
ground. Things changing, new paradigms in all communications.

Something to remember on our national holiday of Memorial.

LHA / WMD