RR NOALL
DE NNN0ASA 047
R 221800Z MAY 2007
FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA
TO ALNAVMARCORMARS
INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ
ZEN/CHIEF AF MARS SCOTT AFB IL
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UNCLAS
SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 04-07
1. THIS IS A JOINT ARMY, AIR FORCE AND NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS
BROADCAST.
2. DURING DISCUSSIONS AT THE DAYTON HAMVENTION, ALL THREE MARS CHIEFS
AGREED TO THE FOLLOWING:
  A. 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.
  B. 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.
  C. 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.
  D. 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.
  E. 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.
  F. 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.
  G. 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.
3. THESE ARE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AND MARK A NEW AREA IN COOPERATION
AMONG THE THREE MARS SERVICES. SOME OF THE CHANGES WILL REQUIRE TIME
TO IMPLEMENT SO PLEASE BE PATIENT - KEEP THE GOAL IN MIND.
4. MARS: TOGETHER WE CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING.
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