| On behalf of the
Chief,
Navy-Marine Corps MARS, welcome to the Office of Training and Skills Development web site. |
| It is our hope that your experience with training and skills development will be a positive and rewarding one. |
| Training, especially repeated training, is often seen as boring. It's easy to feel like, "Yea, I've heard all this before". No doubt you have. It is by repetition that the training material becomes engrained and bad habits remain in check. We can use the training opportunity to review our own habits and see if anything needs adjusting. It is for this reason we have adopted the following motto for the training and skills development program in Navy-Marine Corps MARS |
| It's the repeated folding and forging |
| that makes a high quality sword what it is |
| It is important for all members, new as well as experienced, and all training staff to read the Welcome page and this introduction. If you skip either you may miss critical information. |
|
All staff should read the "for
Staff in General" page.
Training staff be
sure to also read "Intro for
Training Staff".
Don't forget to
check out the two training courses designed specifically for staff
members. Essentials
for New Staff and Essentials
for ECOM & Training Staff
|
| Throughout your career in
MARS always keep two things in mind: 1.
What you practice is what you will do; and,
2. The safety and well-being of others, as well as the reputation of MARS as a viable service, is in your hands. |
| What you do and how you do it on day-to-day nets and in exercises is how you will do it in an actual situation. Ask yourself, if a member of my family were sick or injured would I be satisfied if the EMTs and doctors functioned with my level of professionalism? |
| Training isn't just a first step in your MARS career, it's a journey that lasts throughout your membership. You can go kicking and screaming every step of the way, or it can be an adventure, working regularly to improve your skills and be the best MARS operator you can. The view is up to you. |
| The path you choose will
reflect in your performance on the nets. It will be evident to
anyone listening in. Whether you are seen as a professional military communicator or not will depend on how serious you are about proper MARS practices and good skills development. |
| Developing a skill is only part of it. You must keep that skill up to date and in good shape. |
| Every day on the nets is practice, whether or not you see it that way at the time. When it comes to the emergency you will behave the same way you regularly do on the nets. Whether that is consistently good practices, or a series of bad habits is up to you. |
| I have used the term "career". Yes, MARS membership is a career. "Career" is defined as a calling, a profession, a practice, a specialization. Membership in MARS is certainly all of those things. Of course there is no paycheck attached. Then again, nowhere in the definitions of "career" did I find the mention of money. The only "pay" in MARS is personal satisfaction for a job done right and the fact that you might have helped someone along the way. |
| Clearly, MARS is not for everyone. That doesn't mean MARS is aloof. Simply put, just as soccer, chess, or reading Shakespeare is not everyone's cup of tea, so it is with MARS. There are rules, procedures, and requirements to adhere to, whether we feel like it or not. |
| We simply can not do whatever we like based on the mood we are in at the moment. Many people work well under a military structure. Some prefer a much more relaxed approach. |
| Those who depend on MARS simply can't afford to have us make mistakes or cause delays because we don't feel like doing it the prescribed way. |
| Notice I didn't say "the right way"; I said the prescribed way. If we do things by the book it will automatically be right because it will work. Why? Because everyone is doing the same thing in the same way. There will be no surprises, and no confusion on the part of those receiving messages. No confusion for Net Control Station trying to keep track of their net, or administrators who need to keep things running smoothly. |
| Consistency! That's the key. It's one reason the military spends a considerable sum every year rotating its members to new duty stations, It's that important. |
| Training is the most significant activity MARS members undertake. Training has been a part of everyday life since birth. Unfortunately, the term is often associated with a one-time concept. Police officers go to the academy for training. Enlisted recruits go to boot camp for training. Someone taught you how to drive. |
| It's unfortunate that "training" gets the undeserved reputation that it is for beginners only and that once you have it you don't need it again. Every day that you engage in an activity you learn something (right or wrong). You improve your skills (hopefully). You refresh yourself on what you have learned in the past. Doctors, lawyers, and others know this very well. That is why they call what they do a "practice". |
| Every profession realizes training is not a one time thing. They have in-service and continuing education requirements. Just as important, professionals review and assess every single day the things they did, the mistakes they made, and ask themselves how can they do it better. |
| The Basic Procedures Training program is the first step in MARS training. Beyond that is daily assessment of your performance on the nets, taking additional courses such as the NMO series, participating in ECOM exercises, and more. |
| I hope you will consider your training in MARS as not just a means to an end, but an ongoing process that helps you grow every day. Take the time to participate in training. Training is what makes you accurate. No one can be fast (or of any use) until they are first accurate. |
| It's not perfection, but
rather dedication to accuracy and correctness that makes each of you a professional. |
| As you use the training aids and participate in the formal and informal training that Navy-Marine Corps MARS offers I hope you will get what you can from it in a positive spirit. Above all, get that "paycheck" of personal satisfaction I talked about earlier. It is also my hope that you will share with your training staff, and through them with me, your input on training in our program. |
| If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about MARS policy, parctices, and procedures route them via chain of command, starting with your state director. |
| If you have comments about this training web site or find a problem with anything on it feel free to contact me directly. Please cc your training staff and/or state director. |
| Sincerely, |
| Joseph Noecker, NNN0ASN OR |
| Assistant to Chief MARS for Training |