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Washington County, Iowa, ARES®
MARS Interop 2021


2021 MARS Interoperability Exercise

MARS logo
The Amateur Radio Community is invited to take part in
MARS' Interoperability Exercise on 60 Meters,
the first full week of each month in 2021.

The short version is:
AirForce days are Sun, Mon, Tues and Wed Morning.
Army days are Wed Evening, Thurs, Fri, Sat.
Times are: Noon local time, 8PM local time, in each time zone.

Yes, we can check into as many time zone nets as we can reach!

MARS operators will conduct sixty meter outreach operations with the amateur radio community on sixty meters channel one, dial frequency 5,330.5 KHz.

Amateur radio operators are encouraged to take advantage of this interoperability exercise.

Here's the full MARS bulletin:

VZCZC 
PP UHXWROG UHXHHH UHWHHCF DE UHWHH #0078 0921919 
FM NETC G3-5 CUOPS HQ ARMY MARS FHU AZ 
TO UHXWROG/ALL ARMY MARS REGION DIRECTORS 
INFO UHXHHH/ALL ARMY MARS 
BT 
UNCLAS EFTO 
MSGID/ORDER/NETC G3-5 CUOPS HQ ARMY MARS FHU AZ/77// 
REF/A/AM6 TTP 60M OPERATIONS/HQ ARMY MARS// 
REF/B/OPLAN MARS 1/HQ ARMY MARS// 
ORDTYP/OPORD/HQ ARMY MARS// 
TIMEZONE/Z// 
HEADING/TASK ORGANIZATION// 
5UNIT 
/UNIT DES /UNITLOC /CMNTS 
/AMARS REGION 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 /CONUS /-// 
GENTEXT/SITUATION/AM 6 TTP: 60 Meter Operations, January 2021,  
describes how the five radio frequencies in the 60 meter band which  
are also assigned to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis  
are utilized for Amateur to Government interoperability.     
 
OPLAN MARS-1 is available to Region Directors and Executive Officers  
and describes how MARS supports CJCS 2-18.  Interoperability with  
Amateur Radio is necessary to provide the required information  
products.   
 
To achieve a high level of readiness and competency throughout MARS  
and cooperating Amateur Radio operators, it is necessary to  
integrate tasks and operations that support these requirements into  
routine, ongoing AMARS operations.//   
 
GENTEXT/MISSION/Army MARS Regions shall, as a matter of ongoing,  
normal network operations, lead regularly scheduled network activity  
on 60 meter "Channel One", the first Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,  
and Saturday of each month beginning 7 April 2021.      
a. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday these nets will occur at 1200  
HRS (Noon) Local Time for local operations.    
b. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the nets will occur  
at 2000 HRS Local Time for intermediate to long distance operations.  
  
60 meter Channel One nets will include test message traffic in voice  
and data modes.//   
 
GENTEXT/EXECUTION/Intent: Implement into the AMARS routine, regular  
60 meter interoperability operations that are consistent in respect  
to time of day and frequency; utilizing techniques and procedures  
that can be adopted by US military personnel without specialized  
training and utilizing issued communications equipment.     
 
A. Concept of Operations 
Each AMARS region shall conduct a one hour Noon-Time-Channel-One-Net  
(NTC1N) at noon local time the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday  
of each month according to the following assignment:  
a. Eastern Time Zone:  Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4 will operate each day. 
b. Central Time Zone:  Regions 5, 6 and 7, except New Mexico will  
operate each day.  
c. Mountain Time Zone: Region 8, and New Mexico will operate each  
day.  During the period Standard Time is observed, Arizona will  
operate each day.   
d. Pacific Time Zone: Regions 9 and 10, except Arizona, will operate  
each day.  Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam which will operate in their  
respective local time zones. During the period Daylight Saving Time  
is observed, Arizona will operate each day.  
 
Although propagation conditions during mid-day are typically limited  
to a local area on this frequency, overlapping coverage is possible  
during the NTC1N.  MARS stations will coordinate with each other to  
reduce and eliminate overlapping interference while continuing to  
operate on a single frequency.  Regions operating in the same time  
zone shall utilize the same frequency, and work together to develop  
and implement operating techniques to achieve this objective.   
 
Each AMARS region shall conduct a one hour 2000LT-Channel-One-Net  
(20C1N) at 2000 local time the first Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and  
Saturday of each month according to the following assignment:   
a. Eastern Time Zone:  Regions 1 and 3 will operate on Wednesday and  
Friday.  Regions 2 and 4 will operate on Thursday and Saturday.  
b. Central Time Zone:  Region 7 will operate Wednesday and Friday.   
Regions 5 and 6, except New Mexico, will operate Thursday and  
Saturday.    
c. Mountain Time Zone:  Region 8 and New Mexico will operate each  
day.  During the period Standard Time is observed, Arizona will  
operate each day.    
d. Pacific Time Zone: Regions 9 and 10, except Arizona, will operate  
each day.  Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam which will operate in their  
respective local time zones. During the period Daylight Saving Time  
is observed, Arizona will operate each day.  
 
Routine execution each month is limited to 60 meter channel 1 and  
establishes this channel as the on-air interface between Amateur and  
US Military.  It is not the intent to deny amateur radio operators  
access to all assigned 60 meter channels during this interop  
out-reach.  It is therefore imperative that MARS operators establish  
and train operating procedures that coordinate and minimize  
interference between MARS stations on a single frequency.  
 
Propagation conditions during evening hours are likely to cover long  
distances and overlapping coverage should be expected during the  
20C1N.  Coordination between MARS stations operating on the same  
frequency is critical for success of a single frequency  
implementation of this plan.   During the initial states of training  
and implementing this operation, use of a concurrent telephone  
bridge or chat room is encouraged to establish and orient MARS  
members to each station?s calling time periods.   
 
This Concept of Operations requires Regions to integrate execution  
of this mission.  This exercise of Inter-Region planning and  
coordination is intentional and is intended to establish a more  
integrated operational concept.    
 
This operation establishes the procedures utilized for  
interoperability and conditions Amateur radio operators to what they  
should expect while operating with US military stations.  MARS may  
be exchanged with US military personnel during an actual emergency.   
MARS operations will focus on those capabilities that US military  
personnel would utilize with issued communications equipment.    
Therefore, predominant use amateur radio digital modes is not  
desired.  Authorized digital modes are listed in the Command and  
Signal paragraph below.   
 
HQ Army MARS will provide sample messages for regions to use during  
these nets.  The purpose of these messages is simply to practice and  
demonstrate skill in sending and receiving message traffic using  
voice and digital procedures.  The addressing and content of the  
messages is therefore notional as they will not be routed.     
 
Only true and accurate information or conditions may be depicted in  
any message, even if the message is prefaced with the word  
"exercise".   
 
B. Tasks to Subordinates 
1. Army MARS Region Directors:   
a. Issue directives to the Region staff to implement this plan in  
the Region.     
b. Direct activities that utilize all available personnel, assign  
net control stations, and continuously promote NTC1N and 20C1N  
operations with all amateur radio communities in the Region.     
c. Instruct the Region Staff to work alongside staff from the other  
Regions assigned the same time zones to establish de-conflicting TTP  
required to implement this plan.  
d. Ensure 60 meter net control stations submit activity report at  
www.dod.mars.org.    
 
2. Army MARS Members: Fully support the Chief Army MARS's initiative  
and the RD's implementation of this plan.  Promote 60 meter  
activities with your Amateur Radio contacts and conduct 60 meter  
operations as assigned.     
 
C. Coordinating Instructions 
1. This activity is a priority over other Region network activity on  
the assigned days.  Region net schedules and personnel assignments  
should be adjusted accordingly.   
 
2. Use of MARS call signs are coordinated for the dates and times  
indicated in this plan.   
 
3. This operation utilizes US Government authorizations on the  
listed frequency, and has priority over operations in the Amateur  
Radio Service.  Amateur Radio Operators are expected to yield the  
frequency except in actual emergencies.    
 
4. MARS stations shall assist actual emergency operations, or yield  
the frequency to these operations as appropriate.    //   
 
GENTEXT/COMMAND AND SIGNAL/Radio Frequency Plan: 
1. Network Operation: 
60 Meter Channel 1: 5,330.5 kHz USB.  Maximum power 3,000 Watts.   
The prevailing operating mode will be SSB voice.  Messages may be  
sent with voice or data mode.  
 
2. Data Mode: 
a. MIL-STD 188-110A Serial PSK.  Synchronous Mode.  Plain Text  
(not-encrypted) with Checksum header set to ALL.   
b. The prevailing Amateur Radio mode may be used once the message is  
initially sent via M110.    
 
3. Message Format: 
ICS-213 by voice or data.  Send by voice using line numbers.  In  
data mode, use 16L P2P abbr template with call signs.