I was a member for a number of years and was thinking about rejoining met some nice folks and nice operating out of the ham bands. At least they still have USAF and Army MARS maybe go for one of those. Navy Mars HP Frames ..................................................................................... Effective 2359Z 30 Sep 2015 Navy-Marine Corps MARS will be disbanded. This web site will close down sometime during the day of the 30th. Select link above to read the full initial message from Chief MARS R 031955Z SEP 2015 FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA TO ALNAVMARCORMARS INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ ZEN/CHIEF AIR FORCE MARS SCOTT AFB IL BT UNCLAS SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS (NMCM) PROGRAM 1. SINCE THE NAVY ANNOUNCED THE TRANSITION OF THE NMCM PROGRAM IN MAY 2015, MORE THAN 430 NMCM MEMBERS HAVE TRANSFERRED TO EITHER THE ARMY OR AIR FORCE MARS PROGRAMS. WE WANT TO THANK THOSE MEMBERS FOR CHOOSING TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE THROUGH THE MARS PROGRAM. YOUR DEDICATION AND WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE TO VOLUNTEER YOUR TALENT, TIME AND EXPERTISE IS APPRECIATED. 2. THE NMCM PROGRAM WILL OFFICIALLY SUNSET AT 2359Z ON 30 SEP 2015. NMCM MEMBERS WHO INTEND TO TRANSFER TO THE ARMY OR AIR FORCE MARS PROGRAMS, BUT HAVE NOT YET DONE SO, ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN THEIR TRANSITION IN ORDER TO RETAIN FULL MARS MEMBER STATUS AND NOT HAVE TO RESTART TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE A BREAK IN SERVICE. 3. THE BELOW INFORMATION WILL ASSIST NMCM MEMBERS IN THE TRANSFER PROCESS: A. NMCM MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING WHO REQUEST TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER MARS SERVICE TRANSFER AS A FULL MEMBER. NMCM MEMBERS IN TRAINING STATUS WILL CONTINUE TRAINING IN EITHER THE ARMY OR AIR FORCE MARS. NMCM VOLUNTEER LEADERS MAY CONTINUE TO USE THEIR NMCM BILLET CALL SIGNS UNTIL THE SUNSET OF THE PROGRAM. B. TRANSFERRING NMCM MEMBERS WHO SERVED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY'S SHARED RESOURCES (SHARES) HF RADIO PROGRAM WILL REMAIN A SHARES MEMBER BUT MUST RESUBMIT A SHARES FORM 1 ONCE YOUR NEW MARS CALL SIGN IS RECEIVED IN ORDER TO UPDATE THE SHARES PROGRAM OFFICE WITH YOUR NEW MARS CALL SIGN. THE SHARES FORM 1 MUST BE ROUTED THROUGH YOUR NEW MARS SERVICE POC. THE SHARES FORM 1 IS AVAILABLE AT IN THE "SHARES FORMS" SECTION OF SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency(HF) Radio Program | Homeland Security C. NMCM MEMBERS WHO OPERATE WINLINK RMS STATIONS MUST CHANGE OVER TO THEIR NEW MARS CALL SIGN AND CHANGE THE RMS OPERATING FREQUENCIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GAINING MARS SERVICE. D. THERE IS NO PLAN TO CHANGE THE OFFICIAL MARS PATCH. ARMY AND AIR FORCE MARS WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ALL MILITARY SERVICES. E. NMCM MEMBERS WHO OPERATE VHF REPEATERS, DIGIPEATERS, ETC., MUST INFORM THE GAINING MARS SERVICE TO ENSURE SPECTRUM AUTHORIZATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AND TO CONFIRM THE SYSTEMS ARE NARROW BAND COMPLIANT. 4. OUR GOAL IS TO MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM NMCM TO ARMY OR AIR FORCE MARS AS EASY AND SEAMLESS AS POSSIBLE. CURRENT ARMY AND AIR FORCE MARS MEMBERS SHOULD PROVIDE INFORMATION TO NMCM MEMBERS WHEN REQUESTED BUT THE FINAL TRANSFER DECISION IS A PERSONAL ONE THAT ONLY THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBER CAN MAKE. 5. NMCM MEMBERS DESIRING TO TRANSFER SHOULD CONTACT: ARMY MARS: PAUL ENGLISH, ARMY MARS PROGRAM MANAGER EMAIL: PAUL.A.ENGLISH.CIV AT MAIL.MIL TEL: 254-947-3141 DAVID MCGINNIS, ARMY MARS OPS OFFICER EMAIL: DAVID.K.MCGINNIS.CTR AT MAIL.MIL TEL: 520-538-7933 APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE ON-LINE AT: MARS | Home AIR FORCE MARS: CONTACT THE AF MARS DIVISION DIRECTOR FOR THE REGION/STATE COINCIDENT TO YOUR LOCATION FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO JOIN AF MARS. YOU CAN ALSO E-MAIL COMPLETED APPLICATIONS TO THE AF MARS DIVISION DIRECTOR. REGIONS 1,2,3, E-MAIL NORTH EAST DIVISION DIRECTOR : AFN3NE@MARSREGIONONE.ORG REGION 4, E-MAIL SOUTH EAST DIVISION DIRECTOR: AFN4SE@MARSREGIONONE.ORG REGIONS 5 AND 7, E-MAIL NORTH CENTRAL DIVISION DIRECTOR: AFN7NC@MARSREGIONONE.ORG REGION 6, E-MAIL SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION DIRECTOR: AFN6SC@MARSREGIONONE.ORG REGIONS 8 AND 10, E-MAIL NORTH WEST DIVISION DIRECTOR: AFN0NW@MARSREGIONONE.ORG REGION 9, E-MAIL SOUTH WEST DIVISION DIRECTOR: AFN9SW@MARSREGIONONE.ORG NAVY POINT OF CONTACT: CHRIS JENSEN, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, NCTAMS LANT EMAIL: CHRISTOPHER.J.JENSE1@NAVY.MIL TEL: 757-443-9063 6. WE HIGHLY VALUE THE MANY YEARS OF DEDICATION, COMMITMENT AND VOLUNTEER SERVICE ALL NMCM MEMBERS WILLINGLY PROVIDED AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSIDER CONTINUING TO SERVE IN EITHER THE ARMY OR AIR FORCE MARS PROGRAMS. BT NNNN
Most of the MARS members around here have already transferred over to the USAF MARS in advance of the changes. Apparently, the army wants to play games of some sort...go figure.
It's a shame that satellites have made SSB radios obsolete. I remember that there was a Navy MARS station at China Beach near Danang, Vietnam, and I called home from there.
Yea, not a lot of call for Marine Radiomen these days... Glad I reTIRED, while still at the Top of the Game... SATs and CellPhones have done in Marine HF...