| About Region 10 |
| Navy-Marine Corps MARS |
|
|
| "Serving those who serve" |
| From the Pacific Northwest |
| This web site is dedicated to the members of Region 10 |
| who's keys are now silent. |
|
Finding
out
more
about
MARS Region 10 and Interops Tri-fold Brochure download it Pacific Area web site National web site Return to Table of Contents |
|
On
23
Dec
2009
the
Dept
of
Defense
(DoD)
instruction
4650.2
went
into
effect.
In
that
instruction
DoD
revised
and
updated
the
mission
and
functions
of
all
three
MARS
services
(Air
Force,
Army,
Navy-Marine
Corps).
DoD
also
elevated
the
status
of
the
MARS
program
from
an
affliation
with
the
respective
service
to
an
auxiliary
body
of
that
service.
As
a
result
the
name
changed
from
Millitary
Afflilate
Radio
System
to
Military
Auxiliary
Radio
System.
No
doubt
you
may
continue
to
see
Military
Affliate
Radio
System
for
a
long
time
to
come,
especially
on
decals
and
such. In 2003 Navy-Marine Corps MARS underwent significant changes in it's administrative structure. This was done partly as a cost savings, but also to be more consistent with other Federal agencies such as FEMA. The grass roots of all Navy-Marine Corps MARS administration is the state level. The term "state" in Navy-Marine Corps MARS doesn't always exactly equate to a geographic state of the United States, but that is the basic concept. Next is the region. Each region contains 3, 4, or more states. Regions are directly overseen by an area director who's immediate administrative superior is Chief, Navy-Marine Corps MARS . The area director is an active duty chief petty officer billet. There are four Areas in Navy-Marine Corps MARS: Northeast, Central, Southern, and Pacific. Region 10 is part of the Pacific Area. The long title is Navy-Marine Corps Military Auxiliary Radio System, but we Just call it MARS. Region 10 NMC MARS directly serves the US Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). MARS also serves local and regional civil authorities and certain non-governmental agencies such as the Red Cross. Membership in MARS comprises mostly licensed Amateur Radio operators, but also includes active duty and reserve components of the Navy, Marine-Corps, and Coast Guard. (see "membership") Radio nets are held daily on military frequencies assigned to the MARS program. These are sometimes shared with military units. The purpose of these nets is to pass message traffic of all sorts including MARSGRAMS, (similar to telegrams, see "Radio Messages"). Members also initiate and relay messages pertaining to emergency situations, disasters, alerts, weather related problems, military and MARS administration, and emergency communication drills. The primary mission of MARS is to stay in practice with the military methods and procedures for radio communications so MARS can assist in times of local, state, national, or international emergency; or when the Navy or DOD require assistance. (See also "ECOM and Disaster Info") Our radio procedures follow US Navy radio procedures so that we can dovetail with military communications units as necessary with a minimum of differences and confusion. Region 10 is a geographic segment within the Pacific Area. It is comprised of Four states: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (see "States in Region 10"). Region 10 is headed by a region director. His staff call is NNN0AS0, (See also "Staff Region 10") We maintain 24-hour a day communication links with all the areas and regions of Navy Marine Corps MARS around the world, US Navy ships and Coast Guard cutters at sea who maintain MARS stations, the MARS progams of the Army and Air Force (see "Inter-service ops"), FEMA, SHARES, and other relevant U.S. government agencies. In this way Region 10 maintains its world wide communications capabilities with the military and US government services. Region 10 has operating agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOU) with various local government and civil emergency services in the Pacific Northwest such as state police, the Red Cross, ARES, and RACES. |
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"Serving
Those
Who
Serve" from the Pacific Northwest |