To participate in the US Army Reserve's nationwide emergency communications exercise in June, Delaware amateur John Scoggin, W3JKS/AAA9AC, second from left, and MARS Eastern Area Coordinator Robert Hollister, N7INK/AAA9E, right, donned "civilian" uniforms at Fort Meade, Maryland. They are shown in front of Scoggin's Emergency Communications Unit, which volunteer MARS members used while providing emergency support an Army reserve unit during Grecian Firebolt 04.

They're hams, they're civilians, but to participate in the US Army Reserve's countrywide exercise in June these five members of the Military Affiliate Radio System donned uniforms that facilitated their support operation at Fort Meade, Maryland. John Scoggin, AAA9AC, a volunteer from Wilmington, Delaware (left), brought his MARS Emergency Communications Unit to Ft Meade, where it connected MARS members in 50 states with the headquarters of Operation Grecian Firebolt 04--the biggest MARS exercise ever. Next to Scoggin (from the left) are MARS members Justin Kates, KB3JUV/AUX3AC, of Lewes Delaware; Army MARS Chief Robert Sutton, N7UZY/AAA9A, from Ft Huachuca, Arizona; John DiGiovanni, N3LUD/AAT3KG, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Army MARS Eastern Area Coordinator Robert Hollister, N7INK/AAA9E, from Ft Huachuca.

ARES has Limited Role in MARS "Grecian Firebolt 2004" Exercise

NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 27, 2004--Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in eastern New York took part in Grecian Firebolt 2004 (GF04)--the annual Military Affiliate Radio Service (MARS) communications exercise in mid-June. This year's multi-purpose exercise involved a homeland defense/homeland security scenario. It included the development and processing of messages by volunteer members through the MARS radio system; interface with selected military locations via HF radio; testing and evaluation of new technology such as HF radio with Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) and establishment of HF radio connectivity with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other entities. MARS joined all communications units of the US Army Reserve in the nationwide exercise alongside.

"This was not only the largest exercise in MARS history, it was one of the best planned and executed that was both exciting and truly a combined-service integrated event," said Army MARS Chief Robert Sutton, N7UZY/AAA9A. "In simple words the challenge presented MARS was successfully met, and the bar was raised one more time."

ARES had agreed to limited participation in GF04, and during the exercise MARS and Amateur Radio operators cooperated to establish a working interoperability relationship between Army MARS and ARES members in eastern New York. The test was intended to check out crossband communication capabilities. ARES participation in GF04 started June 15 with the activation of an ARES emergency drill net on 75 meters, while a New York State MARS emergency net was at the same time on a MARS channel. After both nets were established, each net control station appointed a liaison to the crossband circuit, and traffic passed successfully between the nets. Among participating ARRL ARES stations was ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D.

Grecian Firebolt 2004 provided MARS members with the opportunity to link with other agencies and military units and to experiment with new technologies. MARS support for GF04 also provided significant training and a chance for MARS to display its capabilities to support the military and other government agencies as part of homeland defense and homeland security.

"Many important individuals have experienced first hand what MARS is all about," Sutton concluded in a message to MARS members. "All of you [who] participated have bragging rights for a job well done."

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