[Milsurplus] MARS

[Mike Morrow]

> Too bad MARS completely stopped giving out equipment and parts.

One would have needed to be in Army or Air Force MARS before
the late 1960s to get and keep the really good stuff.  I was
in Navy-MC MARS from 1968 to 1982, and Army MARS from
1982 to 1986.

Navy-MC MARS always required any issued equipment to be
returned when membership ended except for gear that had
been authorized for cannibalization, which was rare.

I got a few odds and ends (R-105/ARR-15, R-441A/SRR-13A,
RT-196/PRC-6, AN/PRC-34, AN/PRC-36) during 1969 and 1970
during which time I was devoting 25 hours per week on the
nets.  But 1970 was the last time I was issued anything
until I ended membership 16 years later.  USN MARS dropped
accountability on just about everything that had been
issued in the mid-1970s, and I never heard of any equipment
issue afterward.

Mike / KK5F