[Oremem] FINAL AAR FOR OPERATION HOLIDAYS - OREGON

[John E Jewkes-AAA0OR]

ST ALLOR @ AAR0JN
RR MTS 1R ALLOR
DE AAA0OR NR 4
RR 051845Z JAN 02 ZEN 
FM JOHN JEWKES/ AAA0OR OR
TO AAA9W AZ
INFO ZEN AAA9E AZ
ZEN AAA0WA WA
ZEN ALL OREGON ARMY MARS STATIONS AND MEMBERS
BT
SUBJECT: FINAL AAR FOR OPERATION HOLIDAYS- OREGON EFFORTS
1. 10
2. NONE.
3. NONE IDENTIFIED.
4. NONE IDENTIFIED.
5. OPERATIONS:
A.SUPPORT FOR OUR TROOPS OVERSEAS AND AROUND THE WORLD AND 
THEIR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES BACK HOME.
B. SUPPORTED AGENCIES INCLUDED THE US ARMY, US NAVY, US
MARINE CORPS, US AIR FORCE. ALSO AUTHORIZED CIVILIANS WHO
ARE D.O.D. EMPLOYEES AND SO ON.
6. HOW AND WHEN NOTIFIED: 
A. AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED, THIS EFFORT BEGAN AS THE RESULT OF
A STATE DIRECTORS ADMIN NET, ROUGHLY 20 OCT 01. THIS LEAD 
TO A SMD BCST ON 31 OCT 01.
B. UPDATES WERE PROVIDED REGULARLY VIA MTS/MMCS AND SMD
BROADCASTS, AS WELL AS UPDATES PROVIDED THIS STATION BY
VARIOUS MEMBERS AROUND THE STATE.
7. A VARIETY OF WEATHER CONDITIONS EXISTED THROUGHOUT THE
STATE. THIS CAUSED SOME PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED LATER IN THE 
REPORT UNDER ITEM 12.
8. PROPAGATION WAS VARIED AND DUE TO LENGTH OF EFFORT, A
SEPARATE DATABASE OF REPORTED PROPAGATION HAS BEEN KEPT
AND CAN BE SENT UPON NEED.
9. TELEPHONE, FAX AND EMAIL WERE USED TO SPREAD THE WORD 
TO OTHER MEMBERS WHO WERE UNABLE TO COPY VIA THE VOICE AND
FOXTROT (DIGITAL) NETS.
10. 273 MESSAGES FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES, AS MENTIONED
PREVIOUSLY IN INITIAL AAR. ADD TO THIS 12 SUPPORT BASED
MESSAGES RELATED TO ISSUES NOTED IN ITEM 12 BELOW, FOR A 
FINAL TOTAL OF 285 MESSAGES PROCESSED.
11. 145 MESSAGES PLUS 12 SUPPORT MESSAGES REGARDING SOME
OF THE ISSUES AND ITEMS NOTED IN ITEM 12 BELOW, FOR A 
TOTAL OF 157 ORIGINATED MESSAGES.
12. PROBLEMS AND ISSUES: 
FIRST, MY APOLOGIES TO A NUMBER OF MEMBERS WHO THROUGH THE
PROCESS MADE PHENOMENAL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE, SEND/RECEIVE
THESE MESSAGES, AND DELIVER THEM. I OVERLOOKED MENTION OF
THESE FOLKS IN MY INITIAL REPORT. I SIMPLY WAS TOO TIRED
AT THE HOUR OF THE DAY I WROTE IT TO RELIABLY RELATE ALL
THE MINOR AND MAJOR SUCCESSES AS WELL AS SOME OF THE SMALL
AND JUMBO PROBLEMS THAT CROPPED UP DURING THE PROCESS.
DURING THE PERIOD BETWEEN 20 OCT 01 AND 31 OCT 01 WHEN THE SMD BCST
REGARDING OPERATION HOLIDAYS WAS DISTRIBUTED, BARB DAHL/ 
AAR0JN OR WAS PHENOMENALLY INVOLVED IN THE EFFORT. SHE ALSO 
UTILIZED MARSGRAMS THAT HAD BEEN COLLECTED AT A VETS 
DAY EVENT IN THE KLAMATH FALLS BASIN, AND DUE TO OPSEC AND 
OTHER CONCERNS HAD BEEN DELAYED INITIALLY. 
LATER, ONCE THE BALL BEGAN ROLLING, SHE SUFFERED AN
INJURY, WHICH SLOWED, BUT DID NOT STOP HER EFFORTS. SHE 
ALSO ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED OFFERS FOR (SIMULTANEOUSLY) AN
ASSIST TO MAKE SURE THE BOARD KEPT RUNNING CORRECTLY WHILE 
SHE WAS RECOVERING FROM SURGERY REQUIRED BY THE INJURIES
SHE RECEIVED WHEN ICE BUILD-UP BETWEEN HER HOUSE AND HER
RADIO STATION/SHACK CAUGHT HER BY SURPRISE.
AMONG THOSE WHO ASSISTED WERE OLETTA SPEARS/ AAR0JY
OR, FORMER SMD, JOHN KLEIN/ AAR0LQ OR WHO WENT OUT TO THE 
AAR0JN BBS/SHACK TO HELP SORT THROUGH THE MESSAGES THAT HAD 
ARRIVED AND THOSE SCHEDULED FOR OUTBOUND AND FROM 
WASHINGTON STATE, DENIS PULS/ AAR0VD WA, WHO QUERIED THE 
AAR0JN BBS(MMCS/MTS) ENSURING IT RETAINED CONNECTIVITY. 
BARB DAHL MADE EXCEPTIONAL EFFORTS TO GET THE WORD
OUT TO THE AMATEUR AND CIVILIAN COMMUNITIES REGARDING THE
AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICE. THIS HOWEVER BECAME PARTIALLY
ECLIPSED BY THE 'VIDEO POSTCARD' OFFERED BY RETAILERS AND
LOCAL CABLE TV ACCESS CHANNELS. THE DIFFERENCE OF THE MARS
SYSTEM BEING ABLE TO ADDRESS DIRECT CONTACT WITH KNOWN/AND
ADDRESSED TO SPECIFIC SERVICEMEMBERS IN MOST CASES WAS NOT
INITIALLY NOTED BY THE PRESS. 
FAILURE OF NEW SOFTWARE USED ON THE OREGON MEMBER 
EMAIL LIST (NOT THE MARS-L-OR SERVER) CAUSED NON-DELIVERY 
OF THE INITIAL REPORT AS WELL AS THE INITIAL AAR TO THE 
BULK OF THE OREGON MEMBERS.
THIS WAS PART OF THE LACK OF PARTICIPATION OF THE 
BULK OF THE MEMBERS AROUND THE STATE, COUPLED WITH SOME
CONFUSION OVER THE TIMES, MODES, FREQUENCIES AND HOW TO 
SEND OF THE MMCS/MTS AND VOICE NETS. 
MY PERSONAL WORK SCHEDULE ALSO INTERFERED WITH HAVING
A MORE DIRECTLY SUPPORTED EFFORT OCCUR. MEMBERS MAY HAVE
BEEN CONCERNED WITH MY ABSENCE FROM A LARGE NUMBER OF THE
STATE'S NETS, PERHAPS CONFUSING THIS WITH A LACK OF DESIRE
OR LACK OF SUPPORT IN THE PROCESS. 
WHILE MY INITIAL REPORT LOOKED GOOD AT 03:30 IN THE 
LOCAL MORNING (WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN), IT WAS FULL OF LACK OF 
COMPLETENESS OF INFORMATION, FOR WHICH I DIRECTLY SHALL
APOLOGIZE TO THE INVOLVED MEMBERS. IN RE-READING THE AAR I
INITIALLY SENT, ONE WOULD THINK THAT THIS WAS THE EFFORT
OF A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL, WHICH WAS NOT, NOR INTENDED TO BE 
THE EFFECT OF MY REPORT. 
NEARLY A THIRD OF THE STATE'S MEMBERSHIP WAS INVOLVED
EITHER GATHERING, PROCESSING OR DISTRIBUTING THE MESSAGES,
AS WELL AS SUBSEQUENT RETURN MESSAGES. WHILE THIS LEVEL OF
SUPPORT COULD HAVE BEEN HIGHER, CONFUSION OVER THE OPSEC
REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWING 11 SEP 01, LACK OF RECEIPT OF SMD
BCST VIA EMAIL (AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED) OR FOR OTHER THAN
PERSONALLY CONTROLLED REASONS (ILLNESS, INJURY, ETC.) KEPT
A NUMBER OF MEMBERS FROM FROM PARTICIPATING. 
ALSO, A LACK OF TRAINING IN THE SET-UP AND OPERATION
OF THE TNC OR OTHER DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR DEVICE OR THE
SOFTWARE TO DRIVE SAME CAUSED THE FAILURE OF SOME WISHING
TO PARTICIPATE. IN OTHER CASES, LACK OF OPERATIONAL GEAR
RELATED TO THE USE/SENDING OF DIGITAL TRAFFIC. 
THIS SPEAKS TO THE NEED OF TRAINING IN PERSON RELATED
TO DIGITAL TRAFFIC AND EQUIPMENT SET-UP AND OPERATIONS. A
NATIONAL LEVEL GUIDE ON HOW TO SET-UP AND USE 'KNOWN' TYPE
TNC/SOFTWARE/ETC. SHOULD BE DEVELOPED AND WORKED INTO THE
STATEWIDE TRAINING OPERATIONS, INCLUDING DURING STATEWIDE
MEETINGS AND OTHER SUCH OPPORTUNITY.
MINOR FAILURE AS PREVIOUSLY NOTED (PRIOR REPORT) AT 
THE AAR0JN BBS LASTED FOR ONLY 12 HOURS. I WAS INCORRECT 
IN MY ORIGINAL ANALYSIS OF THE DURATION OF THE FAILURE. MY
OWN PERSONAL TNC DEVELOPED FAULTS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL 
THAT PREVENTED CONNECTION TO THE AAR0JN AND AT0TFC 
BBS/MMCS/MTS SYSTEMS. 
FINALLY, AGAIN BASED ON OPSEC CONCERNS, HQ MARS WAS
NOT OFFICIALLY BACKING THIS EFFORT INITIALLY, AND OVER THE 
COURSE OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2001 AS EACH CONCERN WAS 
SET ASIDE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION BY A VARIETY OF STAFF AT
STATE REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS, THIS SUPPORT BECAME 
LARGER AND LARGER. 
CONFUSION OVER THIS INITIAL REPORT THAT THE EFFORT
COULD NOT PROCEED AS IN THE PAST, CAUSED MANY TO QUESTION
IF AUTHORIZATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR THIS EFFORT OR NOT. IT
IS MY HOPE THAT NEXT YEARS EFFORT AND SUPPORT AT ALL LEVEL
OF MARS PARTICIPANTS WILL BE SEVERAL TIMES MORE SUCESSFUL. 
MARS STATIONS AROUND THE WORLD SHOULD BE REMINDED THAT WE
APPRECIATE THEIR DILIGENCE AND EFFORTS, AND LOOK FORWARD
TO CONTINUING TO WORK WITH THEM TO PROCESS MESSAGES. MARS
STATIONS SHOULD REMEMBER THAT AS THE LEVEL OF TRAFFIC GOES
UP AND TIME GROWS SHORTER FOR THE PASSING OF HOLIDAY MARS
MESSAGES AND MARSGRAMS, WE SHOULD DO OUR BEST TO ENSURE
THAT MULTIPLE MESSAGES OF LESS THAN 50 WORDS SENT TO THE 
SAME RECIPIENT SHOULD BE COMBINED TO RELIEVE DEMANDS ON THE 
SYSTEM, IF THE SENDER AGREES. ALSO THE SENDER SHOULD
ASSURE THE RECIPIENT INFORMATION IS AS COMPLETE AND CORRECT 
AS CAN BE POSSIBLE. 
BT
NNNN
/EX
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