[Oremem/Idamem] Oregon Army MARS State Officers

Thu, 3 Jul 2003 13:42:38 -0700

Greetings All Oregon Army MARS leadership members,

In line with my duties as Public Relations Officer and responsible for the
morale and activity of the general membership, I thought I'd drop a note to
let you know we miss you ALL on the nets.

We are attempting to promote more activity on our nets and get our members
more active so we can fulfill our missions in a manner which will reflect
positively on Oregon Army MARS.  To instill more desire for activity in our
members, it is imperative that the leadership of Oregon MARS be more active
than the members.  At least since last March, this has not been the case.

Those members with billet calls MUST be foremost in activity as an example
to the general membership or Oregon Army MARS will be operating without its
leaders; this situation can only lead to dismal membership activity, total
lack of recruitment, and failure in our missions.

Leadership, by definition, are those who should be the most active in
leading the members in the areas of recruitment, net participation, EEI
report filing, emergency exercise activity, and teaching the membership in
protocol and net procedures.  All these areas are in a sad state as of this
email.

If you are having equipment problems and need assistance, perhaps one of our
members could help.  Please let us know what you require. If you have other
problems which cannot be solved in a matter of a few months, please advise
me so I can work around this lack of participation in future public
relations media contacts. It would be most embarrassing for the local media
to contact you for further information about MARS only to find out you have
no immediate contact with the organization.  The local media in your area
will be receiving press releases concerning the services of Oregon Army MARS
in the near future.  We are in the process of composing such press releases
at the present time and they will include a local contact personnel for the
press to follow up for more in-depth coverage. Please let me know suitable
times for you to be contacted.

We must all re-think our priorities as regards to Oregon Army MARS for to
have accepted a position as a leader of our membership and fail to fulfill
those leadership requirements is to be part of the problem, rather than an
asset to the completion of our missions. This lack of support makes the job
of informing the public of the presence and service of Oregon Army MARS an
impossible mission.  Support for Oregon Army MARS will be defined by the
individuals activity in recruiting, net activity, the filing of EEI reports,
and participation in our emergency exercises.  Participation reports must,
by the requirements of Army MARS, be filed in a timely manner every month.
At present, Oregon has a 45% rating on filed participation reports.  This
situation MUST change.

The Oregon Army MARS Gateway Station is presently being tested on KFC with
offset.  It will be on the air at this frequency until such time as Western
command gives us an official Gateway frequency.  There are many bulletins
and informational materials available, along with any MARSGRAMS awaiting
delivery.  At present, there are six MARSGRAMS for Oregon posted and
awaiting service.  The Gateway is open 24/7 except during net times.  We
would appreciate your testing the Gateway to give us some indication of
geographical problems we may face with linkups.  We also wish to proof-out
the system for basic operations.

Please let me know if there is anything I may do to assist you, or to
respond to any questions you may have about this email or any other issue.
Thank you, in advance, for your time and considerations.

leo griffin
AAR0NH
Public Relations Officer
Oregon Army MARS