[QCWA] Fwd: MARS CME Exercise After Action Thoughts

[WORKSNTV at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: WB3DYE at aol.com
To: worksntv at aol.com
Sent: 11/14/2015 12:38:43 P.M.  Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Fwd: MARS CME Exercise After Action  Thoughts





  
____________________________________
 From: mars.exercises at gmail.com

Sent: 11/10/2015 4:18:53 P.M. Eastern  Standard Time
Subj: MARS CME Exercise After Action Thoughts



Fellow Amateur Radio Operators,


Thanks to everyone who was able to participate in the DOD-MARS-Amateur  
Radio Exercise from 8-10 Nov.  We appreciate your support and efforts  in 
helping to achieve the training objective of contacting as many of the  3,142 US 
counties during this exercise via radio only means.  We are  still compiling 
the results of how many counties were contacted.


I am now collecting After Action Report comments and  recommendations for 
how to improve our processes of reaching out to the  amateur radio community 
during these types of exercises.


I have already received a few comments and am interested to  hear if there 
are other comments or recommendations, both good and  bad, for how to 
improve this process.


Here are my thoughts on what I need to improve:


1.  We need to better integrate MARS operators into their  local ARES/RACES 
organizations locally, so they already know when and  where your nets 
regularly meet and how to get ahold of you.  We are  also considering the need to 
plan for MARS operators to monitor  specific RACES CPG 1-15 frequencies, 
the 5MHz interop channels, or maybe the  HF-ALE channels, then announce 
monitoring windows and specific  frequencies where we can be reached. 


2.  The way I structured the coordinating correspondence for  the exercise 
was too cumbersome.  This required an initial  coordination email from me to 
you and copied a MARS Region Director who then  had to appoint someone to 
contact you and then figure out when and  where your regularly scheduled nets 
operate.  I know in some cases, the  follow on linkup didn't occur due to a 
number of  factors.  The initial email should contain the information  from 
#1 above to give you certainty from the outset of what the link up plan  
will be.  For those that were not contacted, I apologize for my lack of  a 
more succinct plan for how to do this coordination.  


3. Because of the way I structured the coordination, I had to cut  off 
coordination several days prior to Startex which left at  least 30 amateur Radio 
Operators out of the exercise.  I need  to have a better coordination plan 
so there is no cutoff - so that if  you are able to participate, just jump 
in and  contribute.   


Again, thanks for your interest in this exercise. My hope is that  we can 
continue to improve this process and make coordination for these  types of 
exercise more routine.  I also want to consider scheduling a  MARS exercise in 
conjunction with already established amateur radio  exercises such as 
annual simulated emergency test exercise to give us more  opportunities to train 
together in the future.


I look forward to hearing your thoughts.


v/r


Paul