[vamars_members] FW: AAA3VA NR 10-094 - VA/WV STATE AFTER ACTION REPORT
- From: "Bruce Freund" <bruce.freund@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vamars_members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:25:14 -0400
DE AAA3VA NR 10-094
R 291530Z SEP 2010
FM Freund/AAA3VA VA
TO Zutaut/AAA3RD WV
INFO ZXX Scoggin/AAM3RE DE
VA/WV Members
BT
MARS EXERCISE
SUBJECT: VA/WV STATE AFTER ACTION REPORT
1. PARTICIPATING STATIONS: 14
2. OPERATORS: 1 AAR3GK/T
3. LOCATION: Forest, VA
4. EMERGENCY POWER USAGE:
BATTERY: 5
GENERATOR: 3
5. OPERATIONS:
A. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS: Region 3 exercise net, AAA3RD/X, active
251101Z - 251400Z September 2010
B. AGENCIES SUPPORTED: Simulated State National Guard and Emergency Mgt
Agencies
C. IF THIS WAS AN EXERCISE, IDENTIFY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: Exercise use of
new voice procedures in heavy traffic environment; generate response
messages to maintain traffic density throughout exercise period; pass NCS
duties hourly
6. HOW AND WHEN WERE YOU NOTIFIED OF THE EMERGENCY
A. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU NOTIFY THE STATE OR REGION MEMBERSHIP
OF THE EMERGENCY? Notified staff and Zone Coordinators on 24 September by
WINLINK e-mail and voice; notified VA/WV members by email after phone tree
and before exercise due to lack of known phone tree in WV.
B. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU PROVIDE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS UPDATES TO STATE OR
REGION MEMBERSHIPS? None during exercise; on-the-air reviews during hotwash
immediately after exercise and during weekly admin net on 26 September.
7. WEATHER: clear and warm; not a factor in performance
8. RADIO PROPAGATION: Mostly good on KCI, degraded over exercise period
9. WIRE BASED COMMUNICATIONS USE: Only used for alert tree execution prior
to exercise start
10. TOTAL NUMBER OF MESSAGES PROCESSED IN STATE OPERATIONS: 84
11. TOTAL NUMBER OF MESSAGES ORIGINATED IN STATE OPERATIONS: 35
12. PROBLEMS/ISSUES/SUCCESSES ENCOUNTERED OR OBSERVED:
A. Issues Observed:
* Only 2 WV WINLINK addresses were accepted by WINLINK.
* No WV members participated in exercise
* Wrong message number acknowledged, but sending station didn't
correct receiving station
* Improper check in procedure when returning from alternate frequency
after successfully handling traffic
* NCS directed station to send traffic to another station, sending
station then began sending before contacting receiving station. Traffic
acknowledged without resend.
* Olivia a lot slower than easy pal
* Not many messages have preceding blank lines, this makes copy/paste
easier.
* Use of roger instead of affirmative when queried
* Improper sending procedure "message for you" heard
* Wrong net call used
* One station appeared to have audio enhancement on transmission, this
possibly uses excessive bandwidth and could cause problems when transmitting
traffic
* "are you ready to receive" heard.
* Abbreviated responses might cause confusion. "3gi over" instead of
"3gi roger over" heard which caused the sending station to ask if 3gi was
ready to receive.
* During my period as NCS, i failed to pause sufficiently following
use of the proword 'out' which contributed to frequent doubling of
transmissions. Other doubling was frequent throughout the net.
* Some difficulty maintaining an accurate net log. This was due in
part to my taking voice traffic on the alternative frequency and after
returning to the primary frequency, additional stations had checked in.
* I maintained a net log using pencil/paper. Software would have
served me better. Recommend some training on 'Maintaining an electronic net
log during an exercise' in the coming months.
* Being NCS in an exercise is not -- repeat not -- the same thing as
being a regularly scheduled net control. More exercises -- perhaps 2 hours
instead of 3 -- would allow for additional members to gain the very very
valuable experience gained as an NCS during an exercise and thus better
prepare all of us for serving our Customers in an emergency.
* I experienced some problems locally with digital operations which
reiterate the need for more practice in sending/receiving digital traffic.
* Doubling stations but not very bad.
* MT63 modes Standard not used.
* Some stations not using standard message formats.
* Some MT-63 issues with 2K/long
* Mode switching caused delays
* One message came by airmail and one message came by e-mail during
the exercise. These were not responded to until after the exercise because
these modes were not monitored during the exercise as they were "not
working".
* Many duplicate transmissions.
* NCS need to develop better situation awareness, the second and third
NCS could or did not seem to be aware who was in the net when traffic was
listed.
* NCS needs to utilize the ANCS and slow the pace of the activity.
They in fact caused about half the doubles by not pausing after the proword
"out' lets not bastardize the acp, if the pace is too fast for them either
go the full procedures or full callsigns.
* The acp does not recognize any pauses to listen for doubling
stations...that is a mars invention.
* Again, the stations that do not practice digital ops are destined to
fail...
* The daily nets do not qualify one to run a drill net..and that is
why we instituted crazy ivan to put pressure on the NCS.
* Some traffic listings lost by NCS's.
* Lack of consistency in use of abbreviated call signs throughout
rgn3.
* Lot of net time wasted due to technical problems with digital modes.
* Stations reentering the net
* NCS using the wrong pro words and betting station call signs wrong.
* Tech problems with some of the digital programs.
* I could not get to any RMS with my secondary station - will have to
work on that one.
* Excessive doubling of transmissions
* Net controls not pausing after proword out.
* Individual station technical difficulties that should have been
worked out prior to the event.
* Sending too many messages to some "mail carrier" stations within too
short a period of time
* Never called on to receive any traffic as same reliable stations
called on repeatedly for taking traffic.
* Alternate frequencies were checked and propagation was too long for
stations closer than 100 miles.
* There was not any participation by other MARS service members, even
those that normally check into the /A nets.
* I notice that there was no use of the phone patch mode and I don't
know why it was not included in the exercise plan. This station was fully
equipped for all digital modes, including WINLINK and WINMOR and Phone patch
mode.
B. Successes Observed
* Lots of traffic that kept the net active the entire 3 hours.
* Good participation by at least 30% of the region
* Good mix of transmission modes which showed benefits of different
modes.
* New /t stations participated throughout the exercise.
* While recognizing that it is not be possible in an actual emergency,
the early assignment of net control responsibilities was positive in the
sense that NCS stations could mentally prepare for handling an exercise Net.
* Excellent steady flow of traffic throughout the 3-hour net due to
use of one station responding to traffic during the net, generating
additional traffic. Very realistic.
* Winlink system worked well
* All traffic was passed.
* New abbreviated procedures
* Volume of traffic handled
* This was one of the best exercises we have held. Well attended, no
dead time, /tangoes sent many messages, alternate frequency utilized.
* Many digital modes utilized.
* The digital qualified stations did a good job.
* All in all the NCS did a good job in getting the traffic passed.
The drill was a success.
* Use of mode-specific stations as relay stations.
* PA well organized and responded as hoped to request messages.
* AAT3PY actively received messages as backup recipient.
* Practice of asking stations if they are prepared to receive traffic
of a specific mode worked very well.
* Most digital stations did ok
* Transfer of NCS
* Much more digital operation and less emphasis on time consuming
voice mode transmissions.
* There was a more even dispersion of "traffic density" over the
period of the exercise.
* Fine performance from those acting as NCS; particularly gary aar3ab.
* Excellent turnout from the membership at large.
* Phone call up
* My station performed perfectly in all the digital modes. The newer
version 2.2 of mixw was more reliable than the older versions (2.19) that i
had been using.
* I feel the net was handled well.
* It was a productive exercise and all traffic was handled.
MARS EXERCISE
BT
NNNN
Maryland / DC Web Site: http://www.mdcarmymars.org/
Virginia / West Virginia Web Site: http://www.n8spg.com/mars/
Region 3 Web Site: http://www.rgn3armymars.org/
List Serve Administrator: John aar3ck@xxxxxxxxxxx
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- » [vamars_members] FW: AAA3VA NR 10-094 - VA/WV STATE AFTER ACTION REPORT - Bruce Freund
