Putting the Army MARS HF Voice and Digital Communications Systems Through a Successful Test in "Sidewinder"
Hurricane Simulation Exercise

     The 2007 Atlantic storm season hadn't even arrived yet, and "Hurricane Susan" was entirely fictitious. But no matter; the storm alert from Transportation Security Administration headquarters sent special teams of emergency responders scurrying to duty stations from Miami to Houston and beyond.

Jeffrey Smith W4ZH (AAN4PNS), a federal screener at Pensacola Regional Airport, operates the TSA emergency HF rig during Opertion Sidewinder.

     Their mission: testing a new backup communication link for airports in case a weather or terrorist event ever wipes out commercial phone and data lines, as Katrina did two years ago.
Operation Sidewinder, staged on March 28, provided the first comprehensive demonstration of the TSA's partnership with the Army Military Affiliate Radio System. MARS is the Pentagon-sponsored organization of volunteer amateur radio operators supporting federal agencies during emergencies, totaling some 5,000 members in the separate Army, Air Force and Navy-Marine Corps branches.

     Most people know the TSA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, for its role screening airline passengers and luggage. However, its mandate extends well beyond that--as MARS members learned when the Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Army Signal Command signed a comprehensive mutual aid agreement with TSA last year. The months since then have been spent in hurried preparation for the June 1 start of the hurricane season

     For this first major trial, Army MARS mobilized its new Winlink digital communications system, with Air Force and Navy-Marine Corps MARS members in active support. Winlink is the amateur-developed hybrid technology that combines HF radio and the Internet for seamless, virtually instant transmission of digital messages. Long-distance radio sidesteps the vulnerability of ground-based infrastructure. The Internet gives it automatic "last mile" connectivity to any installation with a functioning e-mail address.

     "The TSA/MARS deployment capabilities were fully demonstrated and performed without error," said TSA's summary report from busy Tucson (AZ) International Airport, where government officials joined Army MARS senior staff in monitoring the exercise. "Very few problems were encountered during the exercise and all members operated professionally and were able to successfully demonstrate the objectives…"

     Army MARS Chief Stuart Carter put it succinctly in a message to his 2,600 members at day's end: "You were awesome."

     Basically, Sidewinder set out to demonstrate three things. One, the Army MARS Winlink system readily meets the requirements of a major government agency coping with an emergency. Two, alternative MARS HF and VHF radio channels are equally adaptable to tactical command and control needs. Three, MARS can set up quickly for remote operation almost anywhere.

     The TSA script called for a category three hurricane (96-113 knot winds) making landfall at Miami, crossing to the Gulf of Mexico at Ft Myers, brushing Pensacola FL before heading on toward Houston. As a side test for MARS capability in multiple emergencies, TSA Washington staffer Michael Barrett K3MMB (military call sign AAT3NP), the agency's coordinator with Army MARS, added a possible terrorist operation running concurrently. Barrett watched his scenario unfold from Tucson.

     Before the day was over, MARS members from the East Coast to Arizona--MARS/FEMA regions 3,4,5, and 9-had established emergency nets with a steady flow of hypothetical "situational awareness reports" or EEIs (Essential Elements of Information, in the old MARS parlance). The Texas Army MARS Winlink gateway AAB6TX logged 236 exercise messages. This was on top of secondary voice and MT63 digital traffic.

     From start to finish, interoperability reigned. At Miami International, it was an Air Force MARS member, Michael Green WA4ZVW (AFA2MY) who activated the TSA Winlink station and dispatched the initial EEI, reporting airport operations shut down with winds clocked at 115 mph.

     At Ft Myers, where the government station was still being installed, Army member Terri Lane KI4MGF (AAR4BO) filed three reports by voice from her home station to the Army MARS headquarters gateway at Ft Huachuca AZ. Mrs. Lane, who has a daughter in the National Guard, had completed her MARS training barely a month previous.

     At Pensacola a federal airport screener, Jeff Smith, brought up TSA's AAN4PNS portable unit after intense training in Mobile with Jim Burrows N4RLM (NNN0SYH), the Navy-MC MARS region four emergency operations officer, and two fellow Alabama members. Smith W4ZH was already Ham-licensed-since age 14-and had worked on airways ground equipment before joining TSA in 2005.
During the exercise, Jeff made voice contact with Arkansas operator Jim Rorie KC5DCJ (AAR6PW) on SSB, filed an EEI via Winlink to Ft Huachuca and Tucson, and kept in e-mail communication with his base station at the airport. Although inactive on the Ham bands for almost 10 years, he said afterward, "Now I'm hooked on HF e-mail and MARS and can't wait to save up and get a HF radio again."

     Meanwhile Wayne Staats WS8RM (AAR5QX ) in northern Ohio reacted to the TSA's terrorist activity warning. He reported (fictitious) incidents on the Ohio Turnpike that triggered air and communications interruptions across the Cleveland area. "Area cellular service has been shut down to prevent detonation by cell phone," Staats messaged.

     Watching it all was the anchor station for Operation Sidewinder, AAN9TUS, at TSA officials on the scene included the Tucson Federal Security Director John Sides, Senior Field Executives Michael Restovich and Pat Alstrom, Deputy Western Area Director Jeanette Parker and Emergency Coordinator Tom Maruyama.

     The MARS operating team was led by Grant Hays WB6OTS (AAA9O), Army MARS Director-Operations from Ft Huachuca. It included MARS Frequency Manager Dwayne Smith KK7VE (AAA9F) and Arizona members Al West K7JUB (AAR9ED/T), a federal screener at the airport, and Jim Wooddell K7WFR (AAM9RT) the region 9 training officer. Hays suggested "Sidewinder" for the name of the exercise-after Tucson's AAA baseball club.

     Atop the EOC, a Cobra Senior multiwire broadband doublet antenna up 70 feet fed the TSA's IC-746PRO equipped for Pactor III. The exercise scenario routed all emergency here as well as to AAA9USA at Ft Huachuca which also handled voice on Army MARS national "911" frequencies.

     Outside, Larry Collins K7DMB (AAT9CB), from Las Vegas, backed up AAN2TUS from his F-150 pickup that carries a completely-equipped mobile Winlink station with everything from auxiliary generator to all-in-one computer printer. Setting a strong example for other MARS deployment teams, Collins lugged along tent, sleeping bag and seven days' food and water.

     TSA said the Tucson location was chosen because both local and long haul emergency communications could be monitored there and Army MARS headquarters was strategically nearby (50 miles) at Ft Huachuca. "The goal was to demonstrate Command and Control capabilities being established in non-traditional sites," the agency said.

     Other TSA stations joined in from Dallas-Ft Worth, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houston and Charleston WV. At Charleston's Yeager Airport, the 10-member MARS support team handled 50 text messages along with several photos. Additional participants included the Pentagon's AAN3PNT, the Army North headquarters at Ft Sam Houston, San Antonio; FEMA Region 6, and the Texas State EOC-plus as-yet untallied dozens of Army, Air Force and Navy-MC MARS members who joined on their own initiative.

     Miserable propagation conditions gave a convincing demonstration of the robustness of Winlink and digital modes like MT63, but they handicapped the planned phone patching via HF radio. Nevertheless Larry Walker K4LLQ (AAT3PY) in Warrenton VA succeeded in completing a voice connection for Mike Cleveland, the West Virginia federal security director in Charleston, to his counterpart John Sides at Tucson.

Said Carter in his report to higher headquarters:

     "Army MARS provides an unparalleled emergency response capability which is low cost, accessible from anywhere in the continental U.S., always available, has no competition for bandwidth, has 2,600 licensed operators, and has Army MARS-developed HF e-mail capability."

     During Operation Sidewinder, he added, "Army MARS demonstrated its long-haul HF connectivity, local VHF communications, HF e-mail, WiFi computer interface with HF radio for e-mail transmissions, a TSA mobile house trailer with Army MARS HF radio in operation, an Army MARS volunteer's vehicle capable of indefinite HF operations, and two small/light/portable HF suites."

     For some Hams, at least, Sidewinder definitely marked the debut of a new kind of amateur connectivity—via handheld wireless device. Reported Carter: "E-mail sent to the TSA attendees' Blackberry's showed them first-hand that even though sunspot activity was at an historical high and propagation was at an historical low, the messages got through."

     "Awesome" sounds about right.

Contact Bill Sexton:

Army MARS Public Affairs
AAA9PC / AAR1FP / N1IN
P O Box 428 Richmond MA 01254
LL 413-698-3247 cell 413-329-9974