I had been a licensed ham (Novice) in high school but was off the air from 1964 until 1989 (25 years), when my former MARS Nam friend Dennis Vernacchia (N6KI) got me back on the air.  I was appointed National Public Relations Officer (AAA9PR) of Army MARS during Desert Shield/Storm (1990-1993), during which time I researched my MARS Nam book, but quit in 1993 to protest the total incompetence of the Chief of Army MARS & the MARS bureaucracy, which actually impeded phone patches during the Gulf War.  Like most other MARS Nam ops, I have since then stayed away from MARS. It "was" a good system but has not served the needs of the troops for a long time now.

Read my 1994 MARS Vietnam book -- it relates many experiences.