Story by Sgt Paul Thompson

Copyright Marine Corps Association Jan 1968

THIS IS the Commandant, General Greene, calling Corporal Fields . . . can you read me . . . over."

That was the opening message which went out from the Military Affiliate Radio System's new station at Headquarters Marine Corps. The general's message was sent to two corporals stationed in the Da Nang, Vietnam, area. He spoke first with Cpl Timothy L. Fields, of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-363. Later, he spoke with Cpl John Palm, of Headquarters and Service Company, 3d Bn., 26th Marines. Both men had been recently cited for their actions in combat.

The Henderson Hall MARS station had been off the air for two and a half months during which it had been moved from its old site, in Building One, to its new location in the Henderson Hall Special Services building.

The officer in charge of the station is 2dLt Charles L. Arnold. "We started with an empty room," he said. "It had to be wired, the equipment set up and an antenna erected -and, believe me, it took a lot of work from all hands."

SSgt John D. Littleton, who operated the radio equipment for the Commandant, stated, "Now that General Greene has officially opened the station, we will be on the air more than 18 hours a day at a minimum." He explained that a MARS station's primary mission is to maintain contact with the network of Marine Corps-sponsored stations on a world-wide basis. A station must be capable of emergency communications on a local, national or international basis and must provide a rapid means for the exchange of morale, welfare and semi-official communications for Marines and their dependents.

"For Marines and their dependents" is the part of the station's mission that most Marines appreciate. This means phone calls home from almost anywhere in the world.  A Marine in Vietnam, for example, can talk with his wife or parents anywhere in the United States. All the Marine has to do is get to the station closest to him and place the call. On his end, he talks into transmitter. A receiving unit, in the States, closest to the Marine's home town, places a telephone call and the phone is then hooked into the transmitter at that end. At times, the connections can be made in just matter of minutes.

SSgt Littleton was quick to point out that these calls can only be made from the Marine's end. He explained, "If a sergeant's wife called us and wanted to speak to her husband, we would have no way of getting in touch with him . . . he could be out on a patrol or many miles away from the MARS station when we placed her call." He added, however, that they do handle emergency messages. These are short notes that are sent to the individual concerned, much the same way that a telegram is sent.

Lt Arnold stressed the fact that a MARS station's facilities are for use by "all hands." No one in the Marine Corps is restricted from its use.

The MARS Radio System went into existence in November 1948, in a program sponsored by the Army and Air Force. On January 2, 1963, Navy-Marine Corps MARS stations commenced a limited operation within the continental United States, with volunteer assistance from amateurs, Navy, Naval Reserve and Marine Corps personnel.

Navy-Marine MARS is now comprised of approximately 7,000 licensed amateur radio operators in all walks of life. Twenty-seven Marine Corps-sponsored stations make up a network within the Corps which operates to serve Marines and their families assigned to, or near, most major or isolated installations. By handling morale traffic, or "phone patches," as they call them, and semi-official messages, MARS has developed a capability for providing its respective services with communications in areas where normal communications do not exist, are overloaded, or are disrupted by natural or other causes. In addition to the emergency communication potential and "phone patch" traffic service which MARS provides its organization ensures a reservoir of trained communicators for the military services in periods of national emergencies.

Just one example of the pride which is reflected in their work was demonstrated last June.

LCpl Irwin R. Rasmussen, of the Force Logistic Command in Vietnam, placed a call to his wife only to learn she had left for the hospital moments before-in a "race with the stork."

To help ease the mind of the expectant father, the MARS station operator stayed in contact with the young Marine's father-in-law, some 10,000 miles away. Finally, eight hours after the original call, Rasmussen learned he was the father of a seven-and-a-half-pound boy.

The service performed by the personnel of MARS is becoming an ever increasing part in the everyday life of the average Marine. A talk with the folks at home, from any of the six radio stations located within the Third Marine Amphibious Force area in Vietnam, or any of the major stations in the States, can do wonders for morale. Nothing could replace a talk with loved ones back home, even if it has to be an ocean away.

The 27 Military Affiliate Radio System Stations throughout the Marine Corps are manned by a dedicated group of professionals whose primary mission is to help the individual Marine.