Intercept

Mars Alert
>AFA6DJ NR 006
>142307Z JUN 04
>FM AFA6DJ SEC CA
>TO ECOMCA LISTING
>BT
>Subject: ECOM BDCST 04-34 GF-04 UPDATE
>AFN1EC NR 034
>R 141230Z JUN 04
>FM AFN1EC ME
>TO USAF MARS
>INFO AGA3C IL
>INFO ARMY MARS
>INFO NAVY/MARINE CORPS MARS
>BT
>MARSEX GRECIAN FIREBOLT 04
>SUBJECT: ALERT NOTIFICATION - HIDDEN SHADOW EASTERN AREA UPDATE
>REF: AAA9E NR 85 R 111545Z JUN 04
>1. SITUATION. DUE TO AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF REPORTED
>TERRORIST ACTIVITIES OCCURRING WITHIN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED
>STATES (CONUS) AND INTELLIGENCE REPORTS RECEIVED WITHIN THE PAST
>48 HOURS ALL STATIONS SHOULD UPGRADE THEIR AWARENESS OF
>POTENTIAL TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WITHIN THEIR REGIONS. IT STILL
>APPEARS THAT VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF COMMERCIAL UTILITIES
>(ELECTRIC POWER, WATER, NATURAL GAS), COMMUNICATIONS, AND
>TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ARE THE PRIMARY TARGETS.
>2. MISSION. ALL STATIONS BE PREPARED TO ISSUE EEI REPORTS AND
>OTHER APPROPRIATE REPORTS AS EVENTS OCCUR IAW ECOM PLANS.
>IF REGULAR COMMUNICATIONS FAIL IN YOUR AREA OF OPERATION BE
>PREPARED TO PROVIDE BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS TO LOCAL/STATE
>EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCIES AS NEEDED. STATIONS OUTSIDE
>IMMEDIATE AFFECTED AREAS SHOULD BE ON STANDBY TO RECEIVE/
>RELAY EMERGENCY TRAFFIC. HQ US ARMY MARS HAS BEEN TASKED TO
>HAVE A FLYAWAY TEAM ON STANDBY IN ANTICIPATION OF COMING EVENTS
>AND POTENTIAL DEPLOYMENT.
>3. EXECUTION: UPON RECEIVED ORDER FROM STATE OR REGIONAL MARS
>LEADERSHIP, ACTIVATE NETS IAW STATE, REGIONAL AND JOINT PLANS.
>STATIONS ARE REMINDED THAT IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO AWAIT
>INSTRUCTIONS FROM STATE STAFF TO OPEN EMERGENCY NETS
>WHEN THE LOCAL SITUATION WARRANTS ACTIVATION.
>4. COMMAND AND SIGNAL:
>A. AAA9A - OVERALL CONTROL
>AAA9E - EASTERN AREA STATIONS
>AAA9W - WESTERN AREA STATIONS
>DESIGNATED STATE DIRECTORS AND STAFF
>B. ACTUAL INCIDENT TRAFFIC ALWAYS HAS PRIORITY OVER EXERCISE.
>IN THE EVENT OF ACTUAL INCIDENTS IN YOUR STATE, STAND-DOWN THE
>EXERCISE NETS IN YOUR AREA TO HANDLE ACTUAL INCIDENTS. DO NOT
>RESUME EXERCISE TRAFFIC IN YOUR STATE/AREA UNTIL ACTUAL INCIDENT
>TRAFFIC IS COMPLETED OR AS DIRECTED BY YOUR STATE STAFF.
>5. AIR FORCE MARS: PROVIDING THE REINS OF
>COMMAND--IN EMERGENCIES
>6. SGD CMSGT MARSTERS, USAF, NATIONAL
>EMERGENCY COORDINATOR/AFN1EC
>MARSEX GRECIAN FIREBOLT 04
>BT
>NNNN
>/EX

And where did you get this from?

I guess the content seems believable.
Is it common for them to use all caps in their messages and to send it in clear text rather than encrypted?

signa, what do you think about this intercept? It would be nice to hear your comments about it, that way, this could be discussed more intelligently.

If that one is "NR 006" then I found "NR 016" & "NR 017" here:

www.qsl.net...
www.qsl.net...

no explanation though.
actually, there are lots one level up, same site,
www.qsl.net...

...it's like following breadcrumbs...
www.qsl.net...

home!
www.qsl.net...

"ABOUT QSL.NET "Connecting Hams around the world!"

QSl.NET was started in the Winter of 1996 by K3TKJ as an experiment in managing a live Internet network and learning the Linux Operating System"

[edit on 15-6-2004 by Spectre]

And here is where it has led me. I found out about MARS. Here is some more information. Something about SHARES stations and exercises of terrorist attack simulations occuring in the month of June 2004. This could be why parts of the Internet were not working.

SHARES EXERCISE PDF FILE

SHARES Operations

Just wondering about the wording It IS Ham radio MARS info I can not and will never reveal personal sources . Sorry I do find it interesting the TuTu canceled a fundraiser in Alabama for an emergency.
www.newsday.com...
I posted it as a heads up and I take it as seriously as it was sent to me.

East coast ?
Hidden Shadow ??
Don't know Just know that I am staying home for the next 48 hours.

BTW here is some info on Mars

The Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) is a Department of Defense sponsored program, established as separately managed and operated programs by the Army, Navy-Marine Corps and Air Force.
MARS members are volunteer licensed amateur radio operators who are interested in providing auxiliary or emergency communications to local, national and international emergency and safety organizations, as an adjunct to normal communications. The primary concept of MARS is to meet the requirements of training for any communications emergency.
To this end, organization, methods and facilities must be adequate to meet any emergency requirements and must be flexible in order to provide for rapid expansion. Normal methods must be such that only minor changes will be required when shifting to an emergency status.


The Mission of MARS is to:
1. Provide auxiliary communications for military, federal and local disaster management officials during periods of emergency or while conducting drills in emergency procedures.
2. Assist in effecting normal communications under emergency conditions.
3. Create interest and furnish a means of training members in military communications procedures and provide a potential reserve of trained communications personnel.
4. Handle morale and quasi-official message and voice communications traffic for members of the Armed Forces and authorized U.S. Government civilian personnel stationed throughout the world.
5. Provide, during daily routine operations, a method of exchanging MARSGRAMS and two-way telephone contacts between service personnel and their families back home. In carrying out this assignment, MARS operates a 24-hour message relay system and maintains a series of electronic mailboxes throughout the world.
6. Conduct daily traffic and training nets, drills and critiques to train operators and test the systems readiness to handle demands during an emergency.



[edit on 15-6-2004 by signa]

This appears to be properly formatted message traffic with the exception of the classification which should be at the top of the message (i.e. Unclassified, FOUO, SECRET) . Someone can get in BIG trouble for displaying this stuff if it is classified. There is a slash followed by 4 N's at the end ( /NNNN) indicating the end of the message, but someone cut off the first part and leaving the date-time group (DTG) at the top of the message. HMMMMM.

I used to work with a MARS station in Korea, in the 1st Signal Brigade, in the Army. My company was responsible for all communications in Korea, television, radio, internet, telephone, etc. They had a thing there called a MARS Gram. They had boxes all throughout the bases in Korea, and you would write a message to whomever in the states, and the volunteers in the states would call up the recepient and read them the message. I heard that it used to be quite popular, a cheap way to give a message to your loved ones when you are overseas. But since everyone has e-mail now, we used to get maybe, 2 messages a month, if we were lucky, to send back home. They were thinking of closing the whole system down, since no one uses it, at least in that capacity. It was such an obsolete system, we couldn't believe our tax dollars were paying to keep it afloat.

There is a good bit of information on the web about past exercises including a staff roster for the 2004 exercise. I'll put a snippet in here and link to the rest.

US Army
Military Affiliate Radio System
Grecian Firebolt 2004
MARS Forward Operations Cell - Staffing Calendar
Date Day Shift Duty Callsign/Name State / Unit

5 JUNE SAT 1200 - 2100Z Station Setup AAM3O / John DE ARMARS
AAT3KG / John DE ARMARS
AAT3LT / Scott PA ARMARS
AFA1PU / Gary MD AFMARS
AAR2FG/T / Grant NY ARMARS

www.armymars.net...

I'm going to give looking into this a rest even though it is pretty interesting. The ALL CAPS thing is giving me a headache.

It appears to be a yearly exercise (I hope)

Army exercise puts comm to test
BY Margaret A.T. Reed
June 13, 2003

As part of its continued efforts in the war on terrorism, the Army is testing its latest communication technology to ensure that secure connections are always available, whether on the battlefield or at home.

The exercise, known as Grecian Firebolt 2003, is being held at Fort Meade, Md., June 9-20. It is the world's largest peacetime communications exercise and it is designed to test new communication initiatives and systems against realistic scenarios.

The Army hopes that this exercise will ensure it is able "to provide a seamless network all across the board," said Maj. Gen. George Bowman, commander of the 311th Theater Signal Command. The exercise also enables the Army to test whether its systems are interoperable with other agencies, such as the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Army is conducting testing using the Defense Collaborative Tool Suite to communicate with federal agencies. DCTS is a set of commercial products intended to enable geographically separated users to chat, conduct videoconferences and share documents, slides and applications online.

The importance of effective and secure communications to the Army's ability to function is evidenced by the $1.4 million in funding given to the Grecian Firebolt program, more than any other Reserve exercise. The money has allowed the base to purchase the latest technology in order to keep up with the needs of active military around the world.

The specific goals of the Grecian Firebolt exercise are to employ new systems, train users in new capabilities, operate at multiple command-and-staff levels, and apply modern information assurance processes.

Specifically, one improvement made to communications is the creation of a layered approach to information assurance. In the past, one security checkpoint cleared access to a broad range of information. The layered approach protects information by placing checkpoints at each layer as data is passed from one location to another.

Testing these objectives is not simply the responsibility of the 311th Theater Signal Command. The reserve unit coordinates its exercise with units from across the globe to ensure that, if called upon, different bases will be able to work in concert with one another to establish secure connections for the army to use.

"We are taking the lessons learned from the field and then refocusing on what skill sets our soldiers need to have to support the commanders in the field," Bowman said.


www.fcw.com...