NEWS
Army MARS Resumes Use of WinLink 2000
According to Pudge Forrester, AAA9GL, government liaison for Army MARS, Lieutenant General Susan Lawrence has reversed the decision to phase out the use of the WinLink 2000 global radio e-mail system by Army MARS members.
Gen. Lawrence stated that the Army, after reviewing its capabilities, had decided that the continued use of WinLink 2000 was a valuable asset to Army MARS members and agencies that were using the service. She issued a statement to that effect on December 21, 2011. On January 5, 2012, the Chief of Army MARS officially notified his membership that the phase out notice had been rescinded.
Army MARS members and agencies who had been using the service hailed the decision by Gen. Lawrence and resumed use of WinLink 2000.
Army MARS Phasing Out WINLINK
The Department of the Army has announced that it has begun to take steps to phase out the use of the WINLINKSystem. The military chain of command that governs Army MARS feels that the Internet portion of WL2K leaves the system significantly open to possible intrusion. To deal with this it plans to replace WINLINK with a newer military e-mail system that has extensive protection against any form of intrusion.
To replace the WL2K system, Army MARS will be expanding on the concept of a national network that is voice, RTTY, MIL-STD 110A and PACTOR capable. The focus of digital communication will be MIL-STD 188-110A, wide shift RTTY, and PACTOR III. PACTOR will become even more important as the new areas of focus will be “Peer to Peer” and “Keyboard to Keyboard” PACTOR communications. Amateur modes such as MT-63, OLIVIA, and WINMOR, which cannot be used by the military will be eventually phased out as well.
A large contingent of skilled volunteer MARS operators will be required to make this system work effectively and this is where current and prospective Army MARS members will be needed. The goal will be to help Army MARS return to what it is really supposed to be: A radio-only system to relay long haul traffic across the CONUS and OCONUS.
While these changes will affect Army MARS nationally, they are not abandoning state and local agencies. They are just moving away from giving them a winlink.org e-mail address. As they move forward, Army MARS will be able to offer these agencies the ability to relay traffic across the MARS radio-only network to anywhere across the country including such places as the Pentagon, National Guard Bureau, and the U.S. Army for requesting military support in a disaster. – Thanks, Mike Corey, KI1U, ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager