This is part three of a multiple part series on the basics of NAVMARCORMARS Emergency Communications. This article deals with the origination and transmission of Essential Elements of Information (EEI) messages.

From NTP-8(C), Annex D, para D900:

"NAVMARCORMARS has been tasked by the Department of Defense to provide information in the event of a disaster. This is to be accomplished with a pro-forma message called Essential Elements of Information (EEI). Speed is critical."

An EEI message is to be sent by a MARS member at any time he or she has knowledge of a local disaster or situation in which the DoD might be interested. Broadly interpreted by most, the topics of actual event EEI messages, generally, have dealt with weather related phenomena, including the extent of damage caused by severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, snow and ice storms, and the like. Other situations that have resulted in actual event EEI submissions from Region Four’s membership have included hazardous materials spills, propagation of hazardous/explosive materials within an area or town, and widespread power failures.

In messages received in reply to actual event/EEI submissions, the DOMS has indicated (through Chief, MARS) that, where national news media coverage is not available, EEI messages provide the only first hand information the DoD receives. In many occasions, we’ve been told that our notification of events has been the first notice of a disaster or situation the DoD has received.

It is not necessary to Implement the MARS ECOM plan of an Area or Region in order to submit an actual event/EEI message. It is only necessary to send the message by the fastest possible means. Recently, Chief, MARS, announced that we can submit actual event EEI messages to the DOMS, FEMA, and MARS Hq using electronic mail. This authorization was announced in CMB 11-98 and is an effort to better meet the speed of delivery objective of the IMMEDIATE precedence EEI messages. In CMB 14-98, the list of addressees for email copies of actual event EEI messages was modified. If the occasion arises where you need to submit actual event EEI’s via email, please refer to those documents, or, to the Region Four web site in the ‘Emergency Communications’ section.

MARS ECOM exercise EEI messages are not to be sent by email. The DOMS and FEMA do not want to see copies of our practice messages. They should be placed into the RDN for delivery to addees not present on the voice net where they are transmitted.

EEI messages are, like most MARS ECOM-related messages, formatted using what computer gurus call ‘boiler plate’ templates. This means that, in order to format an EEI message, one should answer the questions and/or fill in the blanks as provided in the message format.

EEI messages always bear IMMEDIATE precedence. Remember, the speed of delivery objective associated with IMMEDIATE precedence messages is 30 minutes to three hours from the time of message origination.

The EEI message format calls for the inclusion of the abbreviation for the words ‘GROUP NO COUNT,’ to be placed between the last addee and the first break. While we in NAVMARCORMARS do not use Group Counts as part of our message formats, we have been directed to follow the EEI message format verbatim. So, we enter the abbreviation GR NC in the heading of the message just before the first break.

The only action addee of an EEI message, whether actual or exercise, is Chief MARS. The other addees, all of whom are INFO addees, are: NNN0ASZ, NNN0ASG, NNN0ASG One, NNN0ASG Two, the Area Coordinator, and the Area –Two.

NNN0ASZ has distributed via NTP-8(C), a list of EEI event identifiers that apply to many types of disaster situations. These identifiers, incidentally, are uniform across all three MARS services. This list can be found in para D902 of NTP-8(C), as well as the Region Four ECOM plan. If your exercise scenario doesn’t fit into one of the categories of disaster listed in those documents, it’s acceptable to use the exercise identifier that is used for your ECOM exercise.

An EEI message only consists of two paragraphs. There’s a hook, though: para one, however, has 8 subparas, identified as A thru H. When preparing an EEI message, all subparas must be included. If the information that para seeks is not available or unknown to you, say as much, but enter something in each para.

The text included in subparas A thru H of para 1 should be brief. Of course, an originator should use as many words as necessary to provide the requested information, but, should strive for clear, concise entries.

I will not attempt to go through and explain each subparagraph. The source documents, listed above and found at the end of this article display the format, which is fully self explanatory.

All stations are encouraged to provide follow up EEI messages to DOMS. If a situation is important enough to warrant sending an EEI message, it’s worth sending additional information along, as the situation further develops. On several occasions, stations here in Region Four have been specifically asked to provide follow up messages after having sent an initial EEI report.

Considering that any member can originate an EEI message at any time, it’s a good idea for each Area to conduct EEI formatting sessions on Area training and traffic nets. Additionally, it’s a good idea to do some training with your digitally capable stations so that each knows how to format and enter these types of messages into the RDN. Finally, it’s also a good idea to give your NECOS some additional training in assigning proper relay instructions during traffic and ECOM exercise nets.

Considering the fickle nature of this Region’s weather patterns, it is far more likely that stations will send actual event EEI messages during their MARS career than SITREPs – yet, during ECOM exercises, we, traditionally, demand our participants send SITREPs. We have not, as a rule, asked them to send EEI messages. They are lengthy messages, even with brief entries in each paragraph. They are, however, very important messages, of which Chief, MARS, the DoD, the DOMS, and FEMA take note. Perhaps our emphasis on SITREPs should be tempered a bit and intensive EEI training undertaken by Area –Two’s and -Fours.

When planning additional training on the formatting and sending EEI messages, here are some of the problems encountered during the first two quarters of 1998’s ECOM activity in the Region:

1. No relay instructions given by NECOS when directing originator to pass an EEI message. The EEI message was never delivered to any addee not present on the net where it was originated by voice.
2. EEI messages misrouted due to improper or inaccurate addressing and improper or inaccurate routing instructions
3. EEI message misrouted (or dead letter filed) because of operator’s lack of knowledge in transmitting multi-addee messages to AA4RE systems.
4. EEI message format confused with SITREPs and IMPLEMENTATION messages and contained wrong information.
5. EEI messages delayed from 12 to 24 hrs because the digital relaying station did not want to take the time or know how to enter it into the RDN.

EEI messages are an important element of our ECOM program, even though they can be originated outside of an ECOM implementation. If your Area needs additional work regarding how to format, originate, or pass by voice or digital means these important messages, all the resources are readily available to you. Again, refer to the following source documents for details:

NTP-8(C), Annex D

Region Four Operations Guide, Annex C

CMB 11-98

CMB 14-98

CMB 15-98