Prepared for and transmitted on the Region Four ECOM/Training net, the 4X1Z, 302230Z JUL 98.
This is the second of a multiple part series on the basics of Emergency
Communications in
Navy-Marine Corps MARS. This evening’s topic is Situation Reports,
or, as we commonly refer to
them: SITREPs.
All MARS members who are participating in an ECOM net, either actual
or emergency, are
responsible to prepare and transmit periodic reports and submit them
to the Area (or Region) chain of
command. MARS regulations specify that these reports, or SITREPs, are
to be sent at least once every six hours. They may, of course, be sent
more often than that, depending on the situation, and, in the
case of a MARS ECOM exercise, the exercise scenario or Area Coordinator
may specify that
SITREPs are to be sent more often than once every six hours.
The purpose of the SITREP is to provide MARS managers with a view of
the situation across an
affected area as well as provide them a peek into how their network
assets may be affected over the
course of the next few hours.
Unless the disaster is of truly large proportions, most stations participating
in an ECOM net will not be
at the scene of a disaster,. For those stations, we use the SITREP
Format found on page 10 of the
Region Four ECOM plan. For stations located AT the scene of a disaster,
the format to use is
illustrated on page 11 of that same document. The difference between
the two documents is found in
the header. Stations NOT at the scene of a disaster will address their
SITREPs to the Area
Coordinator, INFO the Area Two. Those AT the scene of a disaster will
submit this report to
NNN0ASG INFO the Area Coordinator, the Area Two, NNN0ASG Two, and,
based on recent
directives from NNN0ASG, a copy also goes to NNN0ASG One..
The reason for the different addees of the two types of SITREPs is obvious:
The Region Director is
responsible to marshal MARS assets and act as a liaison between the
Dept. of the Navy and
governmental disaster relief agencies. That’s why the Director is the
only ACTION addee of an ‘at the
scene’ SITREP. In most cases, the only ‘at the scene’ SITREPs one would
expect would be
transmitted from a deployed ART unit. Everybody else’s SITREPs go to
the Area Coordinator, who is
expected to consolidate them into a single Area (or CONSOLIDATED) SITREP
and forward that
message to NNN0ASG. Remember, folks, that MARS is a military operation
and the chain of
command in Region Four always points to Great Lakes.
So...the headings of a SITREP message depend on where the originating
station is located with regard
to the actual disaster. We’ll take a detailed look at a SITREP for
stations NOT at the scene of the
disaster:.
Para 1 asks for a BRIEF rundown of the situation at your station. The
operative words in this sentence
are BRIEF and YOUR STATION. We’re not looking to hear how the neighborhood
street lights aren’t
working, or that your 1975 Chevy’s carburetor got hit by flying debris.
What we ARE looking for is the
current status of YOUR RADIO STATION. For example, Para 1 might read:
"OPERATING ON
BATTERY POWER WITH REDUCED OUTPUT." or, Para 1 might read: "NORMAL
- PERIOD"
Para 2 asks for your present operating frequency or net identifier.
That’s pretty simple, but, it has,
nonetheless, provided some confusion. If you are operating on a regularly
scheduled net whose
operating frequency and schedule are published within the Region, go
ahead and put the net identifier in
this paragraph. If this is an unscheduled net, however, enter your
current operating frequency in KHZ.
This might read, for example, 7375 KHZ. You do not need to enter the
mode you are operating - it isn’t
asked for, and, it’s assumed to be USB. That’s it for this paragraph.
Nothing more is needed. However,
there are those that always ask ‘Why do I have to give my operating
frequency when we’re all on the
same net?" The answer: In the event of a widespread disaster, there
will be SEVERAL nets operating
at one time. Some within the area, some providing tactical support
between Areas, some at Region
level, and, some inter-Regional nets providing tactical support. The
purpose of providing the frequency
in this paragraph is so that the Area Coordinator who will, in the
event of a disaster, have his or her
hands very full, will know WHO IS OPERATING and WHERE TO FIND THEM.
Para 3 of the SITREP format asks for a BRIEF (there’s that word again!)
Station status advisory and
any needs. You can use this para to amplify on para 1 and to advise
if you anticipate any needs. For
example, you might say "3. STATION IS NOT DIGITALLY CAPABLE WITHOUT
AC POWER.
NEED GENERATOR." Good luck on getting it...but, if you don’t ask, you’ll
never receive. Again, if
everything’s OK, ‘NEGATIVE,’ ‘NO CHANGE,’ or NOT AVAILABLE,’ can be
entered here.
Para 4 of the SITREP asks for your station’s prognosis for the next
two hours. Here’s where the Area
Coordinator (or the Region Director) is asking you to look into your
crystal ball so that he or she can
make an educated guess as to what communications resources can be depended
upon in the next few
hours. Be BRIEF and to the point: For example, Para 4 might read: WILL
NEED GENERATOR
FUEL IN ONE HOUR. Or, it might read ‘4. GOOD.’
Para 5 of the SITREP format asks for ‘any problems you’re experiencing
or other pertinent
information. Be BRIEF (boy...that’s a popular word). OK...any problems
you’re experiencing covers a
lot of territory. Here, you might want to mention that your part of
the city, town, county, or whatever, is
being evacuated due to toxic fumes, flooding, or whatever. You might
want to mention that the on
scene Nat’l Guard commander thinks you’re a spy sending vital secrets
to the enemy and you need
somebody to talk to his CO... If you’re having some kind of special
problem with your radio station, this
is where the information should go. Again, this should not include
a dissertation on how VFO’s aren’t
stable in high winds...or how PK-232's don’t float. Just a brief note.
If you’re having no problems, enter the words ‘Negative,’ ‘No change,’
or ‘Not available.’
Don’t leave any of the paragraphs out. Enter SOMETHING in every paragraph,
even if it’s a
‘negative’ response.
Remember – we have the means to talk about the scope of the disaster,
how many people have been
injured, what roads and hospitals are open, and so forth, through the
Essential Elements of Information
messages -- and, in this case, the reporting stations are not at the
scene, anyhow, so have little
information that is relevant to the disaster relief operation. SITREPS
are designed to tell MARS
managers what the situation is at YOUR RADIO STATION.
Now...for the Area Coordinators, we’ll talk about CONSOLIDATED SITREPs.
These, too, should be sent to the Region Director, INFO NNN0ASG Two
and NNN0ASG One, once
every six hours or sooner, as conditions warrant. To my knowledge,
no format for CONSOLIDATED
SITREPs has been published, so, we’ll base ours on the basic SITREP
format. Simply apply the
information requested in each of the 5 paragraphs of the basic SITREP
to your entire area. In this
example, note that I’ve used an ART unit callsign, NNN0DDE, as a station
at the scene of the disaster, which may or may not be the case. Also note
that this area is operating two ECOM nets, each on 4
MHz.
P DTGZ JUL 98
FM NNN0GAP IL
TO NNN0ASG IL
INFO NNN0ASG TWO IL
NNN0ASG ONE MI
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ: SITREP ONE
1. NNN0DDE AT SCENE REPORTS TOXIC CLOUD NOW COVERS TEN SQUARE
MILE
AREA. STATIONS OUTSIDE THE AREA NORMAL.
2. 4008.5 KHZ 4042.5 KHZ
3. NNN0DDE REQUIRES ADDITIONAL BATTERIES FOR VHF EQUIPMENT. NEED
7 MHZ
FREQ FOR LIAISON WITH WI AREA.
4. ALL STATIONS GOOD.
5. INTERFERENCE FROM REGION ONE NET ON 4008.5 KHZ.
BT
NNNN
So, that’s a CONSOLIDATED SITREP. And, that about wraps up SITREPs,
in general. Rely on the
formats found on pages 9 thru 12 in the Region Four ECOM plan, fill
in the blanks, and transmit the
message.