By Nancy A. Bock

For service men and women around the globe, the best way to get a message home often comes via MARS. MARS is an acronym for military affiliate radio system, with separate groups serving the Army, Navy/Marine Corps, and Air Force.

There are currently an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 ham radio operators in the U.S. alone. Of those, less than 1%, about 4,000, belong to the Army MARS program, with similar numbers for the other branch services.

The MARS operators, who are essentially civilian ham radio hobbyists, work under the authority and direction of the Department of Defense (DOD). They provide a link between military personnel stationed in Asia or the Persian Gulf with their family and friends at home. All of these volunteers not only do not receive pay for the long hours they spend at their stations, but must purchase and maintain their own equipment.

On Long Island alone, there are dozens of MARS operators, like Jerry Singer (SIC) of Fort Salonga. A volunteer, he has upgraded his equipment several times and obtained a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license before joining the MARS program.

While his antenna is high by some standards, it is state of the art and provides the best transmission capabilities in the area. When someone else's equipment does not quite meet the need, Singer's can do the job, experts said.

Using a phone-patch, someone stationed overseas can contact a military base which has a MARS hookup. The base then radios to a MARS operator in the U.S. who can then connect the call back to the telephone system and then to the stateside party.

During the holiday season, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, the stateside telephone call is provided free by Sprint, using a special telephone number. The MARS operator simply places the call to anywhere in the country.

"It's such a joy to relay a message from a parent who's far away," said Bernard Unger, the MARS area coordinator, who has a system at his home in Malverne.

A MARS-gram, or message relayed from one party to the other, is still the most cost-effective way for international communication, particularly where phones are rare or unreliable. "Over the years, handling the 'traffic,' I've heard about a million ways to say 'I love you'," Unger recalled.

Although he admits it's sometimes difficult when you get caught in the middle of a long-distance argument or problem, most of the time the rewards outweigh the sacrifice, he said.

There are certain rules to follow when phrasing a message on a radio, Unger said, adding that the military style of speech is easy to adapt to once you get the hang of it.

Discussing a recent application in Smithtown for a variance to

permit a tall antenna by a MARS operator, Councilman Michael Hollander recalled how friends had used ham radio operators to communicate with servicemen during the Vietnam War. "They would go over to someone's house who had the radios and talk to guys in Vietnam," he recalled. "It was great. These guys provide a wonderful service.

Because individuals must pay for and install their own equipment, the quality and range each MARS operator can deliver varies greatly. Unger said that because Singer has invested in his equipment so that it minimizes distortion and interference, he is able "to deliver the mail" when others can't.

In fact, Singer has been asked to install a node on his equipment to fix a breach in the packet radio system which uses

computers to send the messages within the MARS system. This would reconnect all U.S. MARS packet operators north of Long Island who have been unable to work around the gap.

The U.S. Army Signal Corps first formed the network of ham radio operators in 1925. It was renamed MARS in 1948. Its primary purpose is to provide the DOD with emergency communications on a local, national and international level.

In addition, it provides emergency communications for military, federal, civil and disaster support agencies year round. In the event of a natural disaster or national crisis, the MARS network can often   bridge breakdowns in normal

communications systems.

Last week a major exercise entitled "Rolling Thunder" gave the MARS system a nationwide test. The scenario they set up was back-to-back earthquakes in Memphis, Tennessee, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Eva1uation, disaster relief and emergency services were enabled because MARS operators al1 over the country stood by their stations to relay critical information.

Paul Lundgren, an Air Force MARS operator, handled two critical relays from a station at the Riverhead Armory, Unger said. While the primary purpose is to assist the DOD, or handle emergency communications during hurricanes, earthquakes or disasters, the best part, many operators agree, is the day-to-day communication they provide between the people who are serving their country and their loved ones at home.