The Department of Defense will host this year’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test, scheduled for May 10, 2025. This annual event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators and will not impact any public or private communications. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event, which is an interoperability exercise between hobbyist and government radio stations.
Celebrate 75 years of US Air Force MARS operation with an Amateur Radio Special Event in the Technician and General portions of the 160–6 meter bands (excepting 60M) from November 5th 0001Z through November 11th 2359Z using SSB, CW, and digital modes.
This is a certificate only event; no QSLs will be exchanged.
On April 29, 2022, ARRL News reported about a MARS HF skills exercise during early May 2022…
Members of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) will conduct an HF skills exercise from Monday night, May 2 through Saturday, May 7, 2022 to practice interoperability with the amateur radio community.
The Army Military Auxiliary Radio System will host the 2022 Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on May 14, 2022.
A list of participating stations, modes, frequencies, and times will be published April 1, 2022, on the DoD MARS - Armed Forces Day page
MARS-Amateur Radio Interoperability Exercise to Test “Very Bad Day” Scenario: From October 30 through Novembe... https://t.co/0Dpnd1etc1
— ARRL (@arrl) October 19, 2016
