David,
Is it possible that what you believe to be something coming from ARRL is
actually something coming from MARS? A good article outlining the
integration of MARS was in the eham article by Bill, N1IN about a year
and a half ago:
http://www.eham.net/articles/16856
Where it was stated
The following questions are asked to the amateur
radio Emcomm community... how can we work together
on this?
THE TYPICAL SCENARIO
It is a dark and stormy night...
You are an amateur radio operator, volunteering
with a relief organization, for communication
to set up shelters in a hurricane