Mystery Solved - Civil Air Patrol PARD Call Sign

I love a good mystery, but this one is starting to wear on my last good nerve. For years I have known about the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) PARD ## call signs. But I am still not sure a what it is being used for. Anybody that may have a hint or two can contact me at the email address in the masthead.

Now starting to see this call sign show up in the Mode-S c/s field (see below):

A85446    N636CP    PARD23    2018-05-14 18:27:02    CESSNA 182T    Morgantown WV

A9C53B   N729CP    PARD23    2018-06-08 13:22:26    CESSNA 182T   Gaithersburg MD

A85BB4   N638CP    PARD51    2018-04-16 19:02:16    CESSNA 182T   Hanging Dog NC

A857FD   N637CP    PARD61    2018-05-25 14:26:19    CESSNA 182T   Double Oak, TX

AA055D   N745CP    PARD61    2018-02-23 18:14:09    CESSNA 182T   Houston, TX

AA055D   N745CP    PARD61    2018-04-20 17:19:02    CESSNA 182T   Cary, NC

AD879C   N971CP    PARD61    2018-01-17 22:42:17    CESSNA 182T   Marvell, AR

A35236    N313CP    PARD81    2018-06-16 15:07:02    CESSNA 182T    Seattle WA

A35236    N313CP    PARD88    2018-02-23 17:15:03    CESSNA 182T    McClellan CA

:
Mystery Solved

And from an unofficial online unclassified source the PARD c/s is used by CAP State Directors.

Thanks Steve for the heads up.

Civil Air Patrol Call Signs are Changing

Recently on the Civil Air Patrol website Michael Marek posted the following:

Rumors have been floating around for weeks about changes in the way Civil Air Patrol uses tactical radio call signs.  The publication of the new CAPR 100-1 this week makes it time to move ahead.  But what does it all mean?

Background

CAP uses radio frequencies assigned by the US Air Force.  We also use tactical radio call signs assigned by the Air Force Voice Call Sign Program Management Office.  Some 20 years ago, we went through a major reorganization to bring CAP into compliance. We were in compliance then, but changing requirements updated most recently by the Air Force in 2014 (AFI33-217) mean stricter limitations on call sign management.

Now that CAP is part of the Air Force Total Force, there is significant new interest in the CAP Communications Program from both 1st Air Force and AFNORTH. We have a growing expectation of new missions in which we will inter-operate with stations from other parts of the Total Force. In fact, we already seeing such Total Force stations check in to our National Traffic Net.

What needs to change?

Current Air Force rules limit numerical suffixes on tactical call signs to two digits.  In addition, they may not include any reference to Civil Air Patrol (CAP), acronyms, any part of a wing or unit name, abbreviations, phonetic alphabet, or spoken numbers (not including the authorized suffixes). They must consist of no more than two English words with a minimum of four and a maximum of 15 characters, including the space. 

Note that the Air Force does not use tactical call signs on VHF-FM at all, so we MAY still use tactical call signs with up to four-digits on VHF-FM and ISR frequencies.

How are we going to make these changes?

We have several wings that include “CAP” in their tactical call sign today. A couple of wings have already taken steps to change their tactical call sign to remove “CAP”, including Iowa CAP and CAP KittyHawk.  DOK will be contacting those wings that need to change.  These wings will be invited to submit several proposed compliant calls.  The Voice Call Sign Program Management Office will start at the top of the list and work down until it finds an available tactical call sign.

The requirement to use no more than two-digit suffixes (emphasis is mine-LVH) on tactical call signs used on HF is going to require serious planning in most wings.  There is no magic answer, but here are some suggestions and considerations:
 

• We are well aware that the Air Force requirement for two-digit call signs on HF will disrupt many wing call sign plans which have blocks of call signs assigned to groups and squadrons. We will need new ways of managing our call signs.
   
• On HF, it is more important to know what station you are talking to than what member is holding the microphone.  Therefore, we do NOT need to assign a two-digit tactical call sign to everyone who might ever need to use and HF radio. Our HF call signs need a lean focus.
   
• Most of our new generation of HF call signs will likely be assigned to stations, as opposed to individuals.  We should plan to minimize the need for multiple call signs to be used on a single station/radio.
   
• An individual who has reason to have a two-digit tactical call for HF may still use it on VHF-FM channels.  Similarly, at a given station, the two-digit station call can be used on HF, VHF-FM, and ISR. We discourage the idea of using different suffixes on different frequencies (but we know this may disrupt existing procedures that assign blocks of calls to units). 
   
• Remember that a “squadron station” does not need to be located at the squadron headquarters.  It could as easily be across town at the home of a member who can check into nets regularly, but also have VHF connectivity to the squadron location.
   
• Remember that in operational missions and ANY formal CAP activity, functional designators may be used instead of tactical call signs.  This means that some locations, special Comm vehicles, Comm trailers, etc. may not need tactical call signs at all.
   
• The two-digit suffix rule also applies to ground-to-air and satellite use of CAP tactical call signs.
   
• If a large wing absolutely cannot make HF work with only two digits, there is a possibility of a second tactical call for the wing. In order for this to be approved, the wing will have to document persuasively why it cannot function with only one call sign.
   
• There is no magic formula for solving this compliance issue that will work for all wings, but wings should think mainly in terms of HF stations and not people.

1.    First look at locations that need HF stations.

2.    Then evaluate other stations that you expect to be on HF regularly, such as your message center stations and your regular wing net stations.

3.    We suggest that only after you have analyzed these station requirements should you consider any individual people who need one or two digit calls so they can be on HF.

 

Sounds like it could be a big transition for CAP!

Yes, there may be challenges, but remember – full compliance with Air Force the requirement opens the door for new and important high-end missions for the CAP Communications Program. 

Contact DOKO or DOKP for help working through these transitions.

 

--------------

 

We have already documented several changes so the conversion is underway and more changes are definitely forth coming. If you hear any changes, have any additions, corrections or updates, they are always appreciated and you can send them to our email address above in the masthead.

 

Our page here on the Milcom MP for changes is http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/p/monitoring-us-air-force-civil-air_657.html

 

 

New Net Call, New Net Name, Same Old CAP Net

According to the Civil Air Patrol Quarterly publication Vector, the USAF has granted the CAP National Traffic Net (NTN) the collective call sign of "TRIBLADE".

As a result the National Traffic Net will now be known as the "Triblade Net."

Guess I will spend some time putting together a Triblade callsign list.

US Civil Air Patrol to Exercise this Weekend

The USAF Civil Air Patrol will be conducting a nationwide exercise this weekend on their communication frequencies.

I found this item on the Colorado CAP Facebook page:

"The national HF communications exercise, Constant Watch 13, is scheduled to
run continuously from 2200Z 6 Dec to 2200Z 8 Dec."

I have just posted a new reference page here on the Milcom MP devoted to monitoring the CAP. 73 and good hunting.

109th Air Wing participates in National Disaster Medical System exercise

By 2nd Lt. Colette Martin, 109th Air Wing

SCOTIA, N.Y. (8/9/13) - Members from several local agencies across the Capital District participated in a coordinated National Disaster Medical System Exercise on Aug. 8 and 9 at Stratton Air National Guard Base, Schenectady, N.Y.

The agencies consisted of members from the 109th Airlift Wing, 139th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, the Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Disaster Medical System, the Civil Air Patrol and the Alplaus Volunteer Fire Department.

During this exercise, patients were stabilized for transport, loaded onto an LC-130 Hercules and evacuated by members of the 139 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron who were sharpening their skills for an actual medical evacuation.

The patients, participating cadets from the Civil Air Patrol, were moved from the Aplaus Volunteer Fire Department to Stratton ANGB and loaded onto a C-130 for transport.

This exercise highlighted the vital function of the 109AW and 139AES in the NDMS and homeland defense mission as well as the cooperation and coordination between the 109AW and New York state civilian medical and emergency management assets.

This exercise demonstrated interagency partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the instrumental role of aeromedical evacuation in the national emergency response and national defense frameworks.

NDMS is a federally-coordinated system that augments the nation's medical response capability by combining federal and non-federal medical resources into a unified response to meet natural and man-made disaster needs, as well as support patient treatment requirements from military contingencies.

Stratton ANGB is a federal coordinating center whose mission is to recruit hospitals and maintain local non-federal hospital participation in the NDMS, coordinate exercise development and emergency plans with participating hospitals and other local authorities in order to develop patient reception, transportation, and communication plans, and during system activation, coordinate the reception and distribution of patients being evacuated to the area.

As members of the National Guard, the Airmen of the 109AW have responded to a number of state emergencies including Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

This exercise enabled the agencies to practice for future natural disasters.

The 109AW is the only unit in the United States military that flies aircraft equipped to land on snow. The wing provides support to National Science Foundation operations in Antarctica and Greenland and has also flown conventional C-130s in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

CAP Supports U.S. Air Force Firefighting Role

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Civil Air Patrol is providing communications support to Air Force National Guard and Reserve units when they are engaged in fighting forest fires in the western U.S.

The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS, Program provides emergency capability to supplement existing commercial tanker support on wildland fires. When all other air tankers are activated but further assistance is needed, the U.S. Forest Service can request help from the Air Force's MAFFS units. MAFFS Guard and Reserve C-130s drop water and special slurry on forest fires across the western states. Their activity is controlled by the Air Expeditionary Group in Boise, Idaho.

Recently CAP used HF radio communications to directly connect, for the first time, the Air Expeditionary Group with one of its C-130s flying near Phoenix, a distance of close to 700 miles.
“In the demanding work of flying against forest fires, safety is vital, and that means dependable communications,” said Malcolm Kyser, CAP’s chief of communications. “Not only did the Air Expeditionary Group use CAP’s HF system to communicate directly with MAFFS 9 in this test, but several CAP radio operators assisted and were standing by on the frequency to provide relay services, if needed.”

In addition to the C-130, the Air Expeditionary Group conducted radio checks with CAP stations in Arizona, Idaho and Washington. Additional CAP stations in Oregon, Colorado and Wyoming reported good readable signals and were prepared to relay message traffic.

“This is a great opportunity for CAP’s highly trained HF radio operators to provide critical communications support to deployed Air Force units on actual missions,” said John Desmarais, CAP director of operations. “First Air Force and even the Pentagon are well aware of these MAFFS fire fighting missions, and CAP is now able to provide a meaningful contribution to the safety and effectiveness of their sorties.”

The CAP Communications Program consists of radio stations manned by trained operators across the country, available on short notice to support the missions of CAP and of its partner agencies. In particular, CAP communications systems provide point-to-point, air-to-ground and ground mobile radios that allow mission completion even when the commercial communications infrastructure is unavailable or overstressed.

Civil Air Patrol will practice for emergencies

The Civil Air Patrol has scheduled an exercise across Texas to brush up on skills used in emergency operations like Hurricane Ike. Details of the January 28-29 exercise were announced Friday, with plans for many of the state's more than 3,400 volunteer members to take part.

Read the entire Houston Chronicle published 10:36 p.m., Friday, January 20, 2012 at
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Civil-Air-Patrol-will-practice-for-emergencies-2658721.php

Thanks to Bill, the Fedcom List and the HoustonScan group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HoustonScan for the heads-up on this monitoring event.

CAP CAWG LMR Network

If you are interested in monitoring the new CAP LMR repeater network in California, jump over to our friends on the SoCalFedCom blog at
http://socalfedcom.blogspot.com/2009/10/california-civil-air-patrolcap.html.

You'll find quite a bit of info that will help your monitoring of this USAF auxiliary in California.

Milcom Blog Logs - 26 Jul 2011 - BTown NC

I monitored the USAF Civil Air Patrol Regional and National HF ALE nets yesterday and will share the raw owlogs from both my sessions in this post. The new HF structure for this quasi-military organzation is starting to become a lot clearer now, especially after their Constant Watch exercise earlier this month.

STARTED Jul-26-2011 15:11 Eastern Standard Time

[20:38:20][FRQ 03385000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07

[20:29:35][FRQ 04477000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 15 SN 06
[16:52:18][FRQ 04477000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[16:03:37][FRQ 04502000][SND][ ][TIS][0098GACAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[19:30:32][FRQ 04585000][SND][ ][TIS][0044SCCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 07
[19:27:12][FRQ 04585000][SND][ ][TIS][0004WVCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08

[21:08:14][FRQ 04630000][SND][ ][TWS][0008MSCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 08

[20:42:25][FRQ 04633000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09
[15:39:28][FRQ 04633000][SND][ ][TIS][0044SCCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[20:53:36][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:25:42][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 29 SN 12
[18:59:49][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09
[18:31:56][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 26 SN 08
[17:05:54][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 10
[16:25:47][FRQ 05006000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 08

[21:28:50][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:56:48][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 29 SN 08
[20:45:31][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[20:08:32][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][100NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[19:35:04][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[19:32:45][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][0004WVCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 08
[18:33:57][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[18:16:36][FRQ 06806000][SND][ ][TWS][OFF ][AL0] BER 24 SN 08

[20:04:29][FRQ 07341000][SND][ ][TIS][100NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 10

[20:57:20][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 16 SN 06
[20:57:18][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[19:56:42][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 10
[17:53:08][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 10
[16:42:37][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[16:09:11][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 11
[15:59:18][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09
[15:53:36][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 09
[15:33:14][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 25 SN 10
[15:19:39][FRQ 07602000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[21:24:08][FRQ 07630000][SND][ ][TIS][0281INCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 06
[20:09:30][FRQ 07630000][SND][ ][TIS][0545MICAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[19:22:18][FRQ 07630000][SND][ ][TIS][0898MICAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[17:36:54][FRQ 07630000][SND][ ][TIS][0281INCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 07
[16:22:13][FRQ 07630000][SND][ ][TIS][0545MICAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 07

[21:31:13][FRQ 07656000][SND][ ][TIS][0010PACAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 09
[20:41:02][FRQ 07656000][SND][ ][TIS][2525NYCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[19:36:18][FRQ 07656000][SND][ ][TIS][0021CTCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 11
[19:30:46][FRQ 07656000][SND][ ][TIS][1000NJCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 07
[18:47:24][FRQ 07656000][SND][ ][TIS][2525NYCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 09

[20:44:10][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[20:23:43][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][0900NCCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[18:54:45][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 10
[18:30:05][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][0900NCCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[18:16:52][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[16:36:27][FRQ 07665000][SND][ ][TIS][0900NCCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[20:08:44][FRQ 07704000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 10
[19:56:49][FRQ 07704000][SND][ ][TIS][0004MSCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 10
[18:14:55][FRQ 07704000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 09
[16:20:58][FRQ 07704000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09

[20:57:53][FRQ 08012000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:47:34][FRQ 08012000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[19:04:52][FRQ 08012000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 07
[18:36:48][FRQ 08012000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[15:34:08][FRQ 08012000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 27 SN 08

[20:58:25][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:20:30][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 06
[16:43:24][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 29 SN 08
[16:09:54][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 10
[15:54:21][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 12
[15:45:54][FRQ 09047000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[20:18:18][FRQ 09082000][SND][ ][TIS][0145VACAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 07
[19:10:19][FRQ 09082000][SND][ ][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 08
[18:31:18][FRQ 09082000][SND][ ][TIS][0900NCCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 07

[21:28:09][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:58:57][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[20:58:30][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][004GLRCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 08
[20:16:17][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 08
[20:11:32][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][100NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 07
[18:34:22][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[18:18:07][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TWS][OFF ][AL0] BER 22 SN 08
[17:40:37][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09
[15:35:21][FRQ 10162000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09

[21:14:25][FRQ 10504000][SND][ ][TIS][0148KYCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09
[17:54:28][FRQ 10504000][SND][ ][TIS][0034ILCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 05

[20:24:30][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0031SDCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 08

[18:03:35][FRQ 10545000][SND][ ][TIS][0004MSCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08

[21:32:07][FRQ 10550000][SND][ ][TIS][0048ARCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 05
[18:39:12][FRQ 10550000][SND][ ][TIS][6700ARCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 06
[17:44:35][FRQ 10550000][SND][ ][TIS][0048ARCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 07

[19:25:30][FRQ 10557000][SND][ ][TIS][0021CTCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[19:17:19][FRQ 10557000][SND][ ][TIS][0016MECAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09

[21:52:17][FRQ 11402000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[21:05:39][FRQ 11402000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07

[19:06:09][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 26 SN 08
[17:08:52][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 05
[17:51:50][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][002NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[17:12:23][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 28 SN 08
[15:55:32][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 09
[15:15:18][FRQ 12081000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 06

[16:23:04][FRQ 12124000][SND][ ][TIS][0006DECAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 06

[19:31:06][FRQ 12200000][SND][ ][TIS][0281INCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[17:54:45][FRQ 12200000][SND][ ][TIS][0034ILCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 06

[21:12:24][FRQ 12218000][SND][ ][TIS][0525NYCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 06

[18:05:22][FRQ 13415000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 08
[17:19:24][FRQ 13415000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 05

[15:56:19][FRQ 14357000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 08
[15:23:43][FRQ 14357000][SND][ ][TIS][0700MOCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 06

[21:44:50][FRQ 14424000][SND][ ][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07

[21:29:19][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0004OHCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[19:23:12][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0898MICAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 04
[17:42:03][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0004OHCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 04
[17:37:49][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0281INCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 07
[16:01:22][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0034ILCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 06
[15:44:11][FRQ 14438000][SND][ ][TIS][0281INCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08

[20:03:53][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TWS][FC8FEM006 ][AL0] BER 29 SN 06
[19:15:02][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][2300MNCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 05
[17:11:47][FRQ 14445000][SND][ ][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09

[18:48:18][FRQ 14914000][SND][ ][TIS][2525NYCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 05

[20:14:15][FRQ 15602000][SND][ ][TIS][100NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 06
[18:06:08][FRQ 15602000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 04
[17:17:13][FRQ 15602000][SND][ ][TIS][RIC ][AL0] BER 24 SN 04

[20:00:53][FRQ 16353000][SND][ ][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 05

[18:20:31][FRQ 17412000][SND][ ][TWS][OFF ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[16:12:42][FRQ 17412000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09
[15:58:20][FRQ 17412000][SND][ ][TIS][004RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 07

[21:42:39][FRQ 18513000][SND][ ][TIS][0034ILCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07

[18:56:23][FRQ 19814000][SND][ ][TIS][AVS ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[15:54:47][FRQ 19814000][SND][ ][TIS][100SWRCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 07

[15:37:18][FRQ 22862000][SND][ ][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 04

------------------------------------------------

STARTED Jul-26-2011 22:03 Eastern Standard Time

[05:18:33][FRQ 02511000][SND][ ][TIS][0094ALCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 08

[22:36:42][FRQ 05447000][SND][ ][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 11

[10:10:49][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09
[09:11:49][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[06:11:49][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 23 SN 08
[06:00:19][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TWS][KGD34 ][AL0] BER 17 SN 08
[05:12:49][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[04:12:50][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[01:11:49][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[00:55:31][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TWS][PXJNNN ][AL0] BER 20 SN 08
[23:54:59][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TWS][PXJNNN ][AL0] BER 27 SN 09
[23:08:48][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TIS][EBCNNN ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10
[22:54:56][FRQ 05711000][SND][ ][TWS][PXJNNN ][AL0] BER 24 SN 09

[06:12:19][FRQ 06767000][SND][ ][TWS][NSFHQ1 ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11
[00:42:42][FRQ 06767000][SND][ ][TWS][OPMHQ2 ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11

[09:57:16][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 08
[06:10:01][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09
[04:16:23][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 06
[03:59:01][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0031SDCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[03:23:14][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][2300MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[02:05:24][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0031SDCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 08
[01:40:50][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 07
[00:29:05][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 09
[23:40:43][FRQ 10510000][SND][ ][TIS][4600MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

[09:57:39][FRQ 12098000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[06:10:23][FRQ 12098000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 07

[22:23:23][FRQ 12183000][SND][ ][TIS][6700ARCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08

[10:10:16][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TWS][FC8FEM006 ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[09:10:10][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TWS][FC8FEM006 ][AL0] BER 27 SN 07
[05:26:04][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][4600MNCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[04:10:47][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0150KSCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 07
[02:17:09][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0150KSCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 14
[02:06:02][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0031SDCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[01:45:18][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 13
[00:29:40][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0420MNCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 04
[00:23:29][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0150KSCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 13
[23:51:40][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 08
[23:23:19][FRQ 14450000][SND][ ][TIS][0010MOCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 11

[00:24:23][FRQ 22872000][SND][ ][TIS][0048ARCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 09

[22:04:37][FRQ 24553000][SND][ ][TIS][0545MICAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 04

[00:24:39][FRQ 26617000][SND][ ][TIS][0048ARCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 05

[23:33:27][FRQ 29894000][SND][ ][TIS][100NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 05

Civil Air Patrol Nationwide Exercise Starts Today

The USAF Civil Air Patrol auxiliary service will be conducting a nationwide communications exercise starting today and will last through the weekend until July 12. I have posted some background on this last month on this blog at
http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2011/06/cap-constant-watch-exercise-sked-for.html

From one public website:

"Constant Watch Communications Exercise: Significant investment has been made into CAP’s communications infrastructure in recent years, including HF-ALE. Constant Watch is an exercise being held 8-12 July to test our HF capabilities, and learn as much as we can so that we can improve our systems and techniques. All wings are expected to participate in this exercise, and we look forward to seeing the results."

I fully expect the National HF ALE net (NCN) and regional nets to be hopping the next four days.

Courtesy of Monitoring Times magazine, from my July 2011 MT Milcom column:

CAP National Command ALE Network: 2011.0 3204.0 4477.0 5006.0 6806.0 7602.0 8012.0 9047.0 10162.0 11402.0 12081.0 13415.0 14357.0 15602.0 17412.0 19814.0 25354.0 29894.0 kHz.

If you are an MT subscriber and want to monitor the regional nets, I have a list of the known regional CAP nets that I have uncovered in the July Milcom column mentioned above. July is available for sale on select newsstands right now.

CAP Constant Watch Exercise Sked for July

According to a public post on a CAP Facebook page, the rescheduled dates for the Civil Air Patrol Constant Watch national communications exercise have been set for 8-12 July. According to the Facebook post, all CAP wings are expected to participate.

The post indicated that the plan for this exercise, though not formally For Official Use Only, includes details of how they operate, so it should not be shared outside CAP (sic-LVH).

So to the folks at CAP, we will see you in July on HF and see how your national communications exercise shakes out. It will be interested in seeing how our tax money is being spent and the limited HF spectrum is being used by your organization.

Alabama Wing Voice Callsign

While prowling around the net this morning I came across this list of Civil Air Patrol Alabama Wing callsigns.

Goldenrod 1 Alabama Wing Commander
Goldenrod 2 Alabama Wing Vice Commander
Goldenrod 3 Alabama Wing Chief Of Staff
Goldenrod 4 Alabama Wing Director of Communications
Goldenrod 5 Alabama Wing Chaplain
Goldenrod 6 Alabama Wing Safety Officer
Goldenrod 7 Alabama Wing Cadet Programs Officer
Goldenrod 8 Alabama Wing Administrator
Goldenrod 9 Alabama Wing Medical Officer
Goldenrod 10 Alabama Wing Director of Operations
Goldenrod 11 Alabama Wing Communications Engineer
Goldenrod 12 Alabama Wing Standards and Evaluation Officer
Goldenrod 13 Alabama Wing Legal Officer
Goldenrod 14 Alabama Wing Maintenance Officer
Goldenrod 15 Alabama Wing Emergency Services Officer
Goldenrod 16 Alabama Wing Search and Rescue Officer
Goldenrod 17 Alabama Wing Alerting Officer
Goldenrod 18 Alabama Wing Public Affairs Officer
Goldenrod 19 Alabama Wing Director of Aerospace Education
Goldenrod 20 Alabama Wing Homeland Security Officer

Tactical call signs
Goldenrod 100-199 North Zone assets
Goldenrod 200-299 Central Zone assets
Goldenrod 300-399 South Zone assets
Goldenrod 400-400 Reserved
Goldenrod 500-599 Fixed / portable repeater / relay stations
Goldenrod 600-699 Subordinate Unit Headquarters
Goldenrod 700-799 Ground Vehicle assets
Goldenrod 800-899 Reserved
Goldenrod 900-999 ALE Capable HF/SSB

In the event the Wing is divided into groups, a fourth leading digit will be used to identifythe group.

Alabama Wing aircraft will use a 3 digit call in the format of CAP 1xx, with the last two digits determined by the aircraft tail number or assigned number in case of conflict. When deployed on actual search missions the call sign RESCUE CAP 1xx may be
utilized.

Automatic Link Establishing radios will be issued call signs in accordance to the national digital call sign format. The form will be 09XXALCAP.

Army MARS HF ALE Now Going Regional Like CAP

Right on the heels of the USAF Civil Air Patrol establishing regional HF ALE networks that has been documented here on the MilcomMP blog, it now looks like the US Army MARS folks are following in their footsteps.

Recently Monitoring Times Digital Digest columnist Mike Chace reported the following on the UDXF newsgroup:

> 14846.0Khz dig 125bd/1750 MIL-188-141A, ALE stations "9UA", "R9C", "A9F",
> "R9UACARMYMAR", "A9FARMYMAR" UNID MIL organization (on USB) 23:53:51UTC
> (2011-02-24) (mco in Portland, ME USA on StarChat#wunclub)

14846.0 kHz is a definite US Army MARS frequency and Mike's report abobe the first ever of ALE activity on that freq. In addition, the ALE addresses observed are different than what has been used in the past. That sent me packing to the net to see if something had changed

It didn't take long to uncovered the material below from a public website with some selected Army MARS docs:

"At the end of January 2011 . . . HQ Army MARS has authorized ALE operations at the regional level for training and familiarization.

"The sole purpose of this authorization is to develop skill, knowledge and familiarization with ALE operation and technologies inside the Army MARS membership. It is not Army MARS intent to develop large scale or permanent ALE networks involving the general membership at this time.

"The reason for this authorization is because ALE technology is in common use by government and military HF radio users. Experience and understanding of this technology is required for a well rounded background in HF radio communications, and potential customer support involving an ALE network. HQ Army MARS hopes opportunities for members to develop this background may become available at the Region level.

"Region Directors are in charge of the frequencies assigned to the Region. Scheduling nets, assigning frequencies, management of operations, etc is under the authority of the Region Director or his designee. ALE training is a Regional Activity. Only those stations so approved by the Region Director, or his designee may participate in ALE training. ALE training will only occur during the times and on the frequencies so designated by the Region Director. This will only occur if the Region Director determines there is a need for the training, and when he has the staff resources and time to accomplish it. There shall be NO ALE activity of any kind on Army MARS frequencies outside of the times specified by the Region Director, unless otherwise expressed by HQ Army MARS.

"This bulletin should not be considered a directive for the Region Directors to commence ALE training.

"ALE operation is not authorized for the general membership on any Army MARS frequency except those specifically under the Region Director’s control, and so designated by the Region Director or his designee for specific periods of ALE Training.

"ALE Addressing
"Each station operating ALE shall have an ALE Address unique to the network it is operating. The ALE address is commonly derived from the stations call sign, but this is not always the case. It is improper to refer to these as “ALE Call Signs”.

"ALE Addresses are made of three character “words”. A three digit address is one ALE Word. A four to six digit address will be two ALE Words, and so on. The more words used in an address, the slower the network becomes. It is for this reason, only 3 or 6 character address will be used.

"The most common ALE Addressing convention used in MARS corresponds to FTR 1047/3-1998. This method uses two ALE Words and is used where a network made up of stations from several services is expected (Such as the Tri-Service ALE Network). The first ALE Word contains the unique portion of the station’s address. It is repeated several times by the ALE equipment when making calls, etc. The second ALE word is only sent once, and indicates the stations affiliation or home organization. The ALE address may be based on the stations call sign as follows:

"An Army MARS station call sign is broken into two parts. The first three characters of the Army MARS call sign is unique to the Army MARS organization, eg, AAA, AAM, AAN, AAR, AAT, AAV. The last three characters are unique to the station, eg, 8RE, 1XY, etc. Since ALE sends these parts in opposite order, the word unique to the station first, the word unique to the organization second, we reverse the order of these elements of the station call sign to create an ALE address. Example:

MARS Station Callsign AAR8RE
ALE Address 8REAAR

"Members with billet call signs that exceed six characters (ex, AAM8EUT) should use their individual member call sign for the basis of their address.

"ALE NET Addressing
"ALE may also be used in a Net mode, where several stations all bearing the same Net Address can be called together on the same frequency. ALE Net Addresses shall follow the following convention for CONUS stations.

A - Region, # Number zero through nine, - Q

"For example, a Region 1 ALE Net Address will be A1Q. A region 4 ALE Net Address will be A4Q."

So looks like here on the MilcomMP ranch we will be on the prowl for new USA MARS regional ALE activity. Should be interesting to see what pops up in the next few weeks. Between the CAP and Army MARS mil/gov HF folks surely have some new and interesting monitoring activity ahead and my aspirin bottle will get some use. If you observe any CAP or US Army MARS ALE activity regardless of frequency, we would certainly appreciate it if you would pass it along to the email address in the masthead.

Northeast US: 104th Fighter Wing exercises today

Courtesy of WWLP.com and Ken on the Northeastmilair list:

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) by Robert Gebo - The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield will be performing some scramble exercises on Wednesday, March 2nd. Major Matthew Mutti told 22NEWS that the 104th Fighter Wing will be working within the areas of the Quabbin Reservoir and Berkshire East ski area in Charlemont. Major Mutti said the base's F-15's will be working with the civil air patrol to exercise their responses to aircraft flying in distress.

USAF CAP Observed Implementing New Regional ALE Networks

BRASSTOWN NC -- If you were following me on twitter (MilcomMP) yesterday (see the twitter feed on the right side at the top of this blog), you might have guessed I was a bit excited monitoring CAP HF frequencies.

I posted an article earlier in the month on how the Civil Air Patrol is reorganizing their HF ALE networks. See my post at http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-air-patrol-reorganizing-their-hf.html.

Yesterday around 1100 EST (1600 UTC) I ramped up my PC-ALE software program on the main receiver and antenna, and left it on over night. Looking at my owlog this morning was a lot of fun, and I can now make a couple of interesting observations from my monitoring.

1) It was probably the most active I have seen the CAP ALE nets in a long time.

2) Looks like they are now implementing their new regional ALE network frequencies.

Normally I don't post my raw owlogs on this blog, but since the only thing I saw during the period were CAP stations (except for two addresses that I have flagged), I will make an exception. It will give you an idea of where you can start listening for CAP ALE activity.

I will be running my CAP QRG load for the next few days until I flush out all the new regional net freqs. It should be a lot of fun.

3204.0 National Command ALE freq
[10:51:37][FRQ 03204000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[06:27:04][FRQ 03204000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 12 SN 05
[23:29:13][FRQ 03204000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 11
[19:52:12][FRQ 03204000][SND][][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 08

4477.0 National Command ALE freq
[10:01:13][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0011ARCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 10
[09:40:34][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[08:59:13][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 11
[05:21:50][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][201SERCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 10
[04:39:29][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 05
[03:59:18][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 08
[03:18:09][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 12
[02:05:28][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[01:58:39][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][201SERCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 09
[01:01:26][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0020NHCAP ][AL0] BER 16 SN 09
[00:43:40][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 09
[00:34:08][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 09
[21:50:49][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0112GACAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 12
[20:07:57][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[19:57:03][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0112GACAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 10
[17:46:29][FRQ 04477000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 08

4502.0 Southeast Regional ALE freq
[04:32:27][FRQ 04502000][SND][][TIS][0004MSCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 07
[03:05:56][FRQ 04502000][SND][][TIS][201SERCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 07

4505.0 North Central Region ALE freq
[05:45:08][FRQ 04505000][SND][][TIS][0004IACAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[01:07:34][FRQ 04505000][SND][][TIS][0004IACAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10

4512.0 Southwest Region ALE freq
[10:53:35][FRQ 04512000][SND][][TIS][0989OKCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 08
[06:16:51][FRQ 04512000][SND][][TIS][0004TXCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[23:31:44][FRQ 04512000][SND][][TIS][0989OKCAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 09

4585.0 Middle East Region ALE freq
[22:05:58][FRQ 04585000][SND][][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 12
[19:57:23][FRQ 04585000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 10
[18:31:51][FRQ 04585000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 08

4604.0 Great Lakes Region ALE freq
[03:59:33][FRQ 04604000][SND][][TIS][0034ILCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 10

4627.0 Southwest Region ALE freq
[04:23:37][FRQ 04627000][SND][][TIS][0004TXCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[03:19:29][FRQ 04627000][SND][][TIS][0989OKCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11

4630.0 Southeast Region ALE freq
[08:20:08][FRQ 04630000][SND][][TIS][0004MSCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 11
[20:27:15][FRQ 04630000][SND][][TIS][0004GACAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[19:39:57][FRQ 04630000][SND][][TIS][0181ALCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 08

4633.0 Middle East Region ALE freq
[18:37:04][FRQ 04633000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 14 SN 12
[17:32:04][FRQ 04633000][SND][][TIS][0002NCCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 06

5006.0 National Command ALE freq
[09:47:51][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0314MICAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 15
[09:01:24][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][101NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 11
[08:26:13][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 16 SN 07
[08:04:25][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0011ARCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 30
[07:50:38][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 08
[07:49:44][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][060PCRCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 07
[04:49:46][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0020NHCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 10
[03:10:51][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0010PACAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 06
[02:37:16][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 10
[02:25:38][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 15 SN 08
[00:56:33][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[23:40:57][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 10
[23:29:40][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 11
[22:57:45][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 21
[16:41:01][FRQ 05006000][SND][][TIS][0004WVCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 10

6767.0 This has been observed in the past as SHARES freq, this ALE station is an unknown. ditto 6773.0 kHz below.
[20:48:02][FRQ 06767000][SND][][TWS][OPMHQ2 ][AL0] BER 17 SN 11

6773.0 The jury is still out for more info on the freq user/usage
[22:13:32][FRQ 06773000][SND][][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 11
[20:48:02][FRQ 06773000][SND][][TWS][OPMHQ2 ][AL0] BER 0 SN 00

6806.0 National Command ALE freq
[10:00:22][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[02:57:33][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 07
[02:31:03][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 11
[01:24:00][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][101NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 08
[01:03:48][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 08
[00:43:58][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 16 SN 06
[23:34:15][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][4800MNCAP ][AL0] BER 14 SN 07
[22:18:50][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 15 SN 08
[21:37:49][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0112GACAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[21:27:15][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0004TXCAP ][AL0] BER 15 SN 06
[21:16:21][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 09
[21:03:39][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10
[21:01:44][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 08'
[19:20:54][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 08
[17:50:17][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][0112GACAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[17:26:47][FRQ 06806000][SND][][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 10

7602.0 National Command ALE freq
[08:08:05][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10
[07:43:41][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][060PCRCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 06
[07:31:42][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0011CACAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[02:02:23][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][060PCRCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 06
[00:42:52][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 08
[22:43:05][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 09
[21:15:21][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 30
[21:01:53][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 10
[21:00:48][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 09
[20:05:25][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 09
[19:57:34][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0112GACAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 07
[19:52:37][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][043MERCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 11
[17:45:47][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 10
[16:35:54][FRQ 07602000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 07

7656.0 Northeast Region ALE freq
[02:18:25][FRQ 07656000][SND][][TIS][0016MECAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 11

7665.0 Middle East Region ALE freq
[17:50:30][FRQ 07665000][SND][][TIS][0003NCCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 09
[19:26:16][FRQ 07665000][SND][][TIS][0002NCCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 10

8012.0 National Command ALE freq
[05:40:27][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0011CACAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 10
[03:46:34][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0011CACAP ][AL0] BER 23 SN 11
[02:15:15][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0163CACAP ][AL0] BER 28 SN 09
[01:46:54][FRQ 08012000][TO ][AVS][TIS][101NCRCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 12
[AMD]PRACTICE PAGE
[00:57:49][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 12
[23:35:34][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 08
[21:32:15][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 07
[20:44:41][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][100NERCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10
[20:06:29][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][034MERCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 08
[19:47:05][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 10
[19:21:59][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 11
[19:03:28][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 09
[17:46:56][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][0040WVCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 11
[17:27:54][FRQ 08012000][SND][][TIS][202SERCAP ][AL0] BER 26 SN 10

9047.0 National Command ALE freq
[23:35:42][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][4800MNCAP ][AL0] BER 19 SN 07
[20:58:11][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09
[19:42:44][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 15 SN 08
[19:13:56][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 11
[17:38:09][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][0004TXCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 09
[17:20:10][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][0011DCCAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 11
[16:41:17][FRQ 09047000][SND][][TIS][0360FLCAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 10

10162.0 National Command or possible PCR Regional ALE freq
[09:27:29][FRQ 10162000][SND][][TIS][0011CACAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 08

10510.0 North Central Region ALE freq
[21:20:51][FRQ 10510000][SND][][TIS][0004IACAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

10542.0 Rocky Mountain Region ALE freq
[23:02:41][FRQ 10542000][SND][][TIS][0093COCAP ][AL0] BER 22 SN 09

10550.0 Southwest Region ALE freq
[23:33:26][FRQ 10550000][SND][][TIS][0989OKCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10
[21:39:47][FRQ 10550000][SND][][TIS][0989OKCAP ][AL0] BER 30 SN 10

10557.0 Northeast Region ALE freq
[18:22:24][FRQ 10557000][SND][][TIS][0016MECAP ][AL0] BER 24 SN 09

12081.0 National Command ALE freq
[22:53:21][FRQ 12081000][SND][][TIS][0025CTCAP ][AL0] BER 27 SN 10
[22:50:16][FRQ 12081000][SND][][TIS][0004WICAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 10

12098.0 North Central Region ALE freq
[19:15:05][FRQ 12098000][SND][][TIS][0100NDCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 09

13415.0 National Command ALE freq
[23:20:25][FRQ 13415000][SND][][TIS][0230NECAP ][AL0] BER 29 SN 10
[22:44:24][FRQ 13415000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 18 SN 06
[17:03:51][FRQ 13415000][SND][][TIS][4800MNCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 09

14357.0 National Command ALE freq
[20:48:28][FRQ 14357000][SND][][TIS][100NERCAP ][AL0] BER 25 SN 11
[19:49:07][FRQ 14357000][SND][][TIS][058NHQCAP ][AL0] BER 20 SN 08

15602.0 National Command ALE freq
[00:01:10][FRQ 15602000][SND][][TIS][0011CACAP ][AL0] BER 21 SN 06

19814.0 National Command ALE freq
[19:03:57][FRQ 19814000][SND][][TIS][042RMRCAP ][AL0] BER 17 SN 06

These are initial judgements are based on several years of previous monitoring and recent changes being observed in the current monitoring environment. As always changes may and will be made to these initial judgements. If you have something to share, feel free to contact us via the email address in the masthead. You can also follow some of our actual monitoring from the shack on twitter at MilcomMP.

Civil Air Patrol reorganizing their HF ALE capability

According to an interim change letter (ICL) issued January 24 by the US Air Force Civil Air Patrol commander on their public website (http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/2011_01_24_HF_ALE_E8A3F8CF4C397.pdf), the the USAF affiliate will soon be making major changes to their HF ALE national network.

According to the letter: The CAP’s 21st Century HF/ALE system will not use traditional scheduled voice nets for operational missions. Rather, it will be composed of a system of decentralized point-to-point, peer-to-peer stations strategically located to provide connectivity required for tactical and command and control communications. The system will be organized into a National Command Net and eight Region Command Nets.

According to the ICL the current national ALE net operation is described as follows:

The National Command Net is already in operation. It is composed of a designated message center station in each region along with at least one alternate, the National Operations Center (NOC), the National Technology Center (NTC), and one station in each OCONUS wing. The NOC and the NTC serve as the net control stations. Only designated stations may routinely operate on this net with the exception of situations during operational missions when the region ALE net is not available or inadequate.

Two of the points made in the ICL about the change to regional ALE nets include:

Each of the eight regions is being assigned a suite of HF frequencies to be used as the region ALE net. Conventional voice nets remain valuable for confidence checks and training and may also be scheduled on these frequencies. Conventional operations, however, must share the channel with ALE operations--to include automatic ALE soundings. With training and experience, operators will become accustomed to pausing voice operations during a sounding and then continuing when the channel is clear.

HF stations should not routinely operate on ALE nets assigned to other regions, or the national net, unless required for operational missions or pre-coordinated testing. Organized tests and exercises between wings of different regions should be fully coordinated with the appropriate region and wing directors of communications.

So in the near future of you notice changes in the CAP HF ALE operation, you now have a pretty good idea of what they are doing.

Kentucky CAP Callsigns

For those who monitor the CAP, here is a breakdown of the callsigns used by the Kentucky Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

The basic wing callsign is Kentucky CAP ####.

The callsigns are assigned in blocks of one-hundred call signs to each squadron.

Squadron - Callsign - Range
001 - Wing HQ 0 – 99
007 - London Composite 100 – 199
011 - Paducah Composite 200 – 299
039 - Louisville Composite 300 – 399
050 - Boone County Composite 400 – 499
057 - Bowling Green Composite 500 – 599
058 - Centenary Composite 600 – 699
063 - Frankfort Composite 700 – 799
073 - Campbell County Composite 800 – 899
077 - Golden Armor Composite 900 – 999
082 - Jim Brewer Composite 1000 – 1099
122 - Danville Senior 1100 – 1199
123 - KYANG Composite 1200 – 1299
131 - Bardstown Composite 1300 – 1399
214 - Bowman Senior 1400 – 1499
216 - Fort Campbell Composite 1500 – 1599
217 - Western KY Composite 1600 – 1699
218 - Fulton County Composite 1700 – 1799

Each squadron has reserved call signs in their block corresponding to the wing command structure and call signs. For Example “KY CAP 4” is the Wing Director of Communications. In the Fulton County Composite “KY CAP 1704” is assigned to the Squadron Communications Officer. The callsigns 0, 100, 200, 300, etc are assigned to the Wing and Squadron respectively for use with assigned equipment.

If you follow the CAP HF ALE side of things the ALE address 0148KYCAP is located in Lexington, Kentucky.

Milcom Blog Logs - 2 Dec 2010 Brasstown NC

Monitored the USAF CAP National ALE network and here is the result of that monitoring session. All frequencies are kHz and mode is ALE/USB.

2011.0 JNR
3204.0 0148KYCAP 043MERCAP
3385.0 043MERCAP
4477.0 0004MSCAP 0148KYCAP 6700ARCAP 034MERCAP 043MERCAP 202SERCAP
5006.0 0004MSCAP 0112GACAP 0148KYCAP 0181ALCAP 0360FLCAP
6773.0 043MERCAP
6806.0 0004MSCAP 0004WICAP 0011ARCAP 0011RICAP 0021CTCAP 0011DCCAP 0012GACAP 0181ALCAP 6700ARCAP 043MERCAP 101NCRCAP
7602.0 074 0004WICAP 0011ARCAP 0011DCCAP 0025CTCAP 0148KYCAP 0181ALCAP 0360FLCAP 6700ARCAP 034MERCAP 100SWRCAP 101NCRCAP 202SERCAP
8012.0 074 0004MSCAP 0004NYCAP 0004WICAP 0011ARCAP 0011DCCAP 0011RICAP 0021CTCAP 0025CTCAP 0360FLCAP 0748MOCAP 6700ARCAP 034MERCAP 058NHQCAP 202SERCAP
9047.0 0004WICAP 0011DCCAP 0011RICAP 4800MNCAP 6700ARCAP 058NHQCAP 202SERCAP
10162.0 0004NYCAP 0011ARCAP 0011DCCAP 0021CTCAP 0360FLCAP 100SWRCAP
11402.0 0010PACAP 0011RICAP 0021CTCAP 0025CTCAP 0360FLCAP 042RMRCAP
12081.0 0004NYCAP 0021CTCAP 100SWRCAP 101NCRCAP
13415.0 001RICAP 0025CTCAP 4800MNCAP
14357.0 0011NHCAP 0025CTCAP 4800MNCAP
15602.0 042RMRCAP
17412.0 042RMRCAP

The following frequencies have been identified as USAF CAP National ALE network freqs: 2011.0 3204.0 4477.0 5006.0 6806.0 7602.0 8012.0 9047.0 10162.0 11402.0 12081.0 13415.0 14357.0 15602.0 17412.0 19814.0 25354.0 kHz.

I have tentatively identified some possible CAP regional nets that will be ramping up bigtime next year, but it is a bit to early to publish at this point. More on that is more on-the-air data becomes available.

CAP to Conduct Disaster Relief Exercise this Weekend

According to an article in the online website of the Canby Herald, the Oregon CAP will be conducting a disaster relief exercise this weekend.

The large-scale exercise will include aerial and ground operations throughout the state as the CAP members respond to mock disasters and simulated terrorist activity.

A USAF team will observe the exercise and other agencies that will participate includes the U.S. Coast Guard and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

The exercise will be run out of the patrol’s Incident Command Center at the Aurora State Airport.

For my friends on the PDX list and others in the area here are some VHF freqs to watch. These freqs are based on extensive monitoring and study, the frequency/designator list below is believed to be the current loadout of the ground radios used by the CAP nationwide.

And, before the CAP community has a major hemorrhage as usual and sends the Feds to knock down our door, let me hasten to add that the information presented in this column has come from open sources we found on various Internet websites and from Milcom monitors in various areas of the country. Absolutely no internal CAP classified sources were used to compile the frequency list below.

I wrote an extensive article on all of the VHF freqs used by CAP in the May 2010 Monitoring Times Milcom column (if you miss one issue you miss a lot). But to help out those who don't subscribe (and you really should), here are the frequencies to watch for CAP activity:

139.8750 141.0000 141.5750 143.5500 143.6250 143.600 143.7000 148.1250 148.1375 148.1500 149.2750 150.2250 150.5625 MHz

National CAP Plan (Supposedly Zone 1 in all the new ground-only radios)

141.5750 Simplex 127.3 Hz Command Control
141.0000 Simplex 131.8 Hz Command Control
149.2750 Simplex 141.3 Hz Air-to-Air
150.5625 Simplex 151.4 Hz Air-to-Air
150.2250 Simplex 162.2 Hz CAP Guard Channel
139.8750 Simplex 173.8 Hz Tactical/Miscellaneous use (also used on the Canadian Border as an input to the 148.1250 repeaters)
148.1250 Simplex 100.0 Hz Primary Talk-Around
148.1500 Simplex 100.0 Hz Secondary Talk-Around
148.1375/143.6250 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 192.8 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 131.8 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 162.2 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1250/143.5500 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1250/139.8750 Canadian Border repeaters
148.1500/143.7000 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1500/143.6000 Canadian Border repeaters

Again there is more to all this, but that is about 2,000 words in the MT May issue. Field reports on what was heard is always welcomed at the email address in the masthead.

Civil Air Patrol to Conduct Weekend Exercise in Northeast

The Northeast Region Civil Air Patrol will be conducting a region wide disaster relief exercise this weekend (7/31-8/1). Looks like there's going to be a lot of HF/SSB radio traffic including ALE operation. Will probably have a lot of air to ground VHF-NFM comms conducted by all wings throughout the region.

If you are an HF entusiasts CAP is quite active within the HF spectrum and can be interesting to monitor. The following ALE addresses have been seen here in BTown.

0001OKCAP 0002SCCAP 0004IACAP 0004ILCAP 0004MSCAP 0004NVCAP 0004NYCAP 0004SCCAP 0004WICAP 0004WVCAP 00081ILCAP 0010NVCAP 0010PACAP 0011ARCAP 0011DCCAP 001NHQCAP 0016MECAP 0020NHCAP 002NHQCAP 0032WICAP 0032WVCAP 0033COCAP 0040IACAP 0041CTCAP 0041MICAP 0041WICAP 0042MICAP 0042NHCAP 0043ILCAP 0048FLCAP 004MERCAP 004RMRCAP 004SERCAP 004SWRCAP 0078NVCAP 0094ALCAP 009NHQCAP 0100NDCAP 0100PRCAP 0112GACAP 0140NVCAP 0148KYCAP 0164CACAP 0196NECAP 0204MICAP 0204SCCAP 022NHQCAP 0272HICAP 028NHQCAP 0303WACAP 0314MICAP 031NHQCAP 033NHQCAP 034MERCAP 0355OKCAP 0360FLCAP 037RMRCAP 040NHQCAP 042RMRCAP 42SERCAP 0431ILCAP 043MERCAP 043NHQCAP 043SERCAP 044NCRCAP 046NHQCAP 047NHQCAP 047SERCAP 054NHQCAP 0602IACAP 060PCRCAP 062NHQCAP 064NHQCAP 0775NVCAP 0902ALCAP 1000SWRCAP 100NCRCAP 100NDCAP 100NDCAP 100NERCAP 100SWRCAP 101NCRCAP 101NERCAP 101SWRCAP 104MERCAP 201SERCAP 202SERCAP 900NHQCAP 901NHQCAP 909NHQCAP 9101ORCAP 951NHQCAP 952NHQCAP 971NHQCAP 991NHQCAP 998NHQCAP 999NHQCAP

I have found the assignment pattern for their ALE addresses as follows:

#### (state two ltr abbrev) CAP aka 0001OKCAP (A state/wing callsign)
### (region abbrev/NHQ) CAP aka 004MERCAP or 909NHQCAP (Region address/National HQ assigned address)

There are some 4-number addresses and these have all been associated with a state wing.

And here is my latest freq list (I know I am still missing some high end freqs)

2011.0 3204.0 4477.0 4585.0 5006.0 5447.0 6773.0 6806.0 7602.0 7665.0 8012.0 9047.0 10162.0 11402.0 12081.0 13415.0 14357.0 15602.0 17412.0 19814.0 25354.0 29894.0 kHz.

On the VHF/UHF side of the spectrum, I wrote an extensive article on all of this in the May 2010 MT Milcom column (if you miss one issue you miss a lot). But to help out those who don't subscribe (and you really should), here are the frequencies to watch for CAP activity:

139.8750 141.0000 141.5750 143.5500 143.6250 143.600 143.7000 148.1250 148.1375 148.1500 149.2750 150.2250 150.5625 MHz

National CAP Plan (Supposedly Zone 1 in all the new ground-only radios)

141.5750 Simplex 127.3 Hz Command Control
141.0000 Simplex 131.8 Hz Command Control
149.2750 Simplex 141.3 Hz Air-to-Air
150.5625 Simplex 151.4 Hz Air-to-Air
150.2250 Simplex 162.2 Hz CAP Guard Channel
139.8750 Simplex 173.8 Hz Tactical/Miscellaneous use (also used on the Canadian Border as an input to the 148.1250 repeaters)
148.1250 Simplex 100.0 Hz Primary Talk-Around
148.1500 Simplex 100.0 Hz Secondary Talk-Around
148.1375/143.6250 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 192.8 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 131.8 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1375/143.6250 162.2 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1250/143.5500 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1250/139.8750 Canadian Border repeaters
148.1500/143.7000 203.5 Hz Airborne/Tactical Repeater
148.1500/143.6000 Canadian Border repeaters

Again there is more to all this, but that is about 2,000 words in the MT May issue.