Exercise NOBLE SKYWAVE 2015 in progress

This is an exercise done yearly by Canadian Forces, CFARS, and other organizations as a test of HF interoperability. It's run kind of like a contest, and it brings out a lot of military stations using special call signs.

While the announced dates are October 22-23, many stations were sounding in ALE and working each other in voice from the morning of October 21 (U.S. time) on.

Here are the first few paragraphs of the official announcement made last August:

EXERCISE INSTRUCTION FOR

EXERCISE NOBLE SKYWAVE 2015

1.                SITUATION. The Communications and Electronics (C&E) Branch is holding its annual Professional Development week at Canadian Forces Base Kingston. 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment (21 EW Regt) on behalf of the C&E Branch will use this opportunity in order to conduct Ex NOBLE SKYWAVE (Ex NS). The exercise will see voice and data links between domestic and international teams via High Frequency (HF) sky-wave propagation. Invited to participate are all Regular, Reserve, or Auxiliary Force units with HF radio communications from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, and New Zealand. Members of the Canadian Forces Affiliate Radio System (CFARS) and the US Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) are also invited to participate.

2.                MISSION. 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment will organize and facilitate Ex NOBLE SKYWAVE 21-22 October 2015 in order to provide a venue to confirm HF interoperability amongst the international community.

3.                EXECUTION

a.                Concept of Operations

(1)             Intent. Building on the success of previous iterations of Ex NS and the US led QPNX, I intend to leverage the training opportunity provided by C&E week to conduct a Radio Frequency (RF) training exercise that emphasizes HF sky-wave propagation to domestic and international teams;

(2)             Scheme of Maneuver. Within a competition construct, participating teams will earn points for successful contacts with other participants. Teams are responsible for their own respective broadcast detachments, stations, sites, and personnel. The Officer in Charge (OIC) will retain responsibility for the overall coordination and conduct of the competition. Throughout the entire exercise, individual units are responsible for the setup, tear-down, and manning of their detachments.