For two days now, activity on the US Air Force High Frequency Global Communications System has been far busier than normal. Right now (0110 UTC) 11175.0 kHz USB is going crazy.
The activity resembles the Nightwatch net (a TACAMO airborne CP and supporting units), but there are way too many players. Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) are going out far more frequently than usual.
At 0110, "Aircraft 113" is working "Aircraft 115" for a radio check.
At 0122 FOUL LINE is passing multiple EAMs, and at 0124 he is "standing by for traffic."
Most other players are also using joint tactical callwords, though there is also a unit with a CHARLIE WHISKEY prefix (US Navy) simultaneously patching to Duty Office. Yes, I have QRM here, though they all seem able to hear each other where they are.
Highly experienced military monitor Jeff Haverlah heard one of the "for" format EAMs, sent to something like six units at once. According to Jeff, this hasn't happened in years.
Best guess is an exercise, and a big one. Anyone who knows what's up can e-mail this column at the usual drops.
Showing posts with label USN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USN. Show all posts
Monday, April 07, 2008
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Large Joint Exercise Begins Today, Off US East Coast
Named "Bold Step 2007," the Joint Task Force Exercise, or JTFEX, will involve some 15,000 personnel from the U.S. and British navies.
Participating units:
USN Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group
USN Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group
Royal Navy Carrier HMS Illustrious
Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Manchester
USN attack submarine USS Boise
USN attack submarine USS Montpelier
The exercise begins July 26, and lasts 5 days.
Participating units:
USN Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group
USN Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group
Royal Navy Carrier HMS Illustrious
Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Manchester
USN attack submarine USS Boise
USN attack submarine USS Montpelier
The exercise begins July 26, and lasts 5 days.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Log Extract: Long EAMs Are Not Remarkable
As I suspected, previous reports published in our Utility Logs column have indeed shown Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) that were as long as, or longer than, the 174-character one of June 26 that has aroused attention. Recall from my previous blog entry that this EAM has been cited by unknown Internet sources as the longest since the first Persian Gulf War.
It isn't.
This would tend to reinforce the argument made by a writer to Bill Gertz's column, who was quoted in the same post, that long EAMs generated by periodic exercises "should not be considered unusual."
Long EAM Examples:
Jeff Haverlah, a long-time Utility Logs contributor and generally Mr. EAM in this hobby, reported the following on February 17, 2007:
(Emphasis mine, for readability.)
Also from Jeff, this report of March 10:
And, on 26 May, again from Jeff:
And, on June 23 near the beginning of the June 25 period in question, from Jeff:
Conclusion:
It seems significant that all of these long messages appeared at roughly one-month intervals, and on UTC Saturdays. There is a suggestion here of a monthly activity (likely a communications exercise) that generates long EAMs. We can therefore conclude that, while the June 25 activity was noteworthy for call signs, traffic volume, and a special test string, it was very much not noteworthy for EAM length. The writer to the Inside the Ring column appears correct.
It isn't.
This would tend to reinforce the argument made by a writer to Bill Gertz's column, who was quoted in the same post, that long EAMs generated by periodic exercises "should not be considered unusual."
Long EAM Examples:
Jeff Haverlah, a long-time Utility Logs contributor and generally Mr. EAM in this hobby, reported the following on February 17, 2007:
1729z 17 Feb 07
11175.0 was active at 1431z with OFFUTT bcsting a 248-character
EAM (TOXRB7) containing common, repetitive, distinctive formatting,
including the 14-character ending block common to these strings.
11175.0 was active at 1717z with OFFUTT bcsting a 163-character
EAM (TO57UN) containing distinctive (but not apparently repeating)
formatting including the 14-character ending block common to these
strings.
(Emphasis mine, for readability.)
Also from Jeff, this report of March 10:
0039z 11 Mar 07
11175.0 was active at 101722z+/- with OFFUTT (weak with deep
fading) bcsting a 201-character EAM (TOCDIJ) containing distinctive formatting and ending in a common 14-character ending block.
And, on 26 May, again from Jeff:
1555z 26 May 07
11175.0 was active at 1447z with ANDREWS (good levels here)
bcsting a 202-character EAM (IV3PR6) containing distinctive repetitive formatting (but did not end in the 14-character ending block common to these strings.) Activity common to utc Saturday's (1447z 28 Apr 07 245-character IVLZ7S) for example.) All Andrews xmsns are keying off with a soft pop/thump.
And, on June 23 near the beginning of the June 25 period in question, from Jeff:
1434z 23 Jun 07
8992.0 was active at 1418z with ANDREWS (good/fair levels here)
bcsting a 121-character EAM (IVSAD2) containing distinctive, repetitive formatting.
Conclusion:
It seems significant that all of these long messages appeared at roughly one-month intervals, and on UTC Saturdays. There is a suggestion here of a monthly activity (likely a communications exercise) that generates long EAMs. We can therefore conclude that, while the June 25 activity was noteworthy for call signs, traffic volume, and a special test string, it was very much not noteworthy for EAM length. The writer to the Inside the Ring column appears correct.
What Happened on June 26?
Utility World is about radio waves, not conspiracies or speculation on whatever dire plots the world's various governments might be up to. Therefore, its only place is to report on communications monitoring, and let readers draw their own conclusions, if any are to be drawn.
It appeared to start on the US Air Force High-Frequency Global Communications System (HF-GCS). Nothing is particularly remarkable about the stations that appear at various intervals with rotating tactical call signs of 2 or 3 syllables that change daily. These are several multi-service air-ground activities relating to command control, often involving the US Strategic Command.
What originally got the attention of people who make a hobby out of logging such things was a sudden enormous increase in the number and length of Emergency Action Messages (EAMs). Despite their important-sounding name, and high traffic priority, these are actually routine, encrypted broadcasts of updated instructions (or lack thereof) for US military assets worldwide. They use frequencies pretty much from DC to daylight. Presumably, in a real national emergency, the content would be very very much less routine.
At 0100 UTC on June 26, Jeff Haverlah logged CORN SNOW broadcasting two EAMs simulcast on the HF-GCS frequencies of 4725, 8992, and 11175 kHz USB. Two-letter tactical calls beginning in CORN are believed to be linked with the Nightwatch net, a Stratcomm airborne command post mission using multiple aircraft and ground stations. Past loggings include, but are not limited to, CORN BEEF, CORN OIL, and CORN STOCK.
Meanwhile, John, KC2HMZ, noted this net becoming very active on 11175, with two longer EAMs than the ones at 0100, a standby for traffic, and generally more net chatter than you usually get from these units. He heard the callsign as CORN ROW. Some new players appeared, using standard NATO trigraph callsigns, a type of tactical ID used by US Navy in some operations.
Here's where it gets interesting. At 0125, Jeff notes that 7703.0 kHz USB suddenly lit up with FOXTROT ZERO SIERRA (a Navy trigraph) with four different message broadcasts. 3 of these were EAMs, and the fourth was in a very rare format mostly heard in the runup to "Y2K" (remember that one?). This is a 30-character string beginning in 888800.
Jeff's guess on the content of this string is as follows:
This took until 0135, at which time KILO TWO YANKEE came up to repeat the three EAMs (not the other string).
As if this traffic was not interesting enough to people who follow such things, an unknown station pretty much simultaneously (around 0120) broadcast a remarkably long 174-character EAM on 15016 kHz, another HF-GCS frequency.
As mentioned, we deal in radio waves. However, other people, who speculate about other things, have been burning up the Internet with ideas regarding any possible meaning of an EAM of such an extreme length. A typical report appeared July 7th, in an online Pentagon affairs column named Inside the Ring, by Bill Gertz:
This is quite a startling claim, but I'm not sure about it. I'll have to research my old logs. (See, this is one reason we publish these...) I remember some other long EAMs, but how long will have to be checked out. This is something Utility World is good at, so I'll do it. [UPDATE 17/0610 UTC: There is indeed a monthly activity that has consistently generated long, or longer, EAMs in 2007.]
In any event, the July 13 column contains further interesting speculation:
Either of these two guesses would seem reasonable, were we to even attempt speculation concerning military affairs in the scariest world situation since the Cold War. Meanwhile, back in the Utility World, the combination of the long EAM with the rare Navy format simply remains an interesting, unexplained radio event.
It appeared to start on the US Air Force High-Frequency Global Communications System (HF-GCS). Nothing is particularly remarkable about the stations that appear at various intervals with rotating tactical call signs of 2 or 3 syllables that change daily. These are several multi-service air-ground activities relating to command control, often involving the US Strategic Command.
What originally got the attention of people who make a hobby out of logging such things was a sudden enormous increase in the number and length of Emergency Action Messages (EAMs). Despite their important-sounding name, and high traffic priority, these are actually routine, encrypted broadcasts of updated instructions (or lack thereof) for US military assets worldwide. They use frequencies pretty much from DC to daylight. Presumably, in a real national emergency, the content would be very very much less routine.
At 0100 UTC on June 26, Jeff Haverlah logged CORN SNOW broadcasting two EAMs simulcast on the HF-GCS frequencies of 4725, 8992, and 11175 kHz USB. Two-letter tactical calls beginning in CORN are believed to be linked with the Nightwatch net, a Stratcomm airborne command post mission using multiple aircraft and ground stations. Past loggings include, but are not limited to, CORN BEEF, CORN OIL, and CORN STOCK.
Meanwhile, John, KC2HMZ, noted this net becoming very active on 11175, with two longer EAMs than the ones at 0100, a standby for traffic, and generally more net chatter than you usually get from these units. He heard the callsign as CORN ROW. Some new players appeared, using standard NATO trigraph callsigns, a type of tactical ID used by US Navy in some operations.
Here's where it gets interesting. At 0125, Jeff notes that 7703.0 kHz USB suddenly lit up with FOXTROT ZERO SIERRA (a Navy trigraph) with four different message broadcasts. 3 of these were EAMs, and the fourth was in a very rare format mostly heard in the runup to "Y2K" (remember that one?). This is a 30-character string beginning in 888800.
Jeff's guess on the content of this string is as follows:
888800 25[india]6[zero][zero]AAE6GG[zero][zero]NNXXZZ8886
888800 25I600AAE6GG00NNXXZZ8886
I suspect that 25[india]600 is actually 251600, and I further
suspect that 1600z on 25 UTC was the start of this current event on HF
(12 Noon US Eeastern Time).
This took until 0135, at which time KILO TWO YANKEE came up to repeat the three EAMs (not the other string).
As if this traffic was not interesting enough to people who follow such things, an unknown station pretty much simultaneously (around 0120) broadcast a remarkably long 174-character EAM on 15016 kHz, another HF-GCS frequency.
As mentioned, we deal in radio waves. However, other people, who speculate about other things, have been burning up the Internet with ideas regarding any possible meaning of an EAM of such an extreme length. A typical report appeared July 7th, in an online Pentagon affairs column named Inside the Ring, by Bill Gertz:
The messages sent June 26 included 174 characters, much longer than normal 30-character messages, and amateur radio monitors say they have not seen the size of this message since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
This is quite a startling claim, but I'm not sure about it. I'll have to research my old logs. (See, this is one reason we publish these...) I remember some other long EAMs, but how long will have to be checked out. This is something Utility World is good at, so I'll do it. [UPDATE 17/0610 UTC: There is indeed a monthly activity that has consistently generated long, or longer, EAMs in 2007.]
In any event, the July 13 column contains further interesting speculation:
Many who wrote suspected that the messages may have something to do with military plans for Iran and the Persian Gulf region, where three U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups are stationed.
One reader said the June 26 message traffic on Air Force Global High Frequency System networks to bases around the world was part of a major Joint Chiefs of Staff strategic "connectivity exercise" code-named Polo Hat.
... Exercises in the past have generated messages that are up to 150 characters, so the recent ones that had 174 characters or more should not be considered unusual.
Either of these two guesses would seem reasonable, were we to even attempt speculation concerning military affairs in the scariest world situation since the Cold War. Meanwhile, back in the Utility World, the combination of the long EAM with the rare Navy format simply remains an interesting, unexplained radio event.
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