[ARC5] WW II Radio Question

[David Stinson]

W6ph at aol.com wrote:
> Very interesting info about WW II radios.  The military historians may be 
> able to answer this question.  Were there any communications between ground units 
> and attack aircraft similar to the role of a ground FAC (forward air 
> controller)?  My conclusion is that targets were ground briefed before the mission and 
> very little air to ground comm to the airborne planes for targetting.  If 
> there was, what radios or comm mode was used?  Thanks.  Kurt, W6PH

There was resistance in WWII- which carried over even to this day-
to direct communication between air power and ground power.
Brass-hats who'd never heard a shot fired in anger kept nixing
the idea because they "didn't want some corporal ordering
our aircraft around," amongst other lame excuses.
This bone-headed attitude was still causing mayhem and death
in the 1990s, as anyone who has read "Blackhawk Down" can attest.
Maybe the "corporal" on the ground shouldn't talk directly
to the air cover, but *someone* on the scene should.
Relaying through far-away "controllers" equals dead grunts.

I'm not the "ground" expert, but I don't know of an
"official" forward-deployed set specifically for
coordinating with air cover that made it to the front.
Nevertheless, WWII front-line troops needed to talk to their
air cover and improvised solutions, like mounting SCR-522 in tanks
and BC-659 in L-5 observation craft.

During Korea, several groups provided both tactical forward air control
and coordination/relay of observation aircraft reports.
The 6147th, 6148th, 6149th 6150th Tactical Control Squadrons-
named the "Mosquitos-" removed the "armor FM" sets from
the old radio jeep HF/VHF set, VRC-1, and fitted it with SCR-522.
Later, they replaced the BC-375 and SCR-522 with
AN/ART-13 and AN/ARC-3.  They used these "Radio Jeeps"
to talk to both HF and VHF equipped aircraft.
I helped outfit one of these "Radio Jeeps" for
a restoration/veteran's group several years ago.
In 1991, they self-published a wonderful book on the group:
"Mosquitos in Korea" by W.M. Cleveland (no ISBN number; sorry),
which I think should have had wider distribution by one
of the bigger houses.  It's a very interesting account.

73 Dave S.