[ARC5] "What's Old is New..."

[Mike Morrow]

Wayne wrote:

> Back in the mid-70's I was surprised and disappointed to find that the
> Civil Air Patrol ran its own HF radio networks, using SSB - but that
> CW/Morse was not allowed without special permission from the local
> commander.

I doubt that there was ever any CAP Morse operation, even with local approval.  About 20 years ago, even MARS banned all Morse operation, to the point of removing Morse IDs on VHF repeaters.  About ten years ago there was a Navy MARS chief who tried to re-introduce it, but I don't think the effort was too successful before USN/USMC MARS disbanded a few years ago.

The radio room of ballistic missile submarines were sophisticated computerized VLF receiving and decoding stations when I served on one in the 1970s.  There was likely little such complexity found anywhere else in the US military forces.  There was also a high-power HF burst transmitter and some 225-400 MHz gear used for aircraft communications.  There was no Morse activity required of the operators, whose Radioman rating ensured very little above slow character recognition.  But in the late 1970s in the Atlantic submarine forces, someone concluded that should an SSBN ever be called to deliver its 160+ MIRVs, most of the pre-event sophisticated comm systems on the other end would likely be out of service afterwards.  There began in the SSBN fleet efforts to improve the Morse capability of the radiomen.  I was leaving active duty, so an Engineering Department officer who was the only other ham on board got the job of conducting Morse training for the radiomen...a little odd because the radiomen were in the Operations Department.  I'm not sure how long that effort and emphasis was sustained...I had left service by that time.  But it seemed very sensible to me.

Twenty years ago the Radioman rating was abolished, replaced by Information Systems Technician.  Really wonderful modern navy BS.

Mike / KK5F