[CW] Code in Iran: CW and military (or othe?) requirements

[Stan Barr]

Hi,

eil Murphy, KI6HJS said:

> Daily Mail,
> I found it interesting, not that some of the recently
> detained Brits used Morse code
> during their captivity, but that they knew it at all. And
> that perhaps all of them knew
> it well enough to make determined use of it.
> 
> Does anyone know if learning some form of CW code (Morse
> being the obvious one)
> is a requirement of the British military? Do any of our
> branches require it? Or any other 
> government agencies? Curious about the prospects for
> longevity of our wonderful
> communication tool...
>

The British special forces (SAS etc) still receive Morse training,
I believe, but I've not spoken to anyone in that field for a while,
and I know the Black Watch (I think it was them) were using cw in 
North Africa a couple of years ago because of lack of encrypted radios.
The Royal Navy still understand Morse, I saw a frigate flashing
morse last year -  the captured troops were RN.  

RAF Kinloss Rescue (callsign GFF), who control the Navy and Coastguard 
helicopters, still have proper radiomen and a rig, a Morcomm TW7000, 
with a key attached for chasing away intruders.  I heard them using it 
on 5.680MHz recently.  
The RAF Nimrod radar planes, a legacy of the Cold War, still apparently 
have a morse key available for the radio operator, but I don't think 
they've been used recently!

-- 
Cheers and 73,
Stan Barr  G0CLV  G-QRP 3369   g0clv at dial.pipex.com

"Never leave well enough alone." -  Raymond Loewy