[Scan-DC] Fw: DoD/Ham communications interoperability training exercise November 4-6

[Alan Henney]

-----Original Message----- 
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Communications Interoperability Training with Amateur Radio Community
Set
10/24/2017

Elements of the US Department of Defense (DOD) will conduct a
"communications interoperability" training exercise November 4-6, once
again simulating a "very bad day" scenario. Amateur Radio and MARS
organizations will take part.


"This exercise will begin with a national massive coronal mass
ejection event which will impact the national power grid as well as
all forms of traditional communication, including landline telephone,
cellphone, satellite, and Internet connectivity," Army MARS Program
Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, explained in an announcement.


During the exercise, a designated DOD Headquarters entity will request
county-by-county status reports for the 3,143 US counties and county
equivalents, in order to gain situational awareness and to determine
the extent of impact of the scenario. Army and Air Force MARS
organizations will work in conjunction with the Amateur Radio
community, primarily on the 60-meter interoperability channels as well
as on HF NVIS frequencies and local VHF and UHF, non-Internet linked
Amateur Radio repeaters.


Again this year, a military station on the east coast and the Fort
Huachuca, Arizona, HF station will conduct a high-power broadcast on
60-meter channel 1 (5330.5 kHz) on Saturday from 0300 to 0315 UTC. New
this year will be an informational broadcast on Sunday, on 13,483.5
kHz USB from 1600 to 1615 UTC. Amateur Radio operators should monitor
these broadcasts for more information about the exercise and how they
can participate in this communications exercise, English said.


"We want to continue building on the outstanding cooperative working
relationship with the ARRL and the Amateur Radio community," English
said. "We want to expand the use of the 60-meter interop channels
between the military and amateur community for emergency
communications, and we hope the Amateur Radio community will give us
some good feedback on the use of both the 5-MHz interop and the new
13-MHz broadcast channels as a means of information dissemination
during a very bad day scenario.



http://www.arrl.org/news/communications-interoperability-training-with
-amateur-radio-community-set


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