20
Tactical Radio Procedures Armies have struggled with coordinating their actions, particularly with units not in direct sight, ever since military elements were organized from the club wielding mobs of our distant ancestors. The invention of man portable radio sets introduced in the middle of the 20th century began to allow some of the larger elements (brigade or company and above) to communicate. This allowed coordinated action across large areas, even across continents. Quickly it became apparent that, in the crucible of combat, unless careful protocols were followed communication would rapidly deteriorate into a series of misunderstandings and garbled messages. This problem became even more critical when radios became small, simple and inexpensive enough to provide communication capability to every soldier. The personal nature of coordinating movement at the squad and fire team level, combined with the frenetic pace and stress of action and combat, makes the very act of sending and receiving communication problematic by causing sensory overload. Over time a protocol has evolved that allows even individual soldiers to effectively communicate over the radio, even during the worst firefight. While the specifics of radio protocol do vary from country to country and even unit to unit, there are some general principles that ubiquitous. THINK THEN SPEAK: Knowing what you want to say before you key the microphone is important. KISS: Keep It Simple and Short: Complex communication via radio are to be avoided. Messages should be simple and concise. USE PERIODS: You need to remember to tell others when you are done speaking to avoid interruptions and prompt responses Basic Concepts 1) 2) 3) 4)
Is your TX necessary? Does it add to our intel or help complete the mission? Brevity – to the point, succinct Clarity – avoid contractions, use phonetic alphabet when necessary, Calmness – don‘t over react or add to confusion
The standing "rule of thumb" for net communications is if you can leave a word out without changing the meaning, leave it out. If a description of an item will not add to the understanding of the subject of the message, leave it out. Listen before you call. The channel may be in use. Garbles or lost TX may result If more than one station is TX. Speak clearly – Use your normal voice and do not speak too fast. Hold the microphone close to your mouth but at right angles and talk across the face of the microphone. This reduces distortion and wind noise. Handheld radios are designed with vertical antennas. Hold your radio with the antenna pointing straight up. Holding your radio with the antenna horizontal will decrease it‘s range for both transmitting and receiving. Think before you speak – Know what you are going to say before you press the PPT switch. Divide your message into natural phrases instead of individual words so that it flows smoothly. Wait a fraction of a second after pressing the mic button before speaking, to make sure you don't clip off the first syllable. When the "battery save" is on, your radio goes into a reduced power mode after several minutes of standby and needs a signal to be present for a second before it "wakes up" to pass any audio Don't talk louder in noisy environment. It's natural to talk louder when it is noisy around you, but don't do that on the radio. If you speak louder, the radio clips your voice to avoid over modulating the transmitter, distorting the audio, reducing voice intelligibility. NEVER use VOX or locking PPT switches because they lead to jammed channels and inadvertent TX. Be careful what you say on the air. Remember that anyone could be listening. Do not editorialize. Do not use profanity. Stay on topic Do not exaggerate or embellish. Only TX facts - numbers of troops, resupply needs, situation, etc. Do not use ―10 codes‖ or Ham radio ―Q‖ codes. LE ―10 codes‖ vary across the county. Not everyone is in law enforcement or Ham radio. Relinquish channel (stop TX) for urgent or emergency traffic Numbers: 310 is ―three - one – zero‖, not ―three ten‖ nor ―three one oh‖ Shield your microphone from the wind. Wind blowing across the microphone makes it more difficult to understand. Use only the power necessary for your location. Low power will extend battery life. Fewer TX will extend battery life (Continued on page 21)