Royal Air Force Tactical Communicators have joined their US Air Force counterparts in Germany to hone their skills using high frequency communications.

The training culminated with a combined UK/US team establishing a HF link with Guam, more than 11500km away in the Western Pacific.

Wing Commander Maisey, Officer Commanding of the RAF’s Tactical Communications Wing, was quoted as saying:

“It is essential that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies in NATO as the alliance turns 75. This opportunity to train with our US partners allows us to leverage our combined strengths, enhancing our shared tactics and strong relationships while honing technical skills in HF. This is only one small element of our work delivering on the Combined Vision Statement for Agile Combat Employment.”

According to a news release:

“The Cyberspace Communications Specialists, currently serving on Tactical Communications Wing within 90 Signals Unit at RAF Leeming, attended the Advanced HF Communications Course at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Hosted by the USAF’s 1st Combat Communications Squadron, known as 1 CBCS, they exchanged knowledge, skills and an understanding of both units’ equipment.

In September the RAF and USAF signed a Combined Vision Statement on Agile Combat Employment to commit to a new strategic approach to the employment of aircraft and enabling functions such as communications. One of its key objectives is to replace unique systems with interoperable ones – systems that can work together and when appropriate be operated by members of either air force.”

You can read more here.

Tom Dunlop
Tom has spent the last 13 years working in the defence industry, specifically military and commercial shipbuilding. His work has taken him around Europe and the Far East, he is currently based in Scotland.

9 COMMENTS

  1. I remember one exercise in the early 80’s when we couldn’t get hold of RHQ on the HF set, but we managed to pick up the New York port authority.

    • Detached to a USAF “wartime staffed” base in the late seventies. You could have a chat with fishing boats out in the Wash as the USAF frequencies were very close to their VHF and would skip around.

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