Radio Communication Protocol

[Sailor]

Had an FTX this last weekend based around making our way through a hostile roadblock.

When the stress ramps up the first thing I tend to screw up is comms. I know that with practice I will get better.

Question is which of the 5000 military manuals goes over proper radio traffic protocol/terms?

Thanks.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

If the SHTF... Protocol doesn't matter.

For instance, many LEO agencies are reverting back to plain-speak for their radio communications; too many times of officers reverting back to it anyhow in stressful situations. Plus the fact that their codes were no longer "secretive"

I'm sure that the military parlance can be deciphered through various training manuals and such; at least I'd think that all but the need-to-know stuff. But that's not going to be broadcast in a manner that'd be accessable anyway. Can't imagine that ANY military stuff is broadcast OTA these days. LEO freq's the same way, I'd imagine.

-J-

 

[Tactical Dave]

Yeah when things hit the fan everything tends to go out the door for the most part when it comes to radio comm...... I am sure you could find all you need to know in some Google searches..... when it comes to the basic stuff.

 

[Kuting]

So as soon as I saw the title of this thread the scene from Saving Silverman popped into my head with Steve Zahn and Jack Black arguing over making the "Ksssshk" sound.

"You don't have to make the "Kssshk" sound, it already does it. Over"
"Roger, got it, over... Kssshk. That was the last time, sorry."

Lol

 

[shibumiseeker]

You and your group can come up with whatever protocols or codes you want. However, according to NIMS/ICS all public safety agencies are strongly encouraged to stick to "plain english" for radio communcation protocol. This is to ensure interoperability between departments. It has been this way for over a decade now. The military, of course, has their own protocols for military operations and those can vary within units, but when they respond under NIMS/ICS they too are supposed to stick to plain english.

 

[SmileDocHill]

proper "over" protocol

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJCfUm21BsI[/ame]

 

[cosermann]

Oh, man, that's gotta be repped.

 

[AFA1CY]

Had an FTX this last weekend based around making our way through a hostile roadblock.

When the stress ramps up the first thing I tend to screw up is comms. I know that with practice I will get better.

Question is which of the 5000 military manuals goes over proper radio traffic protocol/terms?

Thanks.

Hope this helps

ACP 125 - http://www.marsregionone.org/Pubs/acp125f.pdf

ACP 131 - http://www.marsregionone.org/Pubs/acp131-operating-sigs.pdf

 

[OEF5]

Plain talk: Law enforcement groups abandoning radio codes Evansville Courier & Press

This is a decent article about LEO use of the radio. I know that while I was at Atterbury there was a National shift in how things work. After 9/11 and Katrina, FEMA and other national agencies put out a broadband message that all First responders would work under "plain speak". It was stated that there were too many errors in communications in a crisis on local and federal codes.

My google FU came up with this forum that is talking about the exact same thing. I can't seem to find anything from FEMA lol

Plain Talk - The RadioReference.com Forums

 

[shibumiseeker]

My google FU came up with this forum that is talking about the exact same thing. I can't seem to find anything from FEMA lol

IS-100.a Introduction to Incident Command System, I-100

All emergency response personnel are highly encouraged to take the ICS 100 level class online and I believe any department receiving federal funds are required to have their personnel take it. In the online class it is discussed in depth.

lol.

 

[OEF5]

IS-100.a Introduction to Incident Command System, I-100

All emergency response personnel are highly encouraged to take the ICS 100 level class online and I believe any department receiving federal funds are required to have their personnel take it. In the online class it is discussed in depth.

lol.

Dangit lol, I forgot all about that stupid class. One of the many I had to take. Thanks, but this really was what I was looking for

 

[Sailor]

Hope this helps

ACP 125 - http://www.marsregionone.org/Pubs/acp125f.pdf

ACP 131 - http://www.marsregionone.org/Pubs/acp131-operating-sigs.pdf

Thanks for the links.

 

[AFA1CY]

Thanks for the links.

No problem

 

[WETSU]

I was on the FTX that Sailor is refering to. Radio/comms protocol goes beyond proper use fo prowords and phonetic alphabet. Yes, when the stress ramps up, plain speak is good, up to a point. Having SOPs for comms is needed, especially then. And it needs to be trained, hard just like you would for shooting and weapons handling.

An example: caller should ID himself and the party he is calling. That party answers, IDs himself, to the caller, that he heard his contact, go ahead. This is not as important when it is just two parties. But this is very important when there there are multiple users on the net. BTDT. Its screwed up. Who is talking to who? Is the guy who just talked, IDing himself, or is he calling for that person instead? How you use plain language is very important, and it needs to be uniform.

Our crew can shoot, manuever, fight, drive and live in the bush, but comms has always been our weakest link.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Our crew can shoot, manuever, fight, drive and live in the bush, but comms has always been our weakest link.

Then you are not training with your comms to the same degree you are training your other skills.

I come from the other side, I've been a HAM most of my life and participated in severe weather nets, RACES, and other disaster response, in addition to my SAR duties and emergency medical services experience. Communications protocol is completely automatic for me in a way I wish my defensive skills (other than martial arts which I have) were. The point for your team is NOT which protocol you use since that is why plain english has become the standard (because there are lots of different protocols), but that you all practice the protocols you decide on until they too are automatic. No matter which protocol you decide on, someone else out there will have a different one, I guarantee it.

 

[Vasili]

Look up the Technical Manual via search engine.

My personal favorite is TM-31-201-1.

 

[AFA1CY]

Then you are not training with your comms to the same degree you are training your other skills.

I come from the other side, I've been a HAM most of my life and participated in severe weather nets, RACES, and other disaster response, in addition to my SAR duties and emergency medical services experience. Communications protocol is completely automatic for me in a way I wish my defensive skills (other than martial arts which I have) were. The point for your team is NOT which protocol you use since that is why plain english has become the standard (because there are lots of different protocols), but that you all practice the protocols you decide on until they too are automatic. No matter which protocol you decide on, someone else out there will have a different one, I guarantee it.

It is a little (or should be) different in MilCom. There is a strict protocol in establishing and maintaining communications that is shared between the services.

 

[shibumiseeker]

It is a little (or should be) different in MilCom. There is a strict protocol in establishing and maintaining communications that is shared between the services.

Edited: I reread the original poster's question and I see that he was specifically talking about military protocols. My apologies for misreading and straying away from his original question. Mea culpa.

 

[WETSU]

Shibumiseeker, your point is still valid. Our comms training has almost been an afterthought, as part of our team training, but not focused on that specifically. There is too much room for error when people are talking past, over and around others in a dynamic environment.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Shibumiseeker, your point is still valid. Our comms training has almost been an afterthought, as part of our team training, but not focused on that specifically. There is too much room for error when people are talking past, over and around others in a dynamic environment.

I get a little enthusiastic when discussing communication and information theory (both the tools we use to communicate as well as the actual exchange of information and ideas) since that was my second area of concentration after medical when I was first starting out in SAR and disaster response. It's one of the biggest common denominator failure modes I see in the management chain in incident response, from the team level all the way up to the highest levels of command. When I am teaching incident management it's an area I stress since it's what I have identified as the single largest source of problems as it is most often the source of cascading failure.