Happy Valentine’s Day Boys!

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 7, 2020)— U.S. Marines with Information Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MIG) participated in a HAM Amateur Radio General Licensing Course as part of the group’s High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative on base, Jan. 27-31, 2020.

The course, taught by members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club, out of Greenville, N.C., helps Marines learn the principles of high frequency radio operations as a contingency against a peer-to-peer adversary in real-world operations.

Throughout the duration of the course, Marines learned HAM radio frequency and propagation theory, frequency band allocation, conventional and field-expedient antenna theory in addition to HAM radio operations and control.

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Jordan Walzer, commanding officer of II MIG, created the High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative after recognizing the need for utilizing more options in a combat environment. He wanted the Marines to familiarize themselves with older technology to ensure their lethality in any situation.

“Embracing technology is great but overreliance leaves us vulnerable,” Walzer said. “In a peer-to-peer conflict, our space-based capabilities will be attacked. The next war will look less like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and a lot more like ‘Ghost Fleet’.”

Contrary to Saving Private Ryan, which was fought utilizing traditional land-based maneuver warfare, Ghost Fleet is a book set in the near future and includes the addition of space and cyber warfare.

So wars of the past were fought in the air, on land and at sea, whereas future wars will likely include the addition of space warfare, explained Walzer. U.S. forces need to create a cohesion of modern technology and analog throwbacks to mitigate hackers and drones.

HAM radios make effective alternate communication because they do not rely on satellites or internet, but instead, radio waves. They can travel directly or indirectly, along the ground or by bouncing the radio waves off of the ionosphere or troposphere layers of the atmosphere to communicate.

“Right now, our adversaries are aggressively pursuing counter-space weapons to target our satellites and ground stations,” Walzer said. “If our satellites get knocked out, what do we do then? [High Frequency] radio has been around for well over a century and is still used today. Why? Because it’s a reliable, low-cost alternative to satellite communications. With the right training and education, a Marine with a radio and some slash wire can communicate over-the-horizon for long distances, even between continents.”

HAM radios, also known as amateur radios, are communication devices created in the late 1800s. Depending how much an individual is willing to spend on equipment, someone can talk to others across town or across the world, all without the need for an internet connection. Although most people use HAM radios as a hobby, II MIG views them as potential lifelines in a highly contested environment.

There are three courses taught on HAM radios by the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club. The entry level class is called the technicians course, which gives people frequency privileges in very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands and some privileges in the high frequency range. A frequency privilege is just another meaning for permission to use a specific frequency. The HAM Amateur Radio General Licensing Course is the intermediate level course, which allows spectrum privileges on almost all spectrums that the government gives amateur radio operators. The expert class license, also called Extra Class, gives users full privilege on any frequencies allocated to HAM radios.

“I think the course was very informative,” said Sgt. Matthew Griffith, an intelligence surveillance reconnaissance systems engineer with 2nd Radio Battalion, II MIG. “It’s good to learn the things that make our equipment work. In my area of this field we use the equipment but don’t [always] know how the equipment works on the inside, which sometimes makes it harder to troubleshoot if a problem arises. Leaving the course with this knowledge will be invaluable for my Marines and me in the future.”

Dave Wood, the president of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club and instructor of the course, plans to conduct the first expert level course in the future after enough Marines have graduated from the intermediate course. The club plans to host the next entry level course during the summer of 2020 and train more Marines.

“The volunteers who make up our High Frequency Auxiliary are absolutely vital to us building a world-class capability,” Walzer said. “We’re drastically improving our skill by pairing experts with Marines who have a passion for HAM radio. They may not wear the uniform, but they’re American patriots serving our country in a different way.”

Whether the next conflict is fought in air, on land, at sea, or in space, one thing is clear; Marines will adapt to face those threats whether it is with the technology of today or equipment of the past.

Eight Tested, And Eight Passed!

Congratulations Stacey KO4BOC and Jaimie KO4BMY

Left to right Stacey KO4BOA new Tech  VE Al, Jaimie KO4BNY new Tech, Vlad KX4TH, Florida Polytechnic’s Radio Club President, and friend Peter.

Donald, KC3OUZ

Standing outside his new Ham Shack with John, Donald proudly displays his certificate for passing the Technician Test.

Congratulations David KO4BNZ, AndonKO4BOC, Bob W3ERP and Chris KO4AWN

Two things are clear from this billboard. First, Ham radio is popular with all ages. Second, what’s not to like about a team like this? From left to right, VE Al, David KO4BNZ new Tech, Andon KO4BOC new Tech, Bob W3ERP new Extra, Chris KO4AWN new General, and VE/VP John

Congratulations Gary KG4CYY new General

Left to right, VE Al, Gary KG4CYY new General, and Eleanor, LARC board member .

Young Republicans for Trump?

Mike Bresse And The MS Bike Tour

VP John Stanton discusses plans for this year’s MS bike race with Mike Bresse.

Attendance Was High

Opening remarks by our President Mike

The Hams By Location feature has been updated. Click on the menu item above to go to the interactive map page, then click on the link for the interactive map. Clicking on any one pin will identify a club member.

New Hams

From left t right Jim VE, Andy KO4AWN, Michael KE8NRS,
Trenton KO4AWL, and VE Richard. (I believe the piper is a distant relative of bill Paul.)

From left to right VE Glenn, Daniel KO4AWK, Glenn KO4AWJ, VEs Ron and Richard.

Speaker Kathy Drainville

Our speaker for the evening was Kathy Drainville. Kathy did an excellent job  presenting the case for CERT, Community Emergency Response Team. Some of our members, like our VP John Stanford were already members. As A result of her dynamic presentation I know of several others who have signed up for training.For more information on how to sign up, see the Blog entry below.

Field Day Results

Fred went over the numbers for last year’s Field Day exercise. We did about the same as we did in previous years. Where we place is not as important as the fact that we demonstrated that we can communicate when the grid is down, and have a lot of fun in the process.

Attendance

 We had 58 in attendance of which 16 were guests. Guests are always welcome.

This year’s Tampa Bay Hamfest will again be held at the Strawberry Festival facilities in Plant City, Florida. The Hamfest will open to the public at 1 PM on Friday, December 13th and run through Saturday, December 14th, closing at 4 PM.

Again, the Tampa Bay Hamfest will be the West Central Florida Section Convention of the ARRL, American Radio Relay League. ARRL will have a booth and will have representatives available to answer any questions you may have.

The indoor hamfest sales and the FGCARC Service Desk will be in the 21,375 sq. ft. air conditioned Expo Hall  at 2301 West Oak Avenue. The general public parking and the tailgate entrance is at the intersection of Lemon Street and West Palmetto Avenue. The Tailgate area (see below) will be the large grassy field adjacent to the Expo Hall. Forums will again be held in both the Expo Hall meeting room and in the Armory building at the south end of the Tailgate area. All testing and related functions will also be in the Armory building.
Please note that all tailgate vendors should enter and leave via the general parking entrance on Lemon Street.

Click here for directions