Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; April 2025

April was a really, really weird month for me. Some family medical issues and car problems during a Charleston road trip led to multiple trips back and forth between Charleston and Savannah and the loss of KF4LMT Mobile for two weeks while it was being repaired. The end result was less radio time than usual but the radio time I did have yielded a lot of activity due to how much was going on in the area this month. There were visits to the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center from multiple ANG units, helicopters from 3rd AVN at Hunter AAF were in the field at Fort Stewart, the Golden Knights did some jumps at Savannah Bananas games, and I was able to hear some Cape Canaveral SFS rocket launch radio traffic from Savannah. I'm glad there were plenty of interesting things to listen to during April, but I'll be glad if May is a more normal month in other respects. 

In the shack on Monday, 28 April 2025, monitoring the ULA Atlas V/Amazon Kuiper 1 launch from Cape Canaveral SFS; I was surprised I could hear some HF activity with the HF+ Discovery and YouLoop antenna hanging on the closet door.

Road Trip Radio Report - Charleston Car Repair Trips; 11 & 17/18 April 2025

Earlier this month I took a road trip to Charleston and my car broke down on me when I tried to return home on 7 April. On the 11th, I had to go up and pay a deposit for the work to be done; Mama rode with me, so we made a couple of sightseeing stops on the way back to Savannah. The car was ready late on the 17th, so we went back up to Charleston and picked the car up the next morning with her following me back to Savannah in her car. On these two trips, I didn't have the mobile station (with the exception of returning back to Savannah on the 18th) and I didn't take all of the usual equipment, so what I heard was a bit more limited and this post can give you an idea of what you can hear in and around Charleston if you just take one radio.

South Carolina Lowcountry History, BBQ, and the Car Breaks Down - Lowcountry Charleston, SC Road Trip Radio Report; 6-8 April 2025

Earlier this week,  I took what was supposed to be taking a two day road trip to Charleston, SC, leaving Savannah on Sunday morning and returning on Tuesday morning. On Sunday, I visited the Botany Bay Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area on Edisto Island and the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site in Charleston. On Monday, I spent much of the day at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston and also visited Drayton Hall just down the road to see what they've done since my visit there a few years ago. Tuesday morning, I left the hotel and had only gone several blocks down US-17 when my car's clutch failed. Luckily I was able to coast into a parking lot across from a repair shop, but it kept me in Charleston for one more day and is keeping the car in Charleston for several more days. I'll be having to go back to Charleston, probably on Friday, to pick the car up. 

On Sunday, I stopped for a picnic lunch at the Botany Bay Heritage Preserve on Edisto Island and enjoyed this beautiful view while listening to F-35s aerial refueling offshore

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; March 2025

March 2025 was a fascinating military monitoring month. There were a lot of visitors and a lot going on so there was no shortage of something to listen to in Coastal Georgia, Lowcountry South Carolina, and the First Coast of Florida. A road trip to Americus and Plains also gave me an opportunity to do some listening in Central and West Georgia. There was a lot of training going on, with the biggest training operation being the Patriot 25 disaster response exercise, which took place at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP, Fort Stewart, and the Guardian Center in Perry, GA. One of the more interesting catches of the month was a VRM-40 CMV-22B; it was the first time I've caught one of the new carrier logistics mission Ospreys. Foreign air force visitors this month were from the Royal Canadian AF, the Italian AF, the Jordanian Government, the Norwegian AF, and the Royal Air Force (UK).

KING 17 (HC-130J, 12-5768, 71st RQS) doing an approach at Hunter AAF on 13 March 2025

Georgia Veterans State Park, Andersonville, Jimmy Carter, Providence Canyon, and Richland Rum - West Georgia Road Trip Radio Report; 2-4 March 2025

After President Carter passed away in December, I decided that as soon as I was able, I would road trip out to West Georgia to pay my respects in Plains. Earlier this week, I had that opportunity and visited Georgia Veterans State Park and Providence Canyon State Park along with re-visiting Andersonville National Historic Site. I left Savannah on Sunday morning and visited Georgia Veterans State Park and Andersonville that afternoon before heading to Americus. I stayed at the historic Windsor Hotel in Americus from Sunday evening through Tuesday morning and visited the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park and Plains, Providence Canyon State Park, and the Richland Rum Distillery on Monday. The radio logs below are of what I could hear once I left the tri-county area around Savannah (Chatham, Bryan, and Effingham counties). 

The first stop on the road trip was in Cordele, at something you don't really expect to see at an interstate highway exit gas station: a Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile. It's stood at I-75 and US-280 since 1969, placed on loan from the US Air Force.

KF4LMT Mobile in front of the Titan I ICMB on display at US-280 and I-75 in Cordele, GA

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; February 2025

Even though it's the shortest month of the year and a month during which I didn't have a lot of radio time, February turned out to be a terrific month for Military Monitoring in Coastal Georgia. There truly was no shortage of things to listen to; no fewer than six squadrons were on temporary duty in the Lowcountry South Carolina, Coastal Georgia, and Florida First Coast area! We even had some UK Royal Air Force fighter and support aircraft pass through the area on their way home from an exercise. 

ASCOT 9534/9535 (Typhoon FGR4 ZK378/ZK360, 6 Sqn RAF) with ASCOT 9411 (Voyager KC3, ZZ332, 10/101 Sqn) in support going into Joint Base Charleston on 20 February 2025

A Month I Won't Forget - Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; January 2025

The first month of January 2025 was a month I won't forget. It was a month of highs as well as the lowest of lows. I took a wonderful road trip down to Florida's Space Coast and there was a Sentry Savannah exercise that was interrupted by a very un-Deep South like winter storm. At the end of the month, I lost my father, who I inherited my love of radio from. That's why this post has been a bit longer than usual in posting; I just didn't feel up to working on it for a while. The radio community, including the Coastal Amateur Radio Society (CARS) in Savannah and my scanning/monitoring friends have been incredibly supportive over the last week. CARS even did a Silent Key tribute for my father during their net this past Sunday night. 

SpaceX's Starlink 12-11 mission launching from Kennedy Space Center during January's Space Coast Road Trip