Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; December 2023

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

Even though the holidays reduced the amount of MilCom activity and I simply didn't have as much radio time as I usually do, December still turned out to be an eventful radio month. Fort Stewart and Hunter AAF underwent a radio system upgrade (Fort Stewart Central's words) and the talkgroups have all changed; extensive listening will be needed to figure out what's what. What I have identified so far has been submitted to RadioReference. F-16s from Shaw AFB conducted an overnight exercise over and around coastal South Carolina on 14 December (I was lucky to hear it because I was staying up overnight to get back on my midnight shift sleeping schedule). It was also a pleasure to hear A-10s from Moody AFB using Townsend Range several times during the month. Finally, just before Christmas it sounded like Gulfstream attempted a record flight from Tokyo to Savannah. January should see some more extensive logs as I'll have more radio time, hopefully including some from a road trip I have planned to the Space Coast. 

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; November 2023

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

Even though military activity slowed down during the Thanksgiving holiday, November still turned out to be a great month for military monitoring in Coastal Georgia. ATAC was at MCAS Beaufort working with both VMFAT-501 and VMFA-312. Several good VHF/UHF band openings offered an opportunity to hear things a bit farther afield than I normally can hear and a road trip to Columbia, SC gave me the opportunity to monitor JNGB McEntire and Shaw AFB from a closer distance than usual. On the Saturday of the Ohio State v Michigan rivalry college football game, LEGEND 621, a VP-62 P-8A did the flyover and I caught it departing NAS Jacksonville on the way up. I even managed to catch a NASA aircraft transiting the Coastal Georgia area late in the month (NASA 8, which I hadn't heard in a year and a half).

Road Trip Radio Report: Columbia, SC - 27/28 November 2023

I took a couple of extra days off along with the Thanksgiving holiday and as part of those days off, I took an overnight road trip to Columbia, SC. I left Savannah on Monday afternoon, stopped in Swansea, SC for dinner, then continued to a hotel in Cayce, SC to stay the night. On Tuesday morning, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia then headed back to Savannah just after lunchtime. This Columbia road trip was a bit different because I used US-321 for the northbound trip but used I-26 and I-95 to return to Savannah due to the multiple work zones I encountered on 321 on Monday afternoon. 

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; October 2023

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Larry Van Horn, N5FPW in early October. Larry was a fountain of knowledge on multiple aspects of the radio hobby, including Amateur Radio, MilCom monitoring, and FedCom monitoring. He wrote for Monitoring Times and The Spectrum Monitor as well as authoring a series of his own books, all of which were outstanding sources of information. Larry was one of my mentors in the MilCom hobby; it's not as easy to find information on as Public Safety monitoring, so without his help and the help of others like Al Stern and Jack Nesmith (both of whom have also passed away), I may have not stuck with MilCom monitoring. I also fondly remember several HF and DMR QSOs that I had with Larry over the years. He'll be missed by many in the radio hobby, but his memory will be carried on by those he helped along the way. My prayers continue to be with his family and friends.

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

October turned out to be a good military monitoring month even though my monitoring opportunities were somewhat limited. September's road trip (to Columbia) took place at the beginning of October and October's road trip was to Jacksonville (coinciding with the Jacksonville Beach Air Show), giving me the opportunity to listen in both cities. A-10s from Moody AFB were unusually active at Townsend Range and the Coastal MOAs during the month and CNATRA T-45Cs began conducting carrier qualifications with the USS George Washington (CVN-73) at the end of the month. With the arrival of Autumn, there were several good band openings that allowed me to hear VHF communications up into the Charleston, SC and Augusta, GA areas from home in Savannah. Other things worth noting for the month are:

Overnight Jacksonville Road Trip Radio Report; 22/23 October 2023

On Sunday and Monday, I took an overnight road trip to Jacksonville to see the Jacksonville Zoo and Garden's Jaguar cub, Banks. This weekend was also the Jacksonville Beach Airshow; although I didn't make it to Jacksonville in time to go to the show on Sunday, I did hear some of it on my way down. On this trip, I stayed off I-295 and FL 105 in north Jacksonville near Blount Island and it turned out to be a good choice. I had a third-floor room and could hear aviation communications all throughout Jacksonville, public safety communications from Jacksonville, Baker County, Clay County, St Johns County, and Flagler County, Marine VHF communications from the port and the St Johns Bar Pilots, railroad traffic coming and going from CSX's Moncrief Yard. It was also a good spot for VHF/UHF amateur radio; while I didn't talk on any of the area repeaters, I could hear plenty of them from the hotel on an HT.

Chatham County Fire Department Dispatch Changes

Updated 10/18/23 - New Talkgroups updated based on recent listening.

Beginning Tuesday, 10 October, Chatham Metro Dispatch made significant changes in how the fire departments in Chatham County are dispatched. Previously, Savannah FD had its own dispatch talkgroup and fireground talkgroups, Metro Dispatch had a talkgroup for dispatching the other municipalities' fire departments and a set of fire tac talkgroups, and Chatham Emergency Services dispatched their fire units that covered the unincorporated county on their fire dispatch talkgroup and fire tacs. Now, Savannah FD, the other municipal FDs, and Chatham Emergency Service's fire units are all being dispatched by Metro Dispatch on what was Savannah FD's dispatch talkgroup and what used to be Savannah FD's fireground talkgroups and Metro's fire tac talkgroups have been turned into countywide fireground talkgroups. So far, the paging talkgroups for the municipal fire departments have remained the same, but it sounds like Savannah FD is getting new paging talkgroups. Additionally, the unit numbering system has changed; Savannah FD is still using their previous unit numbering scheme, but the other departments have changed theirs.

Road Trip Radio Report: Columbia, SC - 01/02 October 2023

On Sunday, 1 October 2023 and Monday, 2 October 2023, I took an overnight road trip to Columbia, SC to visit the Riverbanks Zoo. On the way up, I made a stop at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge's Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive, the Bull Durham Center in Estill, SC, and the Cayce Riverwalk in Cayce, SC. On Monday, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo before heading back to Savannah. On the drives to Columbia and back to Savannah I enjoyed listening to MilCom, Public Safety, and Railroad communications, so this post will detail those as well as providing some information on and photos from the places I visited along the way.

On my last few overnight road trips to Columbia, I noticed that the Riverbanks Zoo had stopped using their UHF analog frequencies and zoo staff appeared to be carrying NXDN portables. I thought they may have moved to the Carolinas FleetTalk system, but I could never find them, so it was time for some research. Prior to this trip, I did a deep dive into FCC licenses for the Columbia area and found a license for a NXDN trunking system licensed to the Zoo.

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; September 2023

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

My month of September was a bit of an oxymoron when it came to scanning and monitoring; I didn't have a lot of radio time, but it turned out to be an extraordinary month. Even though I only had a couple of hours to listen to it over the week it took place, the William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet was the highlight of the month. It had been nineteen years since the last William Tell and the first of the revived Meets took place at the Georgia Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. Another highlight was getting to hear some of the recovery communications as the NASA/SpaceX Crew-6 crew returned to earth from the International Space Station. They splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean near Brunswick, GA and Jacksonville, FL so I was able to hear some radio traffic from NASA aircraft supporting the recovery. Other things worth noting from September are:

William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet 2023

The Air Force held its last William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet in 2004. For nineteen years, the competition wasn't held, but this year the Air Force revived the Meet and the first one is being held in Savannah at the Georgia Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center at the Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. The competition features teams from eight different units flying the F-15C, F-15E, F-22A, and F-35A. Opposition forces are being provided by F-16s from the 64th AGRS and T-38s from the 1st FW and 325th FW. Tanker support is being provided by KC-46As from the 305th AMW. A DOD contractor is towing the target banners for aerial gunnery. The participating units are:

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; August 2023

The Monthly Military Monitoring Recap consists of frequencies and callsigns that I've heard in use in Coastal Georgia and during my travels (usually around South Carolina and Florida). Special Operations, Intelligence, and real-world Combat Air Patrol information will not be posted. Gulfstream (Savannah) and Boeing (Charleston) flight test frequencies and callsigns are also included as well as US Coast Guard, non-law enforcement FedCom, and civilian medevac callsigns, N-numbers, and frequencies. 

Highlights of the month:

• VAQ-209 visited the Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center
• Vermont ANG F-35s flew in to help open the CRTC/ADC's new 5th Generation fighter hangar
• Overnight Road Trip to Warner Robins to visit the Robins AFB Musem of Aviation

Over the last few months, 165th Airlift Wing/158th Airlift Squadron flights have decreased in frequency, and I began to suspect that they had begun transitioning from the C-130H to the C-130J. In mid-August, it was confirmed by posts from the unit's social media accounts. The last H-model C-130 was due to depart the unit on 18 August with the new J-models scheduled to start arriving in December. 

Likewise, I hadn't heard any VMFA(AW)-533 flights since June, so some web searching yielded information that VMFA(AW)-533 made their last F/A-18 flight in June and will be transitioning to the F-35B "later this year."