F-22s and T-38s at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport

Based on Air Force social media posts earlier this year, the 2025 William Tell air superiority competition was supposed to begin this week at the Air National Guard Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. I had no radio time earlier this week and minimal radio time the last couple of days, but it seems that there is no William Tell competition this year. Instead, there are 71st FS F-22As and 7th FTS T-38As from Joint Base Langley at the Air Dominance Center. They have been working with 95th FS F-35As from Tyndall AFB and 159th FS F-35As from Jacksonville in the Special Use Areas off the Georgia coast. I'm guessing they'll be here next week as well, so here's what I was able to hear yesterday and today.

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; August 2025

During August, I didn't have as much radio time as I would have liked, but I heard more than I expected to with the time I had. The 77th FS from Shaw AFB was very active at Townsend Range and the Coastal MOA in coastal Georgia for much of the month. The F/A-18s, F-35Bs, and F-5s at MCAS Beaufort along with some F-35Cs from VMFA-251 at MCAS Cherry Point were involved in several LFEs (Large Force Exercises) off the Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida coast and I caught a new intercept control callsign - GRIM - which I'm guessing is VMFT-402's Red Air Control. Some of those same units at MCAS Beaufort, along with ATAC, were apparently conducting a MDTC (Marine Division Tactics Course as well. Mid-month, I took an overnight road trip to the Jacksonville area, but it was on a weekend, so it didn't yield much MilCom activity. During the trip, I toured the museum ship USS Orleck (DD-886) and the Camp Blanding Museum.  

September should be a fun MilCom month in coastal Georgia; the 2025 William Tell air superiority competition is scheduled for 9-18 September 2025 at the Georgia Air National Guard Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP.

The radio room on board the museum ship USS Orleck (DD-886) in Jacksonville, FL

First Road Trip in the New KF4LMT Mobile - Overnight Road Trip in Northeast Florida; 17/18 August 2025

On Sunday and Monday, I took my first road trip in the new KF4LMT Mobile, visiting Northeast Florida. The new mobile station is quite a departure from what I've used before so I was very interested in how it would work and what I would be able to hear with it. I visited the USS Orleck (DD-886) Naval Museum in downtown Jacksonville, the Camp Blanding Museum in Starke, FL, and Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park in the Osceola National Forest on Sunday, overnighted in Kingsland, GA, and returned to Savannah on Monday morning. Sunday morning's weather forecast called for an almost 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the Jacksonville area, but although it was hot, humid, and oppressive all day it never rained or stormed (at least where I was at). I've visited the Orleck before, but this was my first visit to the Camp Blanding Museum and the Olustee Battlefield, which gave me the opportunity to listen in Bradford and Union Counties for the first time. It was also the first time I've been west of Jacksonville in quite a while, so it was good to see what I could hear out that way. 

USS Orleck (DD-886) in downtown Jacksonville on the St Johns River

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; July 2025

July was an eventful and productive month radio-wise. It seems that Summer often brings a lull in good monitoring, but the past month definitely didn't fit that pattern. Locally, July saw a callsign change at Hunter AAF with one of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade units and activity from the Florida ANG F-35As from Jacksonville continued to increase as they receive their new jets. I caught some interesting visitors during the month, the most interesting was a UK Royal Air Force RC-135W, SHINR 40,as it flew across the States, presumably en route back to the UK. I also caught an An-124 on it's inbound and outbound trips as it delivered some kind of cargo to Florida's Space Coast. I recently added a Stridsberg Engineering MCA204M multicoupler to the shack at home and it has significantly improved my ability to receive activity from the A-10s from Moody AFB operating in the Moody MOAs (thus the increased amount of Moody activity noted below). The penultimate day of the month brought a wonderful surprise; Valiant Air Command's warbird C-47, "Tico Belle" was in Savannah dropping paratroopers at Hunter Army Airfield. I've had the opportunity to visit her several times at their museum in Titusville, but this was the first time I'd seen her in flight. 

After 13 years, I had to replace KF4LMT Mobile at the end of July; the way the new mobile station is going to be set up will be a significant departure from the last two KF4LMT Mobiles, so I'll have a blog post about that in the future. 

Valiant Air Command's C-47, "Tico Belle" flying over Savannah while dropping paratroopers at Hunter Army Airfield on Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; June 2025

June provided more radio time than May did and this month's recap reflects it. It also contains more Charleston area information than usual due to a week-long Charleston road trip. The month was notable for a visiting unit at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center, an aircraft carrier off the SC/GA/FL coast, and more changes at MCAS Beaufort. I also heard an Azerbaijani military/government aircraft for the first time, as one was flying out of Savannah-Hilton Head IAP, no doubt at the Gulfstream Service Center there. 

NAVY HV 555 (MH-60R, 166592, HSM-50) doing hover work at Jekyll Island Airport on 18 June 2025

Military History, Colonial History, African American and Gullah Geechee History, Civil War History, and BBQ in the "Holy City" - Charleston, SC Road Trip Report; 9-13 June 2025

For several years now, I've wanted to visit the International African American Museum in Charleston, SC, so for this year's Summer vacation I took a week-long road trip to Charleston. I didn't really plan it, but it turned out that a good bit of the History I took in on this trip centered on the African American and Gullah Geechee experience in the Lowcountry. In addition to the International African American Museum, I visited Patriot's Point (taking day and night tours), Charles Towne Landing, the South Carolina Aquarium, the Old Slave Mart Museum, the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, McLeod Plantation, the North Charleston Fire Museum, Fort Johnson, and Fort Lamar. I also tried three of Charleston's BBQ restaurants; at one of them I had the best BBQ I've ever eaten. During the road trip, I was able to listen to the area's military and aviation communications, federal and USCG communications, public safety communications, and more. I did very little on amateur radio during this trip; I had just a couple of QSOs on the 146.7900- (PL 123.0) repeater on the USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point and checked into the "Scanner Junkies" net on TGIF DMR using DroidStar on Thursday night.

An F-4J Phantom II, Charleston Harbor, and the Ravenel Bridge as seen from the Bridge of the USS Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriots Point in Charleston, SC

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; May 2025

May was a busy month with not a lot of radio time, but there were some interesting things to listen to during the radio time I did have. The Blue Angels, Golden Knights, F-22 Demo Team, and civilian performers were in Brunswick for the Golden Isles Airshow and the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) ARG and 22nd MEU were in the area for training. The military performers only flew on Saturday; unfortunately, thunderstorms moved in on Sunday afternoon and forced the cancellation of the second half of the days' show. Several foreign air force/government Gulfstreams were at the Gulfstream Savannah Service Center and several aircraft from other countries transited through Coastal Georgia. The Goodyear Blimp even transited through Savannah airspace one afternoon.

Blue Angel 6 performing at the Golden Isles Airshow in Brunswick

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

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

Sentry Savannah 2025 - F-22s, F-35s, F-16s, and T-38s Visit Savannah-Hilton Head IAP and Get Snowed In

Sentry Savannah 2025, which the Air National Guard describes as their largest and premier air-to-air fighter exercise, got underway this week at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. This year's participants are F-22s and T-38s from the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley, F-35s from the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field in Madison, WI, and F-16s from the 122nd Fighter Wing from Fort Wayne ANG Station Fort Wayne, IN (some of the F-16s the 122nd FW are flying are 114th FW jets). Flying was limited, however, by a federal holiday and the Presidential Inauguration on Monday and a Winter storm that shut down the airport from Tuesday night through Friday morning. Surely the 115th FW and 122nd FW thought they were getting away from such weather when they came south for the exercise! I got to listen to them on Tuesday morning, but since I was working midnight shifts all week, it was the only listening opportunity I had before something unusual happened. Coastal Georgia received several inches of snow and ice, a rare event for us, and temperatures remained under freezing for most of Wednesday and Thursday, which kept roads as well as runways and taxiways covered with snow and ice. Since that's something we rarely deal with here in the deep south, the airport doesn't have the equipment northern airports would have to open back up quickly. Hard working Savannah-Hilton Head IAP personnel got the airport back open by Friday afternoon and some of the visiting units took to the skies.

This was my neighborhood in Savannah on Friday morning, showing why the Sentry Savannah 2025 participants weren't able to fly until Friday afternoon (there was still snow and ice in some areas on Saturday afternoon!)

Coastal Georgia Winter Storm and Sentry Savannah 2025

On Tuesday night (21 January 2025), Coastal Georgia got hit with a significant winter storm. Over Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, it dropped rain, sleet, and snow then stayed below freezing for large parts of the day on Wednesday and Thursday. The northern part of Coastal Georgia got more snow, the southern part of Coastal Georgia received more sleet and freezing rain. The results were major impacts on roads (especially local roads because Georgia DOT has been working on highways) and the closing of airports. As I write this on Friday morning, now that I'm home in Savannah, the neighborhood streets are still covered with ice and snow.

The coil on one of KF4LMT Mobile's antennas covered in ice on Wednesday morning toward the end of the winter storm

Aerospace, History, and Wildlife in Florda's Space and First Coasts - Space Coast Road Trip Radio Report; 7-11 January 2025

Last week, I took what is becoming my annual Space Coast Road Trip. I left Savannah going south on Tuesday and returned on Saturday. On the way to Titusville on Tuesday, I stopped in Ponce Inlet and visited the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum and then continued on to visit the Merritt Island NWR before checking into the hotel. I spent Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, catching a SpaceX launch while I was there. On Thursday, I spent the morning at the Merritt Island NWR and Canaveral National Seashore then visited the American Space Museum and Hall of Fame and the Valiant Air Command Museum in the afternoon. On Friday, I headed back up I-95 to St Augustine where I visited the St Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, Castillo de San Marco, Colonial Quarter, and the Fort Mose Historic Site. I overnighted in St Augustine Beach so I wouldn't have to drive through Jacksonville on a Friday afternoon/evening and drove back to Savannah on Saturday morning. Temperatures in Florida were below normal and winds were high throughout the trip, but with the exception of Saturday morning, there wasn't any rain to deal with. Some excellent meals were had along the way and it was also good to catch up with radio friends at several of them.

Space Shuttle Atlantis on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. Atlantis holds a soft spot for me and I love to visit it at KSC because it was the shuttle I saw launch on its STS-125 mission on 11 April 2009 - the only Shuttle launch I got to see launch in person.

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; December 2024

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and has a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2025 ahead. Due to the Christmas holiday, December was a bit of a limited month MilCom-wise; most of the activity was in the first half of the month. A mid month road trip to Jacksonville provided the opportunity to hear a bit more than I would have otherwise. This month, I'll be taking a week-long road trip to Florida's Space Coast, so look for a post about it after I return from the trip. I'm looking forward to listening to space related communications for a week!

The remains of the JA Jones Construction shipyard slipways in Brunswick, GA, where Liberty Ships were built during World War II

Road Trip Radio Report - A Foggy Jacksonville Road Trip; December 2024

I recently took a road trip down to Jacksonville, FL to visit the Jacksonville Zoo and do some military aviation watching. Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive to good military aviation watching or listening. A thick fog persisted for much of the time, as evidenced in this photo looking across the St Johns River from Huguenot Park towards NS Mayport illustrates. The trip didn't turn out, however, to be a complete bust on the radio side of things. From where I was staying on the north side of Jacksonville, I could hear plenty of railroad and port communications.

The fog during this road trip to Jacksonville was so thick that I could barely see the ships at NS Mayport from across the St Johns River at Huguenot Park

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; November 2024

I didn't have as much radio time during November as I would have liked, so the month's recap isn't quite as extensive as usual. Even with the reduced time around the radios, it was still an interesting month. At the end of the month, I took a nice road trip to Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach, FL that gave me the opportunity to listen to Mayport and Jacksonville area MilCom a bit more closely than usual. 

PIONEER 21 (P-8A, 167956, VX-1)

Road Trip Radio Report - Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach; 23-25 November 2024

Over the weekend, I took a road trip down to Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach, FL. I left Savannah on Saturday morning and returned on Monday morning. It was a beautiful Autumn weekend for a road trip - cool in the mornings, but particularly on Sunday afternoon, warming up just into short sleeve weather. On Saturday, I enjoyed taking a boat tour around Amelia Island and Cumberland Island followed by a trolley tour of historic Fernandina Beach and a walk around the Fernandina Beach Historic District. On Sunday, I caught the sunrise on the beach, then visited Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park, Kingsley Plantation, and Huguenot Park. 

I enjoyed some good radio listening during the trip. Even though it was a weekend, I still heard some MilCom (including a terrific catch at NS Mayport). I caught some FedCom from the US Coast Guard (Sectors Charleston and Jacksonville) and National Park Service. There was a good mix of conventional and trunked public safety communications.  I heard Marine VHF/Port communications from Fernandina Beach down to Jacksonville and even though I could hear train horns throughout the weekend, I only heard a bit of railroad communications. 

US Navy DDGs (Guided Missile Destroyers) moored in the basin at Naval Station Mayport, FL