71st FS F-22As and 7th FTS T-38s are Back at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center

The 71st Fighter Squadron and 7th Fighter Training Squadron are back at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center (CRTC/ADC) for the third time this year (previous visits were in January and May). They seem to be conducting a Sentry Savannah type exercise in the SEALORD controlled special use areas off the coast along with tanker support. This is the second week they've been here, but due to my work schedule I was unable to listen last week with the exception of Friday (and on Friday, weather kept the fighters on the ground). Last week, a 434th ARW KC-135 provided tanker support from Hunter AAF and today two 916th ARW KC-46s provided tanker support, coming from their home base at Seymour-Johnson AFB. 

This post was updated after activity on 17 September 2024

This post was updated/corrected on 23 September 2024

916th ARW KC-46As, 6th AMW/927th ARW KC-135Rs, ATAC Hunters and a Kfir, and 7th FTS T-38As during the afternoon of 17 September 2024

Road Trip Radio Report: Warner Robins; 12/13 August 2024

On Monday and Tuesday I took an overnight road trip to Warner Robins, GA to visit the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB. I visit several times a year to see what's new and how they're progressing on their B-17 plus I wanted to pick up some new museum T-shirts since I've lost so much weight over the past year. Unfortunately, he notes from this trip aren't as in depth as usual because I ran into a radio issue during the trip; more on that later. I was surprised that I didn't hear more MilCom than I did; on Monday afternoon on the way up and Tuesday morning on the way down, I didn't catch any Bulldog MOA activity and while visiting the museum on Monday afternoon, I only heard and saw a C-130 doing a test flight out of the Robins ALC. Public Safety busy both days, particularly from Dublin to Warner Robins and from Metter to Savannah, and some Amateur Radio QSOs helped make up for the lack of MilCom activity on Monday. 

KF4LMT Mobile and one of the Museum of Aviation's F-15s

Coastal Georgia Tropical Storm Debby Radio Report (What there is of it...)

Some readers may have come here during and after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby looking for radio updates, but I was working midnights all week down in Brunswick and didn't have many chances to listen much less post anything. Down in Brunswick, we didn't seem to get hit as hard as areas up toward Statesboro and Savannah did. As I traveled up I-95 yesterday morning, standing water on the side of the road was noticeably higher in Bryan and Chatham counties. I did do some listening when I got back home in Savannah yesterday and heard some Debby related communications:

Chatham County helicopter EAGLE 02 (MD-369E, N102CQ, Chatham Co) doing surveys around the Ogeechee River in the southern part of the county due to river flooding after TS Debby

• Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, and Effingham County fire departments were busy with flooding and water rescue type calls as a result of flooding, especially around areas where the Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers are rising. Quite a few of those water rescues sounded like they were caused by people driving around barricades and onto flooded roads. For what to listen to, check the RadioReference SEGARRN page.
• Yesterday morning, Chatham EMA personnel were active checking areas and passing flooding reports to the Chatham County EOC on the CEMA 1 SEGARRN talkgroup.
• Chatham County's helicopter EAGLE 02 (MD-369E, N102CQ, Chatham Co) was up several times yesterday doing what seemed to be aerial surveys of the flooding along the Ogeechee River in the southern part of Chatham County. I didn't hear any air-to-ground communications with them, but I did hear them on 125.975 with Savannah Tower and 124.975 with Hunter Tower.

The National Guard has been assisting in Bulloch County but I haven't heard any related communications. I saw on the news last night that other areas have requested National Guard assistance, so I'll be listening out over the next few days and will update if I hear anything. 

Admin Note

Personally, I like dark themes more than light themes, so I've changed the palette of the blog because I think the light text on the darker background is a bit easier on the eyes than dark text on a light background. When I made the change, it messed up some of the formatting on older posts, so some of them may look a bit odd. 

Road Trip Radio Report: Midland and Pee Dee South Carolina History - Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC; 10-13 June 2024

From Monday, 10 June through Thursday, 13 June, I took a road trip through Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC visiting some historic sites while staying in Cayce, just east of Columbia. In Columbia, I visited Historic Columbia and toured some of their historic homes and gardens. In Camden, I visited the Historic Camden living history park. In Darlington, I visited the museum at Darlington Raceway (maybe not everyone would consider Darlington a historic site, but a motor sport fan surely would). Along the way, I made stops in Sumter to visit Thomas Sumter's grave, in Eutawville to visit the Eutaw Springs battlefield, in Pineville to visit Francis Marion's grave, and in Walterboro to visit the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial. It was also an interesting trip radio-wise; there was a lot of activity from both Shaw AFB, McEntire JNGB, and Fort Jackson; the Palmetto 800 system was busy with public safety communications from the region; and railroads were quite busy, especially in and close around Columbia. I also discovered that the VHF TRS at Shaw AFB was no longer a stand alone system, but now part of the USAF 57C system. Unusual for me, I also had a few amateur radio QSOs along the way.

Historic Columbia's hub - the Robert Mills House in downtown Columbia, SC

Sentry Savannah 2024 Final Report

It sounds like we can tie a bow on Sentry Savannah today. This morning I caught some 71st FS F-22s, 7th FTS T-38s, and 157th FS F-16s departing Savannah to head home. Just as I turned on the radios, I also heard something that sounded like F-35s (I never heard their callsign) with Atlanta Center getting cleared direct to Montgomery, so the 100th FS F-35s may have departed this morning as well. In one piece of good fortune this morning, I was also able to finally ID who HECKLER is; they're the 103rd ACS, CT ANG. A social media post about the exercise linked to this article, which tells how the 103rd ACS worked with the Georgia ARNG to "successfully deploy and execute a cloud-based radar and radio connection of the Tactical Operations System-Lite (TOC-L)."

Here's a final report on what I heard when I was able to listen.

Air Combat Exercise Sentry Savannah 2024 Underway at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP

Note: Updated after the 9 May 2024 morning sorties

Sentry Savannah 2024, an air combat exercise, got underway in Savannah on Monday. Described as "the National Guard Bureau’s premier counter air exercise specializing in fourth and fifth-generation fighter tactics,” it is held at the Georgia Air National Guard's Combat Readiness Center/Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. This year's participants include F-22As and T-38s from the 71st FS and 7th FTS at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, F-35As from the 100th FS at ANGB Dannelly Field, and F-16CMs from McEntire JNGB. So far, they've been flying morning and afternoon sorties out to the SEALORD controlled Special Use Areas off the South Carolina/Georgia/Florida coast. Tanker support has been from 185th ARW KC-135Rs flying out of Hunter AAF and 157th ARW KC-46s flying out of Myrtle Beach. Intercept control is being provided by HECKLER, a callsign I've not heard before.