COMM DISCIPLINE!

Real World Communication practices (dimmed by many passing years)

In WWII, early Naval air battles operations brought a problem with radio communication into clear focus. In the battle of the Coral Sea, Fighter control used one frequency per carrier for flight operations. Upon contact with the enemy, adrenaline took over and communication became almost impossible due to spurious comments like “Wow, look at him burn!”, “Way to go!” or, often as a result, “What happened to Joe?”. Following Coral Sea the Navy undertook strict measures to place radio communications under tighter control by teaching and insisting on comm. Discipline.

In the Navy, brevity and clarity are the bywords in all radio communications. Certain rules become rote:

Never use two words when you can use one.

Never use one word if a mike click will suffice.

Never use clock-codes outside the cockpit! (Unless close enough to be accurate and then only when turning)

Never talk just to talk.

These basic rules allowed the following:

Never assume the lead or wingman can read you mind.

When in doubt call it out.

First sight calls the fight (until someone higher in the food chain can take over)

Clear and precise knowledge of the actions of your lead/wingman.

SIX CALLS and,

Drag Commands (yes, we set up and used drags…)

How did this work in different situations? Well, lets set up a couple and carry out the comm….

Joining Up!

Before we ever launched from a boat, we sat through an EXTENSIVE preflight briefing. All radio channels were published and dutifully written down. Rendezvous locations were issued and the final (almost traditional) words were given. “”Kick the tires, light the fires, first one off the cat has the lead…”.

For this example, two fighters “210” and “212” were assigned to Lead and Wing. The Boat referred to them as 210 and 212, but they refer to themselves as simply ONE and TWO. 212 launches first and Departure clears him to TAC frequency as he leaves the vicinity of the CV. The flight of two and, possibly, an E2 or the CV GCI shares this TAC frequency. Color-coded: 1, 2.

“212 switching TAC”

After switching and on TAC, simply

“2”

“210’s switching TAC”

“1”

“2” (reply)

“Tally”

“Left side 1 mile”

“Click Click”

At this point, all communication necessary for the join up has been made. Silence is GOLDEN. Lead, 1, would then come up the left side and 2 would receive a visual signal from 1 indicating that he should take up a tight or loose form on the left or right side. Certain constraints are apparent in WarBirds that are not in the real world. Obviously, no hand signals can be received but also, formation flying online is quite a bit more difficult than the real world.

Vectors!

Get out of the habit now of saying “Cons your three”. How many times have you heard a GCI in WB give a vector like “JG-2 your contacts at 4 o’clock 20 miles”? How in the world does the guy on the ground know what your heading is? You’re moving your plane looking for the cons that CGI forgot to tell you about. So he is accurate to maybe within +- 30 degrees and that’s a bunch! Even your wingie at D10 can’t see your heading plus or minus 30 degrees! So, in spite of the best Hollywood war movie tradition, get over the clock codes unless you are close wing or in the same airplane.

Our intrepid pair of aviators is now in a flight of four, having joined up with another section of two with no more than five or six brief one or two word contacts. They are now 1,2,3 and 4. 1 and 2 are still together and their numbers indicate who is in charge. 3 and 4 are now spread D10 to the right and 2k high. They are being vectored to bogie(s) at a bearing of 080. Assume for the moment that both elements are heading 080 and the bogie is smoking in at a heading of 260 (reciprocal). We will dispense with color as you follow the comm.…

CGI gives continuous updates on the intercept (italics)

“Fighter 1, target 080 at 15 heading 280”

“Copy”

“080 at 10 heading 280 alt unknown”

“Copy”

“080 at 5 heading 280”

“3 tally 2 bogies, 075, little low”

(Fighter 1 calls setup)

“3,1 right sandwich”

Clicks

OK, where are we? The bandit was sighted by the lead fighter of the right-side element. Bearing indicates that the GCI vectors were reasonably close (rare). The fight is on with the two elements passing on either side of the bogies (now bandits) forcing them to choose. Notice that when any two planes initiate a call, it gives the OTHER GUY FIRST. Shorthand for “Hi HamFist, Vadr here, stay to the right of the con and lets bring him down the middle...” or “3,1,right sandwich”.

From here, adrenaline will inevitably assert itself, but still, comm.’s would stay direct and to the point. Just at a higher pitch J

e.g.,

“3, right-side 5 o’clock bandit drag east”

“1’s in”

“1’s off”

“3’s clear”

“3’s Pitching back right”

Notice the clock code? Did you also notice it was preceded with “Right-side”? Because it is so easy to get caught up and get it wrong, ALWAYS give the side first! Right 3, left 9… It takes your brain a fraction to convert clock to eyes, but left and right are instantly recognized!

Warbirds accommodations:

OK, Warbirds is meant to be fun and recreational. We routinely diverge from strict discipline when not in harm’s way. “Grab-assing and Trash-talking” is part of the appeal of RW and builds team spirit. But, when the lead has something to say, everyone must fall silent. This will be preceded by “Achtung” and response must be immediate! When in Indian country, the call will be given to drop the chatter.

RW is the best force multiplier available to WB. It has been the difference between success and failure in our missions more times than we can count. When you are in a no-turning, no-edge airframe, (like the Wurger in late-war) discipline and communication will often determine whether you live or die. Take it from the JG-2 “Designated Dragger”, listen and live, warn your buddy and STAY FAST!

Brevity!

Verbal shorthand is a natural outgrowth of Comm Discipline. Certain words have become virtually universal in their meaning. Here is our short list:

Angels Altitude in thousands (traditionally feet) in LW we use meters.

Aspect Angle-off as seen from TARGET. Good GCI will either increase or decrease target aspect and tell you the difference J

Bandit Visually identified as a “bad guy”.

Bearing Magnetic bearing to bogie/bandit/contact.

Bearing? Interogative requesting bearing update.

BIG SIX! Do something NOW!

Bingo Head home, low fuel.

Bogie Unknown visual contact.

Bugout Get out of the fight NOW. Given with a heading. “Bugout 310”

Contact GCI term for radar contact.

Collision vector Heading to put fighter and contact on a collision course.

Copy Understood, I like to confirm as in “Copy 180” or “Copy Bingo”.

Cross Turn Two planes in spread turn to cross each other. Always a 180 turn.

Disengage Leave when prudent.

Drag Always give a suggested heading as in “Ham, drag east” or “HamFist is dragging east”. Heard often in WB…

In Moving to the attack. As in “Ham’s IN”.

In Place Section turn as in “In Place Left 180”. Both planes turn left.

Long Six Warning…

Off Moving off the target. As in “Ham’s OFF”.

Famished Ask GCI for more contact information.

Rally Head to rally point. Often given with location “Rally 3,1,2”

Vector GCI command to fly a heading. As in “BJH Vector 180”.

Winchester Out of Ammo, heading home.

HamFist, out