1. Civil Air Patrol
Communications Operations Maj Chuck Brudtkuhl CAP/DOKO August 2018 Anaheim, CA
One Civil Air Patrol, excelling in service to our nation and our members!

2. Comm Operations Staff Maj Chuck Brudtkuhl, Division Head
Maj Rich Josephson, Assistant Division Head
Maj Kristin Freeman, National HF Net Manager
LtCol Bill Carlson, National HF Data Manager

3. HF Operations
MCS defined
Pathways
Training opportunities
WT, Intercom, WMI
Interop
Liaisons

4. MCS message center station
The acknowledged POC of your geo-political realm
Region, Wing or Local
Ideally on-line 24/7
May be a shared resource
Scans your local ALE net
It may also be an acknowledged
2-way GATEWAY of your realm.

5. WHY SHOULD AN ADMINISTRATIVE ENTITY
Region involvement
-or-
WHY SHOULD AN ADMINISTRATIVE ENTITY
BECOME INVOLVED
As information aggregators in a high tempo environment.
The involvement can be “virtual”
I.e. shared across contained entities

6. Pathways
How does an outsider access your geo-political domain
Crisis situation
No infrastructure
How do you access the outside world
Don’t overlook shared resources

7. MCS Summary MCS POC and/or GATEWAY Determine Test Document Build
Request needed assets
Build
Continue to test

8. Testing/Training tools
WMIRS Training
a.k.a. WT
a.k.a. Whiskey Tango
Intercom
Wing Message Initiative
a.k.a. WMI

9. WT Message Begins the process
Becomes available in the system for release & delivery timer begins
NET9 duty stations periodically check system for pending releases
NET9 duty station releases the message and begins delivery process
If NET9 delivery to MCS is unsuccessful, traffic is also listed on the NTN voice nets
NET9 duty stations continue periodic delivery attempts and traffic continues to be listed on the Voice nets until successful delivery

10. WT delivery process .. Regional
First delivery attempt to Region
Test of Region POC
MCS and/or process
Region has 72 hours to test their internal PATHWAY process after which this process is considered a failure.
If internal methodology succeeds, process ends with WT entry to system.

11. WT delivery process .. Wing
If traffic is not entered into system within the Region’s 72 hours, delivery attempts move to Wing
Test of Wing POC
MCS and/or process
If internal methodology succeeds, process ends with WT entry to system.

12. WT delivery process timers
72 hours from DTG for NET9 & Region process’ to be successful
5 days from delivery to Wing for entry to be successful before relisting traffic
30 days from delivery to Wing for entry to be successful before deletion

13. WT report timers A B C D
A-B: belongs to NET9 duty station, should be <1 hour
B-C: belongs to delivery process, i.e. Region and Wing availability
D: Total elapsed time of message

14. Intercom Exist for training purposes
Contain information generally related to training issues but can also be announcements.

15. WMI Abenaki 14-Aug Charter Oak 9-Aug Diamond Flight Down East 13-Aug
Jefferson
Long Leaf
7-Aug
Long Trail
Manatee
10-Aug
Patriot
8-Aug
Red Fire
Red Rock
15-Aug
White Tail
Exists for training purposes
May be used as you see the need
List is randomly generated

16. InterOp Channels
CAPR Chapter 11
Some entities have MOUs in place to allow use of FCC channels when interoperating with the licensee of those channels.
These channels MUST NOT be used for Command & Control of CAP

17. InterOp Concerns
CAPR Chapter 11

18. Liaisons
Liaisons under development with:
AMARS, AFMARS
SHARES
FEMA
All liaison’s primary purpose is to support CAP’s mission.

19. Emphasis on the OPERATOR
OPSEC
Protocols
CAPR 100-3
ACP-125(g)
Practice, practice, practice until it becomes comm muscle memory Co

20. Emphasis on the STATION
Antennas
Are available from NHQ, contact DOKE
If you wish to purchase antennas to use with a CAP radio, please contact DOKO or DOKE first.
Personal radios must be NTIA compliant.
They are much easier to use if they are channelized.

21. HF Voice Operations How to use Net 9 How Net 9 and NTN can help
How to use ALE

22. HF Voice Operations Overview
The easiest way to improve station quality
Participating in a voice net
Wing Message Initiative explained
ALE Net 9
When I say “easiest”, bear in mind that everything is relative.
We welcome participation in voice nets. We hope that you’ll take the time to prepare yourself to do it right. That will keep our nets moving along smoothly.
Wing Message Initiative, or WMI, has been the subject of some questions.
Many people are intimidated by ALE. They shouldn’t be. At its simplest, it’s a matter of knowing what buttons to push and when. That is covered in a module in LMS, so it won’t be covered here.

23. Improving your station
Improve your procedure
Listen
Use documents (CAPR 100-3, ACP-125G)
Use training materials in eservices
The easiest way to improve your station quality is to improve your procedures. Radio procedures came into being in order to make message traffic and tactical traffic clearer, easier, and more accurate.
DoD describes our nets as “the gold standard”. If we want to continue at that high level, we need to improve CONSTANTLY.
Many people assume that they need a bigger, better, antenna or an amplifier to improve their station. If the operator doesn’t have good procedures, improving the antenna or running power just spreads his mistakes farther.

24. Participating in a Voice Net
LISTEN
LEARN what our procedures are
PRACTICE at every opportunity, off the air if you need to
You have TWO ears and ONE mouth. The ratio is significant.
If you have operated on ham nets, you may be more comfortable on CAP nets than someone who is a complete beginner. You also may have picked up habits that are not appreciated by CAP net controls. For example, hams often give their call signs, and follow it with “No traffic”. On our nets, that is considered to be stating the obvious.
Radio operation is a perishable skill: If you don’t use it, you lose it.

25. Wing Message Initiative (WMI)
A training tool
Can be submitted by anyone in a wing
Observe OPSEC!
Use correct precedence: ROUTINE
WMI’s were initiated after seeing numerous problems with formal traffic during national exercises.
The wing DC is responsible for choosing a station to originate and pass each message. It should be done by as many different people in the wing as possible, in order to train as many people as possible.
The most common errors seen in WMI’s are OPSEC errors and errors of precedence. All WMI traffic is Routine. OPSEC errors often consist of giving the name of the state or a mission base.
Feel free to be creative on WMI’s. Just don’t be long-winded!

26. ALE Net 9 Why ALE? When should we use it? What is Net 9?
ALE was designed to make HF radio easier for inexperienced people, or people who are too busy to learn about the minutiae of HF propagation. However, the more you know about HF propagation, the more effectively you can use ALE.
ALE is best used for unscheduled, point to point traffic. If you have unexpected traffic for the commander of the Absolute Best Squadron in Wonder Wing, ALE is the tool of choice. If you have arranged ahead of time to make contact with someone at half past the hour, it probably would be better to designate a primary frequency, a secondary, frequency, and a tertiary frequency, based on experience.
If Wonder Wing is difficult for you to reach via ALE, then you should go to Net 9. Net 9 can be thought of as a team of people, standing by at all times, to provide relays if needed. There is always at least one operator on duty on Net 9, somewhere in the country. We want to build up to three operators on duty at all times, distributed around the country, to make it easier for you to reach an operator.
If you have traffic for NHQ, it should go via Net 9.

27. HF Voice Operations
ALE is the basis of the radio-only path from NHQ to commanders across the country
For at least two years, the need for a radio-only path has been made known. ALE is fundamental for the leg of the path that begins at NHQ and goes to a region message center. It also may be fundamental for the region to wing leg of the path. It’s a capability that is needed in every region and wing in the country, and in any squadron that is serious about maintaining operational capability.

28. HF Data - Background Data use driven by new DoD Mission
Most information will be SBU (sensitive but unclassified)
Most CAP personnel will not require a security clearance
An increased level of discretion will be necessary
Continue developing radio paths to critical staff
Those personnel needed to task resources

29. HF Data - Overview

30. HF Data - Equipment Radios Data Modems Existing Micom-3 HF radios
Future HF radios when implemented
Data Modems
Hardware Modems required
Software modem solutions will not be authorized
One approved waveform - MilStd A/B

31. HF Data - Equipment Computer
Dedicated PC with message editor and encryption software provided by NHQ
Minimal operator configuration capability

32. HF Data - Equipment Software Modem Interface & Control
Message - Create & Edit
Message Processing
Encryption
Software is still in development and final features may vary.

33. Software Message Editor
HF Data – Equipment
Software Message Editor
ACP-126 & ACP-127 procedures
Applicable USMTF message formats
Other forms as needs are determined

34. HF Data - Software
Software is still in development and final features may vary.

35. HF Data - OPSEC Type III Encryption – Security clearance not required
Security procedures will be necessary
Additional OPSEC training will be required
Enhanced non-disclosure agreement will be required
Software is still in development and final features may vary.

36. HF Data Continue station improvements to increase performance
Continue improving operator training and performance
Inter-op data

37. Timeline Implementation plan This year: Triblades as testbed
Next year: Region then wing MCSs
Next: RDPs
End goal: Every HF base station

38. Questions?
Maj Chuck Brudtkuhl Communications Operations Division Head or
One Civil Air Patrol, excelling in service to our nation and our members!