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Radiotelephone Procedure

General

Communications are exchanges of information by two or more parties. There are several means of communications. Each has its own capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages. To communicate with each other, radios must have a common frequency. They must also be able to transmit and receive the same type signal. Most infantry radios are FM and will not communicate with AM radios. Squelch settings on the radios must also be used correctly.

Factors that affect the range of radio equipment are weather, terrain, antenna, power, and the location of the radio. Trying to communicate near man-made objects such as bridges and buildings may also affect radio transmissions. Interference in the form of static often occurs when you use radios near powerlines or electrical generators. Interference may also come from other radio stations, bad weather, or enemy jamming.

Signal units organic to the airborne force can install air-to-air or air-to-ground communications equipment. There are three communication systems options: a secure communications package that is ultra high frequency (UHF) air-to-air; high frequency (HF) air-to-ground; and satellite communications (SATCOM) air-to-ground and air-to-air. The operator can use a guard receiver to monitor a fixed-frequency channel. The frequency range of U.S. Army standard tactical communication system is 225 MHz to 399.95 MHz and the operator can preset up to 20 channels.

Procedure

Radiotelephone procedure is a set procedure for using a radio or telephone. It speeds the exchange of messages and helps avoid errors. The proper radiotelephone procedure will save efficiently the radio traffic’s time and avoid violations of communications security. Keep the following general instructions:

• decide what you are going to say ensuring that it will be clear and brief;
• make sure no one else is speaking on the net when you start;
• remember to divide your message into sensible phrases, make pauses and maintain a natural rhythm to your speech;
• avoid excessive calling and unofficial transmissions;
• use standard pronunciation. Emphasize vowels sufficiently. Avoid extreme pitch, do not shout;
• keep a distance of about 5 cm between the microphone and your lips. Shield your microphone from background noises;
• use common procedure words which have distinct meanings and should be used to shorten transmissions and avoid confusion;
• ALWAYS ASSUME THE ENEMY IS LISTENING.

Phonetic Alphabet

If radio communications was as clear and understandable as face-to-face communications, there would be no need to use special procedures when talking on the radio. Radio communications, however, can vary widely from extremely clear to barely intelligible. Because of this, there are certain rules of pronunciation when you are talking on a radio circuit. The phonetic alphabet employs these rules. Many times during radio communications you may need to say letters or numbers in the course of conversation. For example, call signs are made up of letters and numbers. If you only pronounce the name of the letter or number, the operator on the other end could confuse it with another letter or number. Spoken, the letter B sounds very much like P, V, or D. Likewise, the numbers nine and five often sound alike. The phonetic alphabet was designed to eliminate this confusion. Each letter and number has a distinct and understandable word associated with it.

Use the phonetic alphabet to transmit isolated letters, transmit each letter of an abbreviation, spell out unusual or difficult words.

Transmit multiple digit numbers digit by digit. Two exceptions to this are when transmitting exact multiples of thousands and when identifying a specific code group in a coded message. When calling for or adjusting field artillery or mortar fire, it is necessary to transmit, when applicable, exact multiples of hundreds and thousands using the appropriate noun. The following tables list the numbers and their phonetic pronunciation:

Formal Message

Formal message parts should be transmitted in the following order:

• preliminary call;
• proword MESSAGE FOLLOWS (SEND YOUR MESSAGE);
• abbreviated call with relay and transmission instructions, if any (READ BACK, RELAY TO, etc.);
• precedence (normally one of the following: FLASH, Emergency, IMMEDIATE, PRIORITY or ROUTINE);
• date and time group (14 0630 Z Jan);
• proword FROM followed by originator's call sign;
• proword TO followed by action addressee's call sign;
• proword INFO followed by info addressee's call sign;
• proword TEXT BEGINS;
• security classification (normally one of the following:

UNCLASSIFIED, RESTRICTED, OFFICIAL, CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET or TOP SECRET);

• the originator and the number of the message;
• the actual text;
• proword END OF TEXT if final instructions are to follow, otherwise END OF MESSAGE.

Radio Equipment

A soldier should be familiar with the AN/PRC-77 radio and the two types of squad radios. One type of squad radio is the AN/PRC-68 small unit transceiver. The other comes in two parts the AN/PRT-4 (transmitter) and the AN/PRR-9 (receiver). To operate the AN/PRC-77 radio:

• install the battery;
• replace the battery compartment and close both latches at the same time;
• select the antenna (plus antenna base) and tighten it down;
• connect the handset;
• select the frequency band;
• set the frequency using the tuning control knobs;
• turn the function switch to ON;
• turn the volume control knob about half a turn;
• depress the push-to-talk switch on the handset to talk and release it to listen;
• adjust the volume control to the desired level.