Radios. You know 'em, you love 'em. And I’m gonna teach you how to use one in the Australian Army fashion. By the way, if you see the word RATEL in this, it’s just short for Radio Communications.
The General method of Radio Telecommunications (Ratel)
- Press the presell switch one second before talking.
- Send transmission.
- Let go of the presser switch one second after talking.
- LOOK AFTER THE RADIO. They are very expensive and can break easily if handled inappropriately.
There’s a couple of acronyms to memorize when using a military-grade Radio. They are:
SAD
Security: Always assume that radio transmissions are being monitored by enemy forces and therefore minimal information must be shared (no names over the net, use phonetic alphabet)
Accuracy: All transmissions are to be rehearsed and relayed confidently, accurately and concisely.
Discipline: RATEL is for communication and used in serious medical situations. This means it is not to be abused or used inappropriately.
Next acronym: RSVP
Rhythm: Speak naturally with consistent rhythm, divide message sensibly into phrases.
Speed: Speak slightly slower than a normal conversation
Volume: Speak at a Constant volume. Don’t shout into the receiver, talk at the same volume as you would normally.
Pitch: Your pitch should be a little higher than normal.
Prowords
Prowords are used to signify as a special segment of a RATEL transmission.
Roger: Used in response to information, basically meaning that you have ‘received the last transmission satisfactorily’
Send: Used as a confirmation to a request ‘I am ready to receive your next message’
I say again: Used when you want to say something twice, such as grid references (Army thing they use to describe where they are), NEVER SAY ‘I REPEAT’ over the net. (Not because it isn’t used, but because we are Cadets. The actual army uses I repeat so we have to have some distinction.)
Over: Used when your end of the side is done talking and is waiting for a response from the other side.
Out: Used at the end of a transmission, it is said by the person that initiated the transmission.
NEVER SAY OVER AND OUT, AS IT IS A CONTRADICTORY STATEMENT.
Call sign – each section (basically squads), HQ, and certain individuals will have their own call sign. Charlie 2, Sierra 3 are examples. Call signs are basically Code names.
More General Rules of Ratel:
- Only necessary transmissions are to be made.
- Make sure transmissions are short and concise, don’t say any irrelevant information.
- No personal names.
- No obscene language.
- Make sure you use prowords correctly.
- When sending grid references over the net, say it twice.
- Make sure to say the word ‘grid’ before you say any grid references.
The General Structure of a Transmission
- Initialisation – opening of the transition.
The start of a transmission and establishment of comms from both sides of the net. - Body of Transmission – Information needed.
Contains the information that is needed. - Conclusion – Ending the Transmission
End of transmission. The net is back open after the conclusion.
Initialisation (Part one of a transmission):
“Zero Alpha, this is Romeo 2, Radio Check, over.”
First state the call sign of whom you wish to talk to. (In this case, you wish to speak to Zero Alpha).
Next state the call sign of yourself. (In this case, you are Romeo 2)
Lastly state the type of the message. (In this case, you are wanting to conduct a Radio Check)
Body
The person you sent the transmission to will reply with “Romeo 2, this is Zero Alpha, Send, Over.”
After the intermission, you always start the transmission by stating your own call sign.
After stating your call sign, send the transmissions/information needed and then end by saying over.
“Romeo 2, (Information, in this case radio status), over.”
Conclusion
After you send the information in your body, HQ/receiver will say “Zero Alpha, Roger, over”.
You will reply with “Romeo 2 OUT” (Romeo two is your call sign and you say OUT since you are ending the transmission that you started.)
The NATO phonetic alphabet
This is used to spell words, or used as a call sign (i.e. Alpha 1, Bravo 2 etc.)
In alphabetical order they are:
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
Other types of Radio Transmissions
These are basically the types of transmissions you’ll find. I won’t go into too much detail of them as each of them is unique and it’ll take me forever to type them out.
Radio checks - These are conducted regularly by HQ to test if your radio is functioning properly.
Sitrep - Meaning ‘Situational Report’ for short. This is the often the most used type of transmission, being requested every 20-30 minutes on a field exercise.
They comprise of 3 main things, WHERE you are, WHAT activity are you doing, and the ETA.
“Zero Alpha, this is Romeo 2, Sitrep, over.”
“Romeo 2, this is Zero Alpha, send, over.”
“Romeo 2, we have arrived at checkpoint 3, heading to checkpoint 5, ETA 10 mikes over.”
“Zero Alpha, Roger over.”
Mikes means minutes in the Australian Army.
Locstat - Stands for Location Status and gives HQ information on where you are located.
HQ usually will be the one sending this request.
Similar to SITREP but SHORTER and is comprised solely of your 10-figure GRID REFERENCE, which you state twice. (Grid references, again, are these very complex things that describes your location using 10 numbers that even I have trouble memorizing.)
Message - Used for anything not falling into the categories above.
“Zero Alpha, this is Sierra Two, message, over.”
“Sierra two, this is Zero Alpha, send, over.”
“Sierra Two, Platoon 1 has absolutely annihilated the 69420th Company of the KPA located in Wonsan, over.”
“Zero Alpha, roger, keep up the great work, over.”
“Sierra Two, out.”
Summary
Yeah you could tell I was extremely bored while writing this. I’m pretty sure you’d be very bored after reading all of this as well (I doubt you read all of this). Of course, there is a lot more about radios, and this introduction has barely even scratched the surface.
Alright now it’s time for me to flee Australia now that I am most certainly going to be wanted for posting Australian Army information online. Yay.