Communications 1 Course {CM1}

Communications in a modern army are as important as fully charged blasters and fuel. Without good comms things will go very wrong very quickly. Communications allow Commanders to keep a close eye on what is happening with battles, relaying vital information and orders back down to the front lines. This has to be done as quickly, efficiently and accurately as possible.

The following lesson is to help you with the basics of communications, filling you in on background information and procedures so that your communications skills can be enhanced. These are the basics of the main points, which shall be covered in more detail in later lessons.

Many different communications networks and modes of communications are used throughout the Imperial Directorate, but the aim of this introductory lesson it to give you the common details that cover all systems.

In the end, no amount of security can prevent your enemy from trying to decrypt and determine what is being transmitted. Therefore the safest assumption when transmitting any information is to assume that your enemy is listening.

Security
Specific procedures are used to communicate between net users. They are designed to ensure that:

• Security - every word can be heard by the enemy
• Accuracy and brevity – interference causes misunderstanding
• Discipline – to prevent more than one person talking over the system at a time.

For security reason the following rules must be obeyed:

• Keep your message as short as possible
• Speak clearly without over emphasis
• If possible make a note or rehearse what you are going to say – DO NOT take the time to think whilst you are on the net.
• If it is a long message split it into sections.
• Encode those sections of the message that may give vital information to the enemy, such as grid references.
• If you cannot reach another ground station, move and try a different position before increasing the power level.

Phonetic Alphabet
If communications are difficult, or you are using a code, you may have to spell a message. If this happens, then you should use the phonetic alphabet. Always precede the spelling with the words “I spell” to give the distant end signaller warning that he will need to write down the letters.

You will be required to constantly practice using the phonetic alphabet for it to become an automatic response. The author of this lesson suggests you practice when passing ship’s registration markings and other such alphanumeric codes.

A - Alpha	B - Bravo	C - Charlie	D - Delta
E - Echo	F - Foxtrot	G - Golf	H - Hotel
I - India	J - Juliet	K - Kilo	L - Lima
M - Mike	N - November	O - Oscar	P - Papa
Q - Quebec	R - Romeo	S - Sierra	T - Tango
U - Uniform	V - Victor	W - Whiskey	X - X-Ray
Y - Yankee	Z - Zulu

e.g. the planet name Eos would be passed across the net as:
“I SPELL Echo Oscar Sierra”
As well as spelling out difficult words, number should also be passed individually

e.g. “Twenty three fifty nine hours” would be sent as:
“FIGURES – two, three, five, nine, hours.”

Codes and Call Sign Indicators (CSI’s)
All individual stations and operators on the Imperial Directorate nets have call sign indicators. This method has been introduced so as to identify the user to all other users without the need of giving away individual unit names. You should always have a CSI before you go on the ID’s comms networks, and the central communications head issues the main ones for the Head Quarters units. All other can then be deduced at a lower level, and these CSI’s must be used in every transmission.

DO NOT answer anyone who does not identify himself or herself with an appropriate CSI. The senior station in the network (Zero) should say: “Unknown station, this is Zero. Verify own call sign, over”

Appointments and titles were once used for all levels in the comms network, but were too simple to deduce who was where and doing what. After a few generals were killed someone realises that appointment titles being openly passed over the net wasn’t such a good idea. But, two multi-level titles have stuck.

Sunray The Sunray is any commander, be he/she Brigade, Company Troop or Section commander

Sunray-Minor This is Sunray’s second-in-command.

A simple radio net:


For total effective operation, the control operator, CSI “0”, is in charge of this network, and this does not change even if one of the substations in manned by someone of a superior rank. Only one station may speak at any one time, therefore, to prevent confusion, the following rules must be obeyed:

• Listen out to the full message before speaking, to ensure that the frequency is clear and don’t cut-in on other transmissions.
• Leave a short pause at the end of a conversation.
• Answer all calls immediately, and in the correct order – alphabetically and then numerically. Alpha one zero would be first to answer an “All stations” command, the Bravo one zero.

You must also realise that the station at B10 (Bravo One Zero, not B TEN) may also have a network of which he is in charge. Below him there could be other stations and they will be named Bravo One One and so on. This goes for all stations. Zero is always the most senior station in a network.

Radio Simple Voice Procedure (RSVP)
Why is VP necessary?

• We must assume that the enemy, even under the best scrambling, can hear every spoken work on a network.
• Sometimes even the ID’s best communications systems can suffer degradation and therefore messages can be misunderstood.
• Most communications systems are designed for one person to speak at a time. If more than one person speaks then messages may be cut short and vital information lost.

Aids to accuracy
We have two main aids at our disposal, One of which, the phonetic alphabet, we have already gone over. The other is Prowords, which can be found in the appendix. It should also be remembered that when transmitting a message the following should be observed:

Rhythm: keep a natural rhythm. Divide the message into sensible phrases.

Speed: slightly slower than normal conversation, so as to allow orders to be written down. If you are not human, or come from a system where the language is spoken quickly then take this into account when on the net.

Volume: just a little louder than normal speech, though don’t shout, as it may degrade the sound quality.

Pitch: the voice should be pitched slightly higher than normal, but not as to cause discomfort to the operator.

These four items can be remembered easily by using the acronym RSVP. Another acronym is CLAP:

Clear
Loud
As an order
Pauses

Prowords
“I Spell” – I am going to spell out a word letter by letter.
      “Cuchulain – I spell Charlie Uniform Charlie Hotel Uniform Lima Alpha India November"

“Figure” – I am going to send a long number, figure by figure.
      “Figure – One Two Seven Zero Zero One” (127001)

“Hello” – used as an introduction to an initial call, then followed by the desired address and the caller’s address.       “Hello Bravo One Zero, this is Alpha One Three.”

“Send” – go ahead with your transmission.

“Message” – offer of an unregistered message, giving warning that the operator at the distant end will have to take note.

“Over” – this is then end of my transmission, a reply is required.

“Out” – this is the end of my transmission, no reply is required.

“Wait out” – your transmission is received; a further transmission on the same subject will follow later.

“Roger” – Message received and understood.

“Wrong” – what has been said by myself is incorrect and the correct version is…

“Say again all” or “Say again all after” – should someone be talking too fast or there is a break in transmission this command is used to clear up discrepancies.

“I say again” – used to answer the above query or to reiterate a certain point.       “Sunray is in location. I say again, Sunray is in location.”

“Radio check” – to ensure equipment is working correctly. The station who initiates the radio check will also answer at the end.
      “Hello Zero, this is Alpha Zero. Radio check over.”
      “Zero, radio check okay, over”
      “Alpha Zero, radio check okay, out.”