Monitoring the Military, Part 3: Operating Areas and Ranges

This article originally appeared in the March 2007 issue of Key Klix, the newsletter of the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah. It is the third in a series of articles on monitoring military communications in the Savannah area.

Some of the destinations for military aircraft while they are on air traffic control frequencies are Military Operating Areas (MOAs), Special Use Areas (SUAs) and Ranges. There are several MOAs and Ranges in the Savanah area and a group of SUAs off of the Georgia coast. Basically, these areas are where the flight crews and aircraft conduct training operations for air-to-air combat and air-to-ground combat.

SEALORD and the offshore SUAs
SEALORD is the radio callsign for the United States Navy Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility (FACSFAC) at NAS Jacksonville, FL. SEALORD controls the SUAs off of the east coast of GA, FL, and SC. These SUAs are made up of a group of air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface and subsurface ranges. While the surface activity is usually well out of VHF/UHF range, the aerial activity is for the most part well within range for listeners in Savannah. Among the aircraft using the airspace are F/A-18 Hornets, F-16 Falcons, F-15 Eagles, P-3 Orions, S-3 Vikings, E-8 JSTARS, and E-3 AWACS.

SEALORD uses a collection of primary, secondary, and discrete frequencies to control their airspace. Aircraft checking in and out of the airspace with SEALORD use the primary and secondary frequencies. Once they are checked into, or “established” in the airspace, they will be switched to a discrete, or “working” frequency for their training operations. Some of the more frequently used SEALORD frequencies are:

284.500 - UHF Primary North Fixed Wing Frequency
313.700 - UHF Secondary North Fixed Wing Frequency
120.950 - VHF Primary North
267.500 - UHF Primary South Fixed Wing Frequency
133.950 - VHF Primary South

349.800 - Discrete
376.900 - Discrete
385.300 - Discrete

301.000 - TACTS Range Discrete
350.000 - TACTS Range Discrete

Note: The TACTS Ranges are instrumented air-to-air combat ranges.

Air Traffic Control frequencies that are used to transition to and from the SUAs are 120.400/380.025 and 125.300/387.100 with Savannah Approach and Departure as well as 282.200, 277.400 and 363.200 with Jacksonville Center.

Fort Stewart Ranges
MARNE RADIO controls the airspace over and around Fort Stewart. Aircraft entering or leaving Fort Stewart’s airspace check in and out with MARNE RADIO. Most of the Fort Stewart ranges are used for surface-to-surface activity, but there is air-to-ground activity from the helicopters at Hunter AAF and fixed wing attack aircraft. Transports such as C-130s and C-17s also practice air drops at Fort Stewart’s drop zones. If they will be using a range, they can be switched to a range control frequency. If the aircraft is doing paradrops of personnel or cargo, they may be switched to a drop zone frequency. Most helicopter activity quickly becomes out of range for listeners in Savannah due to the low altitude the helicopters fly at. Fixed wing aviation occasionally uses the airspace, however, and they can usually be heard in Savannah.

127.350 - Marne Radio
279.625 - Marne Radio

48.500 - Range Control
234.250 - Range Control
280.800 - Range Control
238.250 - Drop Zone

Air Traffic Control frequencies that are used to transition to and from the Fort Stewart Ranges and Marne Radio are 120.400/380.025 with Savannah Approach and Departure as well as 282.200 and 277.400 with Jacksonville Center.

The Coastal MOAs and Townsend Range
The Coastal MOAs are comprised of airspace above and around Townsend Range near Townsend, GA in McIntosh County. The Coastal MOAs and Townsend Range are mostly used for air-to-ground training, but they can also be used for air-to-air training. Weapons can only be dropped or fired in the range airspace. Operated by the Georgia Air National Guard, aircraft from all of the military services and from all over the southeast and other parts of the country use Townsend Range.

119.225 - Range Control
228.400 - Range Control
252.900 - Range Control

Air Traffic Control frequencies that are used to transition to and from the Coastal MOAs and Townsend Range are 120.400/380.025 with Savannah Approach and Departure as well as 282.200 and 277.400 with Jacksonville Center.

Next month, I’ll move on to discuss callsigns and frequencies used by some of the squadrons in the Savannah area. By combining the air traffic control or range traffic with interplane communications, you can get a more complete idea of what the aircraft are doing and have a more enjoyable monitoring experience.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net