Monitoring the Military, Part 4: Unit Frequencies

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

An article in Key Klix is definitely not enough space to list frequencies for military units that can be heard from the Savannah area. With this month’s article, I’ll list those that can be easily heard in Savannah on a daily basis. If you are interested in a more exhaustive list, drop me an email and I’ll send it along.

Hunter AAF
The 3rd Aviation Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division is based at Hunter AAF. The brigade is broken down into 4 battalions of helicopters. 1-3 Aviation flies the AH-64D Apache Longbow. 2-3 Aviation flies UH-60L and UH-60A Blackhawks and the CH-47D Chinook. 3-3 Aviation flies the AH-64D Apache Longbow. 4-3 Aviation flies the UH-60L Blackhawk. F-131 Aviation is a Georgia Army National Guard unit that flies the CH-47D Chinook. Each unit has an operations office, which has an assigned frequency. The aircraft use that “Ops” frequency to communicate maintenance information, mission information, or anything else back to the unit. Additionally, the United States Coast Guard’s Air Station Savannah is located at Hunter AAF, which uses a UHF frequency to communicate between their HH-65C Dolphins and the Air Station, “Savannah Air.”

45.900 - 1-3 AVN OPS
49.800 - 2-3 AVN OPS
32.350 - 3-3 AVN OPS
49.900 - 4-3 AVN OPS
38.150 - F-131 AVN OPS
139.400 - F-131 AVN OPS
345.000 - USCG Air Station

Savannah International Airport
Savannah International Airport is home to the 165th Airlift Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard. The 165th AW flies the C-130H Hercules. They utilize a Command Post (CP) frequency, which is used somewhat like the Ops frequencies for the Army units at Hunter AAF. They also use an Air-to-Air frequency for communication between aircraft.

225.050 - 165 AW Air-to-Air
225.750 - 165 AW CP

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort is home to seven squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets. Two of the squadrons fly the A+ model, three fly the C model, and two fly the D model two-seat version. 6 of the squadrons are Marine Corps squadrons (identified by the VMFA designators) and one is a US Navy squadron (identified by the VFA designator). The Marine and Navy units use terminology a bit different from the Army and Air Force/Air National Guard. Instead of an Ops or Command Post frequency, the Marine Corps and Navy squadrons utilize Base frequencies on which they call their squadron’s “Base” to pass information to the unit. Instead of an Air-to-Air frequency, they use “Tac” frequencies, which are used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground use.

361.800 - VMFA-115 BASE
339.500 - VMFA-115 TAC 1
320.200 - VMFA-115 TAC 2

253.100 - VMFA-122 BASE
283.400 - VMFA-122 TAC 1
354.325 - VMFA-122 TAC 2

305.800 - VMFA-224 BASE
250.300 - VMFA-224 TAC 1
258.900 - VMFA-224 TAC 2
336.225 - VMFA-224 TAC 3

313.800 - VMFA-251 BASE
290.000 - VMFA-251 TAC 1
327.475 - VMFA-251 TAC 2

228.200 - VMFA-312 BASE
301.950 - VMFA-312 TAC 1
320.300 - VMFA-312 TAC 2

310.200 - VMFA-533 BASE
289.275 - VMFA-533 TAC 1
299.300 - VMFA-533 TAC 2
348.825 - VMFA-533 TAC 3

354.400 - VFA-86 BASE
308.925 - VFA-86 TAC 1
363.825 - VFA086 TAC 2

Jacksonville International Airport
Jacksonville International Airport is home the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard. The 125th FW is equipped with the F-15A Eagle. Even though they are based in Florida, they are daily visitors to the airspace offshore from Georgia and are easily heard in Savannah. The 125th FW utilizes a Command Post/Maintenance (CP/MX) frequency, a Supervisor of Flying (SOF) frequency, and 4 Auxiliary (Aux) frequencies which are air-to-air frequencies.

251.250 - FANG MX/CP
273.900 - FANG SOF
234.800 - FANG AUX 6
253.700 - FANG AUX 7
314.200 - FANG AUX 8
343.000 - FANG AUX 9

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net