Savannah CRTC Ramp Back Open and Full of F-15s

Over the weekend while in Brunswick, I heard the F-15s from the 125th Fighter Wing at Jacksonville IAP fly to Savannah, so I assumed the ramp maintenance at the Combat Readiness Training Center as finished. This morning I heard the 125th FW F-15s working offshore with some other F-15s from an as yet unknown unit. This afternoon, I rode out to the airport to take a look and discovered that the other F-15s are from the 1st Fighter Wing's 71st Fighter Squadron. The CRTC ramp is just packed full of F-15s, probably 20 or more. The ramp is definitely back open and in use. The F-15s have been going off shore into the W-areas and working intercepts against each other with NORAD control. I've also seen some posts on the MilRadioComms email group that they worked with an AWACS yesterday. Below are the callsigns and the frequencies that the two units have been using:

125th Fighter Wing: FANG, SNAKE, RATTLER, VENOM
234.800 - Aux 6
253.700 - Aux 7
314.200 - Aux 8
343.000 - Aux 9

71st Fighter Squadron: IRON, STEEL, KNIGHT
293.300 - CRTC frequency
363.900 - CRTC frequency
379.800 - CRTC frequency

In addition, both units have been calling in their in-flight reports to EAGLE OPS on the CRTC Ops/CP frequency 237.000. Maintenance ops for the 125th FW are on 140.2125 and maintenance ops for the 71st FS are on 149.4875 (both FM) but you will have to be fairly close to the airport to hear those because most of the traffic is from handheld radios.

Other frequencies to keep an ear on to catch the F-15s are:

257.800 - Savannah IAP Tower
353.775 - Savannah Approach/Departure
371.875 - Savannah Approach/Departure
282.200 - Jax Center Jekyll Low
363.200 - Jax Center Allendale Low
284.500 - SEALORD North Primary
293.600 - NORAD Discrete
316.300 - NORAD Discrete

It's good to hear the CRTC back active again. Good Listening!

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

21st Fighter Squadron at Savannah CRTC

The 21st Fighter Squadron from Luke AFB is visiting the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center. The 21st FS is a training squdaron that trains F-16 pilots for the Taiwan's Air Force.

Using the callsigns GAMBLER and DEALER, they have been working in the offshore warning areas training against the Florida ANG F-15s from Jacksonville. They have been working with NORAD EADS, callsign HUNTRESS for control on 293.600 and 316.300. The 21st FS has been using 140.500 and 141.150 for air-to-air; both are frequencies that units visiting the CRTC normally use.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

kf4lmt@comcast.net

Visitors at Savannah CRTC

Aircraft from two visiting units are at the Savannah CRTC this week. F-16s from the 64th AGRS Agressor Squadron and A-10s from the 47th Fighter Squadron at Barksdale are working out of the CRTC.

The 64th AGRS F-16s are using the callsigns MIG and IVAN. 142.600 and 142.700 have been used for the air-to-air frequencies. 142.700 is one of the air-to-air frequencies used by units visiting the CRTC but I don't know about 142.600. They've been working with AWACS and NORAD for intercepts against the FL ANG F-15s out of Jacksonville in the offshore warning areas on 293.600, 316.300 and 139.700.

The 47th FS A-10s are using the callsigns SWINE 71/72 and SWINE 73/74. Their air-to-air frequencies have been 140.500 and 141.150 and they've used 237.000 to report into the their Ops. 140.500 and 141.150 are frequencies used by units visiting the CRTC and 237.000 is the CRTC CP frequency, regularly used by visiting units for their squadron ops. They've been working with JTACs using the callsign ADVANCE at Townsend Range on 228.400 and 252.900.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

60th Fighter Squadron at the Savannah CRTC

F-15s of the 60th Fighter Squadron from Eglin AFB arrived at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center at the Savannah International Airport this afternoon.

Arriving in two and four ship flights, they were using the callsigns ANGRY 5# and CROW 6#. Each flight checked in with CROW OPS on 253.200 (one of the CRTC Ops frequencies) just prior to arrival. A squadron maintenance net was also noted on 149.4875 NFM. Two of the flights were using CRTC discrete frequencies for air-to-air communications: CROW 61/62 were using 293.300 and CROW 63-66 were using 363.900.

Note: The VFC-12 F/A-18s are still at the CRTC as of Saturday afternoon.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

FIghter Units Visit the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry Area

95th Fighter Squadron

F-15s from Tyndall AFB's 95th Fighter Squadron are at the Savannah CRTC this week. They flew missions today in the offshore special use areas against F-5s from VMFT-401. Some good frequencies to catch the 95th FS aircraft on are:

257.800 Savannah IAP Tower
380.025 Savannah Approach/Departure
387.100 Savannah Approach/Departure
282.200 Jacksonville Center
284.500 SEALORD Primary
237.000 CRTC Ops
293.300 CRTC Discrete
328.500 CRTC Discrete
363.900 CRTC Discrete


VMFT-401

F-5s from the USMC Agressor Squadron VMFT-401 are working out of MCAS Beaufort this week. They have been flying missions against the 95th FS F-15s mentioned above in the offshore special use areas. You can catch VMFT-401 on:

301.200 MCAS Beaufort Approach/Departure
284.500 SEALORD Primary
250.300 VMFT-401 air-to-air
268.300 VMFT-401 air-to-air


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

19th Fighter Squadron at the Savannah CRTC

F-15s from the 19th Fighter Squadron from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska are visiting the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center. Because of my work schedule and monitoring the Sugar Refinery Operations, I missed their arrival so I'm not sure how long they've been here. I understand that they will possibly be here through the first of March.

Gamecock Ops has been on the CRTC CP frequency 237.000. The usual tower Savannah IAP tower frequency 257.800 and the approach/departure frequencies 380.025, 387.100, and 307.225 have been in use for ATC. They have also used 363.200 and 282.200 for Jax Center while en route to Sealord's warning areas. They have checked in with SEALORD on the usual 284.500 and have been using W-157 Discretes 376.900 and 385.300. Below are the callsigns and air-to-air frequencies they've been using:

Callsigns
BLADE 0#
DEMON 0#
HOOK 0#
REDEYE 0#
TACO 0#
WHAM 0#
WOLF 0#

Frequencies
293.300
328.500
363.900
379.800
355.325

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Communications Training at the Savannah CRTC

I saw several recent television news reports on a new communications training facility at the Savannah CRTC, but there wasn't much information on just what type of communications training would be taking place. This morning, the Savannah Morning News ran a very informative article on the new training facility:

http://savannahnow.com/node/438343

The new building houses the Theatre Deployable Communications Training Center, where active duty, reserve, and guard personnel will be trained on how to set up various types of communications networks in the field. Classroom training will be followed by practical training in actually setting up the networks.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Congressional Earmarks Benefit the Combat Readiness Training Center and Townsend Range

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, earmarks in the recently passed federal budget will provide for technology improvements at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center and Townsend Range:

Kingston sponsored a $2.4 million earmark in this year's defense bill for a ProLogic project to provide military aircraft at the Townsend range and to give Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center an electronic network so that Marines and Air National Guard can share information, even while airborne. With the latest earmark, Kingston has poured a total $5.5 million into the project since 2006.

ProLogic, like most private contractors that benefit from earmarks, has generated substantial donations to lawmakers, particularly appropriations committee members. A computerized study of federal election records by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics found that ProLogic's executives and employees have contributed $411,600 to congressional campaigns since 2005. Of that total, $20,500 went to Kingston's re-election campaigns and his political action committee.

I won't editorialize on the second part of the quotation above, but I did think it important to include it in order to show how the process works. Hopefully improvments like these and others that are already ongoing will keep aircraft coming here to train for the forseeable future.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

178th Fighter Wing Savannah CRTC Activity

On Wednesday, the 178th FW flew several missions out of the Savannah CRTC going to Pinecastle Range and to Townsend Range. From what they told the ranger at Townsend Range, it sounds like they'll be doing evening/night attack work while visiting the CRTC; definitely at Townsend, possibly at Pinecastle as well.

All flights used the callsign SABRE. Contact with SABRE OPS was on the CRTC frequency 237.000. Air-to-air frequencies were 140.500 and 141.150.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

178th Fighter Wing at the Savannah CRTC

F-16s from the 162nd Fighter Squadron/178th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard arrived at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center today. I caught SABRE 2# flight and SABRE 3# flight closely followed by STEEL 81 (KC-135, 171 ARW) in support.

Due to the ongoing Exercise Southern Fury, I missed any air-to-air frequencies for the F-16s, but I did catch STEEL 81 check in with SABRE OPS on 237.000 (one of the CRTC Ops freqs).

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT

kf4lmt@comcast.net

Georgia National Guard Joint Task Force 781 CERFP

The Georgia National Guard's Joint Task Force 781 CERFP is in Savannah this week for training at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center. CERFP is an acronym for(Chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear and high explosive) Response Force Package. Below are two links for stories about Task Force 781's training:

Savannah Morning News
WTOC TV

Task Force 781 is a response team tasked with responding to nuclear, biological, chemical, and explosive incidents. It was created six months ago as a Joint Task Force comprised of pre-existing Georgia Army National Guard and Air National Guard units and is designed to mobilize and respond to an incident scene within 6 hours. The units that comprise the task force are:

• 781st CERFP Battalion (GA ARNG)
• 878th Engineers (GA ARNG)
• 4th Civil Support Team (Joint)
• 138th Chemical Company (GA ARNG)
• 202nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal (GA ARNG)
• 248th Medical Company (GA ARNG)
• 116th Medical Company (GA ANG)

This morning I took a trip out to the CRTC in attempt to monitor activity from the CERFP but there didn't seem to be any activity at the time. I saw the exercise area mentioned in the news reports above, but no Task Force personnel were seen on site.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

113th Fighter Squadron at Savannah CRTC

F-16s from the 113th Fighter Squadron, IN ANG are currently working out of the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center. They have been using the callsign RACER and have been using 140.500 (AM) for air-to-air and 138.625 (AM) and 237.000 (both are CRTC Ops/CP) for communications with their Ops. I'm not sure if 140.500 is a unit frequency or a CRTC frequency; it was also used by the 118th FS during one of their visits here. Activity has been air-to-air combat training off of the GA coast with F/A-18s from MAG-31 at MCAS Beaufort, generally one early morning sortie and one late morning sortie.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Improved Savannah training center still challenging Airmen

Thanks to Mark Cleary, who blogs at The Lowcountry Listening Post, for directing me to this article. I've not had a lot of time to keep up with radio and monitoring related topics lately so Mark's info was a great help. This article shows a positive future for the Savannah CRTC, it seems that it should be around for us to monitor well into the future. This article not only shows the improvements that have been made and are being made, it also gives you a good idea of just what they do at the CRTC. In addition to Townsend Range, which is mentioned in the article and the Coastal MOA Complex, which is implied in the article, the CRTC also utilizes the TACTS Ranges and the training airspace offshore that is controlled by SEALORD (USN FACSFAC Jacksonville).

By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith
National Guard Bureau

SAVANNAH, Ga. (5/25/2007) - It was quiet, but they say it never stays quiet here for long. As they stood before a patched cement flight line awaiting Air National Guard A-10 Thunderbolt pilots to arrive for a training event, several Airmen turned to enter the double doors to an empty operations building behind them.

Inside, many times before, some of the nation’s best Air Guard units had yelled through gas masks while training for combat. Now, the building was quiet; although, across the street construction workers hammered up a new operations complex. Near that, an environmentally friendly small-arms range and a high-tech firefighters' training station lay ready for resonant gun shots and hose-team commands. Forty miles south, a modern air traffic control tower echoed radio static.

It has been three busy years of renovations, expansions and operations at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center here and its Townsend Bombing Range 40 miles to the south. So although it seemed quiet, the ghosts of trainings past and present sounded a bright and busy future.

In that time, the Savannah CRTC has evolved to support a post 9/11 expeditionary force. Or maybe a smartly planned, cost saving, one-stop joint training center for a busy Air National Guard and a nation's joint operating military.

Actually, isn't a training center where everything is made available to learn? So where do technology, budgets and inspections work in?

The Savannah CRTC with its team of 128 Airmen and civilian employees address all that and play host to thousands of training events and servicemembers each year. So many Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines call this place so many different things. It's one of only four Air Guard combat training centers in the nation, but officials say these centers do not compete with each other. Savannah combines resources with centers in Alpena, Mich., Gulfport, Miss., and Volk, Wis., to fulfill the Air Guard's need for combat ready Airmen who can integrate into multi-service missions.

"CRTCs play a very important role in this because they enable units to accomplish training that cannot be accomplished at home," said Col. Floyd H. Harbin, Savannah CRTC commander.

With Army, Navy and Marine Corps units regularly using the center, Harbin said his CRTC also offers Airmen a "joint training experience" that would cost millions of dollars to reproduce elsewhere.

Now, Savannah CRTC officials say nearly three years of strategic planning are paying off by offering eager Guard units the latest in technology at a modernized, one-stop shop. Also lining up are federal, state and local agencies and international military forces looking for the same.

"We just acquired 75-acres of land from the airport to expand to 223-acres, and we also expanded our coastal air space to allow high-altitude air combat training at the range," said Harbin.

As construction continues, it becomes increasingly hard to recognize the CRTC from its former self. Looking from the main entrance, the center's new brick buildings contrast sharply with its 50-year-old structures. Some buildings were modernized, if feasible. Other buildings – second-hand, worn down, leaking and occupied well past their expected life spans – are being demolished.

"They are no longer your father's CRTCs," said Patrick Welch, chief of airspace and ranges for the Air National Guard. He said that the training centers have come a long way from their beginnings as summer training camps. "All four CRTCs have upgraded communications infrastructures and state-of-the-art ranges and they offer a high quality of life services. They have also evolved to support operational readiness exercises and inspections and joint force exercises. They train in all aspects, and more than 700 units deployed to train at the four CRTCs in 2006," said Welch.

The CRTCs offer bare base deployment sites, air-to-air ranges, air-to-ground ranges, rifle ranges, firefighting facilities and joint combat training environments. Visiting units can fly simulated combat missions and bombing scenarios including laser and strafing practice. They can also provide computer generated depictions of aircraft engaged in combat.

In short, the facilities act like forward operating locations and provide a realistic site for unit operational exercises and inspections.

Between 2005 and 2006, the Savannah CRTC alone hosted and supported 21 operational readiness inspections and exercises for Air Guard units. In the same time, the detached 8.1 square mile bombing range managed more than 3,000 aircraft sorties. The center also supported President Bush during his 2004 G-8 Summit.

They have also been working with the nearby 165th Airlift Wing to build a medical and multi-use operation, training and conference center, which will serve both units. The CRTC is also addressing future training shortfalls.

"The Air Guard will benefit greatly from a new training program and schoolhouse for combat communications," said Harbin. The new schoolhouse will support air control squadrons and combat communications units. Harbin knows the need for it. He deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 224th Joint Communications Squadron prior to his command at the CRTC. "This is the way for us to keep our Airmen in line with the Guard's focus on new technology and the ability to operate in a joint environment."

The CRTC will always be training Airmen for future battlefields. Its roots run deep in Air Guard history. The training center began as one of nine Permanent Field Training Sites in 1952. They were reduced to four bare-base training sites and re-designated in 1990 as CRTCs. In all, $45 million is now being allocated to refurbish and modernize the Savannah center, which has withstood its own test of time.

"Their utilization is high," Welch said, "and not just by the Air Guard but by the Army, Marines and local and state emergency agencies. They offer just the right capability."

It may not be a favorite place to go for Airmen because of their rigorous unit inspections held here. Nevertheless, Airmen will spend time at this CRTC far into the future.

"Our goal is to fit into the nation's joint training capability," Harbin said, "and this is the site."

More Information on the 116th ACW Deployment to the Savannah CRTC

Finding information on the 116th ACW's temporary deployment was much easier than I expected. According to this USAF news article, both the 116th ACW and the 19th ARG are TDY at the Savannah CRTC and MacDill AFB respectively. Some of the 116th ACW's E-8s have also gone to Nellis AFB for exercises.


Mission continues despite flightline closure

by Amanda Creel
78th ABW/PA

4/27/2007 - Robins AFB, Ga. -- The Robins flightline will be shut down for 14 days, May 4-18, for repairs, but Team Robins members are working to ensure the mission impact is minimal.

"We look at the runway as a weapon system and any weapon system requires maintenance and this is our preventive maintenance," said 1st Lt. Anthony Hayes, airfield operations flight operations officer.

He added no one wants to close the flightline, but in order to continue the mission; the preventive maintenance must be completed.

It will be a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation in order to complete the repairs in the two-week time frame and with minimal impact on Robins' mission, he said.

One of the biggest challenges was finding a time to repair the flightline that would work for all the units affected by the closure.

"We came up with these dates because they would minimize the impact to all involved," he said. "Mainly it will inconvenience the 116th (Air Control Wing) and the 19th (Air Refueling Group), which will be going TDY with their aircraft during the entire closure," Lieutenant Hayes said.

He added the 402nd Maintenance Wing will also be affected by the closure because it will be unable to bring aircraft in and out for depot maintenance during the closure.

"I know runway closures are a fact of life. We have to do them and we have to maintain our infrastructure. We have been working for at least three months to try and position ourselves where it will impact our customers the least in terms of accelerating aircraft to get them out in advance so we don't have any ready to go and trapped here by the runway closure," said Brig. Gen. Andy Busch, commander of the 402nd MXW.

The 116th Air Control Wing will be moving to the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center, where they will continue with their local and school course requirements and others will deploy to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for an exercise.

The 19th ARG will also be relocating during the closure. Lt. Col. Blaine Holt, acting group commander, said the closure offers an opportunity to exercise the group's abilities as a mobility command by showing their capability to achieve their mission from anywhere in the world.

"We have most of our jets or the majority of our fleet will go to our sister wing at MacDill Air Force Base, (Fla). A contingency of our maintainers and crew members will be taking care of our aircraft and flying missions from there," said Colonel Holt.

He added the people left behind during the closure will spend their time catching up with maintenance, training and issues with their impending deactivation in May 2008.

The repairs will help eliminate some of the risks of foreign-object damage by repairing the concrete slabs on the flightline.

"The degradation of the slab can cause FOD, which can damage the aircraft when landing," said Lieutenant Hayes.

The project will cost about $1.5 million and will consist of the replacement of 40 concrete slabs and 90,000 linear feet of joint seals, which go in between the slabs to keep water out, Lieutenant Hayes said.

Slabs identified for replacement failed due to transverse, which are diagonal or longitudinal cracks. Lieutenant Hayes said. These types of cracks occur when the slab cracks all the way through either diagonally or down the middle. Temporary repairs are made to the slabs when it cracks in half or when corners are broken off, Lieutenant Hayes said.

"We have had to come in and make temporary repairs. We have come in and cut out corners and replace them with quick-dry concrete," he said.

He said the majority of the slabs being replaced are located on the north end of the flightline, because in 2004 similar repairs were made to about 100 slabs, most of which were located on the south end.

"It's an expected thing when you have two-miles of concrete - at times you are going to have to do construction. It's a fact of life in the world of concrete; it wears out," said Chief Master Sgt. Billy Messer, 116th ACW airfield manager. "We just have to plan accordingly, so we don't totally lose out on all the requirements the air crews need for flying."

The project will also include the beginning of the asphalting of the Bravo and Charlie taxiways. The asphalt work on the taxiways will continue after the flightline reopens until June 2.

JSTARS at the Savannah CRTC

It is possible that the 116th Air Control Wing from Robins AFB, or part of it at least, is temporarily deployed to the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center. At least two of the unit's E-8C JSTARS aircraft are on the ramp at the CRTC. PEACHTREE OPS is also active on the CRTC Ops frequency 237.000. An aircraft talking to PEACHTREE this morning referred to them as "PEACHTREE DEPLOYED."

I'll post more on this as I gather more information.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

102nd Fighter Wing Update

10 and 12 hour days at work have kept from me from monitor the 102nd Fighter Wing's stay at the Savannah CRTC very much, but through mobile monitoring and recordings, I've been able to determine some callsigns and frequencies for them. They are using the normal CRTC Ops frequency 237.000 for CAPE OPS and SOF and some of the CRTC Discretes for Auxiliary (air-to-air) frequencies.

237.000 - CRTC OPS, used for CAPE OPS (102 FW) and SOF
293.300 - CRTC Discrete; 102 FW Aux
328.500 - CRTC Discrete; 102 FW Aux
363.900 - CRTC Discrete; 102 FW Aux

Callsigns in use have been: CAJUN, DRAGON, LYNX, and MADDOG


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

102nd Fighter Wing at Savannah CRTC

At least 8 F-15s from the 102nd Fighter Wing arrived at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center this morning. CAPE 1# flight and CAPE 2# flight arrived via the usual ATC frequencies and passed in-flight reports on 237.000 (CRTC Ops).

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

A-10s in Savannah

A-10s from the 131st Fighter Squadron, 104th Fighter Wing Massachusetts Air National Guard visited the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center this week. Unfortunately, due to a lack of time and poor weather, I didn't have time to monitor them much and they departed back home yesterday afternoon after only a few days' activity. They used the callsign HAWK and used 139.900 and 143.825 for air-to-air frequencies.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net