03/10/2022

The 2022 running of the Armed Forces Day (AFD) Cross-Band exercise will be held
on May 14, 1300 - 2200 UTC. A complete list of participating stations, modes,
frequencies, times, and other details will be announced[1] on April 1. The
event is open to all radio amateurs. Armed Forces Day is May 21, but the AFD
Cross-band military-amateur radio event traditionally takes place 1 week
earlier, in order to avoid conflicting with Dayton Hamvention¿. During the
exercise, radio amateurs listen for stations on military operating frequencies
and transmit on frequencies in adjacent amateur bands.

Military and amateur stations have taken part in this event for more than 50
years. It's an exercise scenario, designed to include ham radio and government
radio operators alike.

Per previous announcements: "The AFD Cross-band Test is a unique opportunity to
test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations
in the Amateur Radio Service, as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. These tests
provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate
individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario that does
not impact any public or private communications."

Military stations in various locations will transmit on selected military
frequencies and announce the specific ham band frequencies they are monitoring.

An AFD message will be transmitted utilizing the Military Standard (MIL-STD)
serial PSK waveform (M110), followed by MIL-STD Wide Shift FSK (850 Hz RTTY),
as described in MIL-STD 188-110A/B. The AFD message will also be sent in CW and
RTTY.

Full details will be released on April 1.

[1] https://www.dodmars.org/mars-comex-information-website/armed-forces-day

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