05/12/2022

The US Department of Defense will host this year's Armed Forces Day (AFD)
Cross-Band Test on Saturday, May 14. While Armed Forces Day is May 21, the AFD
cross-band military-amateur radio event traditionally takes place 1 week
earlier to avoid any conflict with the Dayton Hamvention¿. The event is open to
all radio amateurs.

The AFD Cross-Band Test is two-way communications exercise between military and
amateur radio stations, as authorized under FCC Part 97 rules (47 CFR
¿ 97.111), and Department of Defense Instruction 4650.02 which establishes the
Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS). During the exercise, radio amateurs
listen for stations on military operating frequencies and transmit on
frequencies in adjacent amateur bands.

ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio[1]¿ has promoted the
participation of military and amateur radio stations in the AFD event for more
than 50 years. In the August 1950 issue of ARRL's membership journal, QST[2],
it was noted that "232 persons made perfect copy of the 'Greeting to Amateurs'
broadcast at 25 w.p.m. over 13 military frequencies and have received a
Certificate of Merit signed by the Secretary of Defense, the Honorable Louis
Johnson."

There are 24 military stations registered across the United States, including
Alaska and Hawaii, that will be participating in the 2022 event. Several of
those stations will be using the 60-meter interoperative channels during this
exercise. All operations will be on a not-to-interfere basis, in case there are
real-world missions being supported during the event timeframe.

An AFD Secretary of Defense message will also be sent in CW and RTTY, and an
AFD message will also 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.

A detailed list of modes and frequencies for military/government stations
taking part in the Armed Forces Day Cross-Band Test and information on the AFD
message is available at www.dodmars.org[3]. In the upper right corner is a
dropdown with all the information.

Complete the request form to obtain a QSL card at
www.usarmymars.org/armed-forces-day-qsl-card-request[4].

[1] http://www.arrl.org/
[2] http://www.arrl.org/qst
[3] https://www.dodmars.org/mars-comex-information-website/armed-forces-day
[4] https://www.usarmymars.org/armed-forces-day-qsl-card-request

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