US Marines with Information Group II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MIG) participated in an amateur radio general licensing course January 27 – 31 on base as part of the group’s High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative. Members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club of Greenville, North Carolina, helped the Marines in the class learn the principles of HF radio operations as a contingency against a peer-to-peer adversary in real-world operations.

During the course, Marines learned ham radio theory, band allocations, conventional and field-expedient antenna theory, and general ham radio operation and control. II MIG Commanding Officer Colonel Jordan Walzer created the High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative after recognizing the need for additional options in combat environments.

“Right now, our adversaries are aggressively pursuing counter-space weapons to target our satellites and ground stations,” Walzer is quoted in the article. “If our satellites get knocked out, what do we do then? [High Frequency] radio has been around for well over a century and is still used today. Why? Because it’s a reliable, low-cost alternative to satellite communications. With the right training and education, a Marine with a radio and some slash wire can communicate over-the-horizon for long distances, even between continents.”