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Callsign etiquette
- Thread starter BigIron
- Start date
I would never use my personal call sign on the interwebs...oh crap.
Yeah that would be just plane arrogant! Eh, oops!
OK, OK, OK. Take your pack off.
I will grant you some attack pukes may have "occasionally" had the need for a personal tactical callsign......... Certainly a lot more than "Spy" or "Spook" for the AI guy, and "Quack" or "Dicksmith" for the Flt. Surgeon.
Hey Cat...you know I'm just bustin' butt. First opportunity I've had in many years to tweak a Fighter Puke!
Truth is, and we all know it here...when the chips are down, it's shoulder to shoulder...and the bad guys better watch the $%^# out!!
I think there's a Navy/USMC difference there, too. Marine helo pilots all get callsigns, because we fly a lot of form. The Navy helo mission is different--having a special name for talking to the guy sitting next to you is just, like you said, a nickname, not a callsign. Now the Marine jet guys are probably more fanatical about using callsigns on the ground, too, but that's another story.
Since we don't fly too much outside of a section, where do y'all use the callsign? Is it once you start getting multiple sections where everyone can't use the squadron callsign without making a giant mess on the radios (which is where I had always heard the genesis of callsigns came from)?
We use callsigns on the interflight freq. If there are multiple seperate flights from the same squadron it will be the squadron callsign to outside agencies boat, DASC FAC etc and inside it will be callsigns. FACs use their personal callsigns and these show up on the ATO and ACEOIs.
Example:
"(insert FAC callsign here) Scarface 06 pushing BP Winder"
and on the back freq would be: "(insert Scarface 06 division leader personal callsign) division trail section 45 right pull." Telling his division it will be a trail attack, his section is running a 45 and leaving his second sections attack up to the -3.
A follow up interflight call would be: "(-3 personal callsign) trail right pull.
From this you would get simultaneous fires from the first section and sequential fires from the second.
On the ground in the bar they are used but Field Grade are sir to Captains and Lts outside a radio. In the reserves it is all callsigns except the CO.
FYI: A Division is 4 aircraft a Section is 2.
Example:
"(insert FAC callsign here) Scarface 06 pushing BP Winder"
and on the back freq would be: "(insert Scarface 06 division leader personal callsign) division trail section 45 right pull." Telling his division it will be a trail attack, his section is running a 45 and leaving his second sections attack up to the -3.
A follow up interflight call would be: "(-3 personal callsign) trail right pull.
From this you would get simultaneous fires from the first section and sequential fires from the second.
On the ground in the bar they are used but Field Grade are sir to Captains and Lts outside a radio. In the reserves it is all callsigns except the CO.
FYI: A Division is 4 aircraft a Section is 2.
Call signs (at least within my squadron, but from what I understand, pretty common for Assaults):
1. Individual aircraft and flights utilize the squadron's tactical call sign and schedule/ATO event numbers as flight call signs. For example, the first line of the flight schedule will always be "[Squadron] 01." The second and third lines, if a section, will always be "[Squadron] 02," with the -2 aircraft using "03" if the flight is broken up.
When we are composite, each T/M/S is given a series of numbers to use. Without going into specifics, the first Phrog will be "[Squadron] 01," and the first Shitter will be "[Squadron] 20."
2. Modexes are used when communicating with Base (so the boss knows which specific birds are airborne), when communicating with Maintenance, and when operating within the ship's tower's airspace.
3. Personal call signs are used when talking aircraft to aircraft either between, or within, flights. For example, instead of saying "[Squadron] 02" to talk to my wingman, I can just say "Hey Dirtbag" on my interflight freq.
4. Personal call signs are rarely used on the ground (non-flying), because as stated before, that's pretty much a fixed-wing thing. First names are the norm for us.
5. Company Grade will usually come up with unofficial, vulgar call signs with which to refer to our Majors, because Majors (by virtue of their existence) rate our ridicule.
6. See Skid's post (above) for Escort ops.
Clear as mud?
It's good to see the important things are not lost in the blue to green translation. Filthy Hinges!
Yeah, basically what I thought it'd be like.
We just don't do enough operations with more than two aircraft to get into something like that. With the standad det being two aircraft, there isn't a lot of need to get into divisional stuff (other than ease of being able to play in other's reindeer games if needed).
I can see how in a situation like Skidkid described or doing something within a division would make using just the squadron callsign confusing.
In our tactics training flights, the standard is just to use 1 or 2 in lieu of call signs. I can imagine that the weapons school guys would get butt hurt if we started teaching folks to use call signs unless NSAWC came out and told us to do it that way.
Yeah: "Jealous"
Your time as a JO came and went, and you blew it. Better luck next life.
What a politically correct top 10 list. Where is the Blue Angel's Larry "Fudge" Packer?
