{"id":65230,"date":"2026-01-25T08:26:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=65230"},"modified":"2026-01-25T08:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:26:57","slug":"cold-war-dx-and-tactical-callsigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/cold-war-dx-and-tactical-callsigns\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold War DX and Tactical Callsigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>by Dan Greenall<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the Cold War years, many different signals could be found on shortwave that cannot be heard today. For example, there were two Germanys, several broadcasters from the USSR not including Radio Moscow, Radio Free Europe and others.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I have uploaded audio clips of these stations and others to the InternetArchive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here are a few of the links.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/rbi-berlin-gdr-1970<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/details\/radio-rodina<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/details\/radio-free-europe-1971<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If you were adventurous like me, willing to tune outside of the regular assigned broadcast bands, and flip the BFO switch \u201con\u201d, stations with odd sounding names like Giant Step, Sky King, Fanfare or Ivanhoe could sometimes be heard. These were typically tactical calls used by the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

I recently dusted off an old 3-ring binder to look up what were some of the tactical callsigns that I was able to log from my southern Ontario listening post. They included Missionary, Toreador, Democrat, Retail, and Capsule.<\/p>\n

My old recordings of stations \u201cPawnee\u201d and \u201cFanfare\u201d can be found on the Internet Archive here:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/u.-s.-navcomsta-aok-rota-spain-pawnee<\/a><\/p>\n

Pawnee:<\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/u.-s.-navcomsta-aok-rota-spain-pawnee\/U.S.%20NAVCOMSTA%20AOK%20Rota%20Spain%20Pawnee.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

Fanfare:<\/strong><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/u.-s.-navcomsta-aok-rota-spain-pawnee\/fanfare.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

Information about these stations was hard to find, however, radio hobby magazines and SW club monthly bulletins were a good place to look. I have reprinted (below) some related material from Communications World magazine, which ran from 1971 to 1981.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If you would like to browse through all of their publications, follow this link:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.worldradiohistory.com\/Communications_World.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

CW Fall-Winter 1973 pages 32-3<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Navy also has its point-to-pointers, including NSS, Washington D.C.; NPM, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and NPG, San Francisco. Overseas there are Navy stations in many locations, such as Naples, Italy (NNI), Londonderry, Northern Ireland (NST), Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico (NRR), San Miguel, Philippines (NPO), and elsewhere. Some military stations use tactical call names, rather than call letters, which makes the DXer’s hopes of identifying them rather slim. For security reasons these stations identify with names such as Overland<\/b>, Kingfisher<\/b> and the like. These call names are changed frequently and seldom is the hobby listener able to figure out just where the station he’s hearing is located. Some of these identifiers have been used so consistently, over the years. that DXers have managed to figure out their real identities. Toreador<\/b>, for instance, is a name used by Navy Operational Radio, San Francisco; Pacific Radio is at Pearl Harbor; Ivanhoe<\/b> is the U.S. Naval Communications Station, Norfolk, Virginia; and a whole series of stations using the code name Raspberry<\/b> (as in Raspberry Jax, located at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville\u201d<\/p>\n

CW Spring-Summer 1975 page 36<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSWLs will soon note that the armed forces don’t always use call letters. Instead, tactical call signs may be used to identify the station. You might, for instance, hear a station calling itself Ivanhoe<\/b> or Capsule<\/b>. Looking Glass<\/b> or Migraine<\/b>. Some tactical calls are changed frequently, others are used year after year and, as a result, no longer pose identification problems for the utility SWL. “Ivanhoe<\/b>” is the identifier used by the Navy’s important Norfolk, VA base. Navy installations in Morocco. Iceland and Spain identify as “Fanfare<\/b>,” “Port Call<\/b>,” and “Pawnee<\/b>,” respectively. The U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) has for years maintained a regular airborne alert. It is no military secret that at any time, day or night, SAC has jumbo bombers aloft\u2014supposedly loaded with nuclear armaments\u2014in readiness to retaliate should this country ever come under attack from an enemy. Clearly it is essential that these planes keep in continuous contact with ground command stations. Shortwave radio is one of the means employed. This SAC radio network is known as Sky King<\/b>. Coded communications pass between SAC bases and the jets probably several times each hour. SWLs who stumble on these transmissions will hear, as part of the routine radio traffic, authenticator codes, usually two phonetic letters such as “Alfa-Tango.” The purpose of these codes is to assure plane commanders that the rest of the message is genuine. Various Air Force bases identify themselves in radio communications either by base name, such as “Hickam<\/b>” (Hawaii’s Hickam Air Force Base), or by tactical calls. “Democrat<\/b>” is used by March AFB, CA, and “Retail<\/b>” is the call of Barksdale AFB, LA. SAC also has a flying command post, a back-up measure that supposedly would take command of SAC forces should “a nuclear attack wipe out the headquarters at Offutt AFB, NE. The command post in the sky uses the tactical call “Looking Glass<\/b>.” Some SAC frequencies to watch are 6,762, 9,027, 11,220, 13,245, 14,744 and 17,875 kHz. There are other Air Force frequencies to watch for plane-to-ground. and vice versa, transmissions. Among them are 6,738, 8,764, 8,988, 9,020, 11,200. 13,201 and 17,993 kHz. “Raspberry<\/b>” is a network tactical call used by naval air stations. “Raspberry Miramar” is the station at Miramar NAS, CA, and “Raspberry Jax” is Jacksonville, NASFL. You can find naval air communications in the 6.7, 8.7, 8.9, 11.2, 13.2 and 15.0 MHz frequency areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

CW (Fall-Winter 1976) pages 19-20<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe list of tactical calls is as long as your arm and most DXers find it very tough to connect a certain call with a particular service or military base. But here is a partial list of calls used by Air Force, Navy and a few Army operations. (Bergstrom AFB, TX), “Condor<\/b>” (land mobile units), “Raymond 6<\/b>” (George AFB, CA), “Raymond 24<\/b>” (Little Rock AFB, 4LR). Pacific Missile Firing Range Network: “Plead Control<\/b>” (Pt. Mugu, CA), “Outrider Control<\/b>” (Barking Sands, HI). Strategic Air Command: “Skyking<\/b>” (general call for airborne aircraft), “Outway<\/b>” (Offutt AFB, NE), “Retail<\/b>” (Barksdale AFB, LA), “Democrat<\/b>” (March AFB, CA). Other Air Force “tacticals\u201d: “Beaver Operations<\/b>” (Ellsworth AFB, SD), “Letterman<\/b>” (Hickam AFB, HI), “Hornpipe<\/b>” (Cannon AFB, NM), Air Force Tactical Air Command: “Mainsail<\/b>” (general call), “Fireside 1<\/b>” (Langley AFB, VA), “Fireside 5<\/b>”\u00a0 “Glucose<\/b>” (Seymour -Johnson AFB, NC), “Lactose<\/b>” (Shaw AFB, NC), “Fertile<\/b>” (Homestead AFB, FL), “Acrobat<\/b>” (Andrews AFB, MD), “Ringmaster<\/b>” (NORAD Hq, Cheyenne Mt., CO), “Gull Monitor<\/b>” (Keesler AFB, MS), “Format<\/b>” (McGuire AFB, NJ). Navy Atlantic Command: “Ivanhoe<\/b>” (Norfolk, VA), “Hampshire<\/b>” (Ft. Allen, Puerto Rico), “Sheriff<\/b>” (Bermuda) “Phenomenon<\/b>” (Jacksonville, FL). Navy Pacific Command: “Butterfield<\/b>” (San Diego, CA), “Dunkirk<\/b>” (Honolulu) Other Navy “tacticals”: “Climax<\/b>” (USS Enterprise), “Eagle Cliff<\/b>” (USS .John F. Kennedy), “Jitterbug<\/b>” (Balboa, Canal Zone), “Artesia<\/b>” (Keflavik, Iceland) “Orange Juice<\/b>” (Guam), “Missionary<\/b>” (Norfolk, VA), “Top – hand<\/b>” (Chief of Naval Operations), “T – Bone<\/b>” (Adak, AK), “Sleepy Hollow<\/b>” (Cutler, ME). Army “tacticals”: “Agitator<\/b>” (Ft. Bliss, TX), “Civil Genius<\/b>” (Ft. Huachuca AZ), “Popeye<\/b>” (Ft. Bragg, NC), “Avon Studio<\/b>” (Ohio National Guard), “Contact Tippic<\/b>” (Indiana National Guard), “Flame Ivory<\/b>” (Pennsylvania National Guard).\u201d<\/p>\n

I wonder if anyone else recalls hearing these? Please comment!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dan Greenall During the Cold War years, many different signals could be found on shortwave that cannot be heard today. For example, there were two Germanys, several broadcasters from the USSR not including Radio Moscow, Radio Free Europe and others. I have uploaded audio clips of these stations and others to the InternetArchive. Here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,305,288,7566,746,43],"tags":[752,10271,4106,4082,11026],"class_list":["post-65230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","tag-cold-war","tag-dan-greenall","tag-recordings","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-tactical-callsigns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-gY6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64616,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/good-listening-from-brazil-on-shortwave-in-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":0},"title":"Good Listening from Brazil on Shortwave in 2025","author":"Thomas","date":"November 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dan Greenall Fifty years ago, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of Brazilian shortwave signals to hear on shortwave. As with the rest of the world, this is no longer the case. However, especially with the advent of remote SDRs to assist with the enjoyment of the DXing hobby,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Tecsun-S-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Tecsun-S-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Tecsun-S-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Tecsun-S-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57327,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/radio-botswana-barnyard-sounds-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":1},"title":"Radio Botswana barnyard sounds mystery","author":"Thomas","date":"July 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post and SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, who shares the following off-air shortwave radio recording and writes: In all of the recordings of Radio Botswana\u2019s famous barnyard interval signal I can find, the barnyard sounds are accompanied by the sound of cowbells. There is usually a rooster\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63328,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/radio-marti-logs-recordings-july-4-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":2},"title":"Radio Marti Logs & Recordings: July 4, 2025","author":"Thomas","date":"July 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who shared the following message and recordings yesterday, July 4, 2025. Dan writes: Hi Thomas Happy Independence Day! Just finished listening to Radio Marti as follows: 9565 kHz strong then abruptly off at 2200 UTC (recording below) \u00a0 11860 kHz strong then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0027.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0027.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0027.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0027.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61055,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/archiving-cassettes-dans-rewarding-journey-to-preserve-off-air-shortwave-radio-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":3},"title":"Archiving Cassettes: Dan\u2019s Rewarding Journey to Preserve Off-Air Shortwave Radio Recordings","author":"Thomas","date":"November 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post and Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Dan Greenall, for sharing the following guest post: Preserving Radio History \u2013 Old Audio Cassettes by Dan Greenall A few years ago, during the Covid lockdowns, I rediscovered a box full of my old audio cassette tapes on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/old-audio-tapes-photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/old-audio-tapes-photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/old-audio-tapes-photo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/old-audio-tapes-photo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/old-audio-tapes-photo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64341,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/algeria-on-shortwave-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":4},"title":"Algeria on Shortwave – Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"October 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, for sharing the following guest post: Algeria on Shortwave - Then and Now by Dan Greenall In the early 1970s, Radiodiffusion-Television Algerienne ran a modest shortwave service (no English) mainly for North Africa, the Middle East,\u00a0and Europe. A copy of their schedule\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenall-Algeria-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62625,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/dan-records-new-international-service-from-radio-nacional-da-amazonia\/","url_meta":{"origin":65230,"position":5},"title":"Dan Records New International Service from R\u00e1dio Nacional da Amaz\u00f4nia","author":"Thomas","date":"April 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes: Hi Thomas: The SWLing Post reported the start-up of an International Service from Radio Nacional da Amazonia in Brazil back on March 27. Since then, I had been intending to give a listen, and finally, last night (April 18 UTC)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/RadioNacionalDaAmazonia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65235,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65230\/revisions\/65235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}