On May 5, 8:04Â pm, wrote:
On May 3, 11:16�pm, Bill Horne wrote:

It used to be that we hams were a corps of operators who could
be pressed into service quickly during a war or other crisis.

That's still the case.

Incorrect. Amateur radio operating protocol is nothing like what
is used in the US military.

That "case" might have been valid prior to WWII but that time
period was 67 and more years ago.

Now, with Morse as deeply buried as its creators and military
electronics too
secret to be entrusted to soldiers and sailors who haven't
been vetted
for security clearances, we're yesterday's news in the E ring.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Morse as deeply buried as its
creators".

I would suggest you borrow a 'communications receiver' that can
tune in the HF spectrum OTHER than amateur radio band allocations.

For one thing, the US military had all but abandoned morse code
mode before 1953 for any mass-volume messaging connecting North
America to military bases around the rest of the world.

For another thing, the US military has abandoned HF for any mass-
volume messaging and now uses secure military communications
satellites, troposcatter, and the DSN (Digital Switched Network)
for 24/7 communications. DSN has very robust security and is the
major system of 'flash' alerts to land bases. Alerts for
submarines (to listen to HF thru microwaves for the main message)
are slow-speed encrypted data at VLF that can be received while
submerged. The US military still keeps HF radios on a standby
basis but only uses them for periodic operational checks. MARS
is not a part of the daily US military messaging routine, although
it is much closer to the use of operations protocol than amateurs.

We hams continue to use Morse Code on the air - extensively, too!

Please define "extensively" (with or without exclamation mark).

No one has stated or implied that amateur use of morse code was
not "extensive." In an unofficial poll at the ARRL website some
time ago, #1 communications mode on amateur bands was voice.

MARS is running Morse Code nets again, on an experimental basis.

Military Affiliate Radio System mission was changed about five
years ago to act in accord with other US government agencies to
(ostensibly) link them together. Army MARS Hq is at Fort
Huachuca, AZ, the same military base that houses the Army
Military Intelligence training facilities.

It's true that Morse Code has all but been eliminated by the US
military for its own communications uses.

That is not true. For routine tactical or strategic communications
the US military has abandoned morse code.

The M.I. school at Fort Huachuca still trains some in morse code
signal intercept analysis but that is NOT communications per se.
To attempt stating that SIGINT operations "use morse code" is like
saying the Army still uses muskets and Revolutionary War uniforms
because one Army unit in Washington, DC, has them for ceremonial
duties.

That's no surprise, even
though Morse Code was used extensively by the US military in both
World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam.

Morse code was used "extensively" in World War ONE. In that 1914
to 1918 period voice communications was relegated to wireline
communications circuits. Teleprinter circuits had already been
established before the US entry into WWII, including its use on
USN ships (see the 'SIGABA' descriptions on various websites for
online encryption capability over teleprinter as early as 1940).

As a soldier during and just after the Korean War, doing mass-
volume communications via HF, I can assure you that morse code
was NOT used for such communications about logistics or military
planning plus (in a secondary basis) broadcasting news and
'health and welfare' messages carried for the Red Cross and
other agencies to military members.

The vast majority of communications carried on during the
recognized active period of US involvement in Vietnam was voice
and teleprinter. Like the Korean War, the Vietnam War was not
a 'true' war yet service members were killed or wounded as a
part of that actual warfare.

During the prosecution of the Korean War, the US military
routinely handled about a quarter million messages a month
through military facilities. That was nearly doubled for the
Vietnam War. Morse code communications MIGHT have been used
in rare instances for both wars but its role was so minor as
to be discounted compared to the MASS of messaging needed to
maintain troops and equipment far from the USA.

All of that military communications information is public and
available to anyone who cares to look for it. I would suggest
the U.S. Army Center For Military History as a starting point
for very detailed historical accounts of the US Army since the
Revolutionary War.

But that doesn't mean hams should stop using Morse Code.

NOBODY has said "hams should stop using" it. Please try to
restrain generating another sub-thread about it. Please try
to educate yourself about radio uses outside of amateur radio
as described other than the ARRL publications or website.

In order to EDUCATE THE PUBLIC, I would suggest channeling
your promotion OUTSIDE of amateur radio venues. The general
public and lawmakers don't much look into ham radio venues.

AF6AY