A random IG reel that belongs in comms training
I was scrolling an IG reel from ArmyWTF Moments, and it accidentally showed a problem every comms shop tries to train out of people.
In the clip, a soldier near Fort Huachuca is listening to a local FM station (hard to read, but it looks like 96.1). While it’s tuned to the music, you can hear voice traffic coming through loud and clear.
I am not claiming I know precisely what caused it from a short video. Two realistic causes cover most of it.
Somebody was in plain voice or on the wrong settings. Wrong net, wrong mode, wrong fill selected, crypto not actually enabled, time out of sync, any of the usual suspects.
Receiver overload and intermodulation. Strong RF sources can slam a receiver’s front end and create “ghost” audio where it shouldn’t exist. A nearby transmitter plus a strong broadcast environment can make a cheap receiver do weird things even when tuned to an FM station.
Either way, the training takeaway is the same: the spectrum is not forgiving. If your traffic is appearing in places it shouldn't, you have a setup problem, a discipline problem, or both. That is exploitable. If you emit, you can be detected. If you emit predictably or lazily, you can be tracked. If you emit plain voice or overshare, you can be exploited fast. Even when encryption is solid, your transmission behavior still leaves a signature.
Training areas let bad habits live longer than they should. Contested environments punish them immediately.
Why comms training stresses people out
Comms training is stressful for students for two reasons.
First, it forces real RF thinking. Every knob and menu choice is a decision: frequency or hopset, time sync, power level, antenna setup, mode, crypto selection. Get one wrong, and you either do not communicate or communicate to the wrong audience.
Second, the talking is where people fall apart. Menus feel safe. Keying the mic is not. When someone has to speak, that’s when they get wordy, sloppy, and start leaking details they would never type into a chat. It’s also when they discover they were wrong about their mode, their net, or their crypto.
So if you’re building training or mentoring team leads, the point is not to scare people. The point is to build simple habits that hold up when everyone is tired and moving fast.
Two checks that work for teaching and for real life
I used this for my students, and it worked 60% of the time every time! Haha!
Use two memory hooks. One for continuity. One for discipline.
PACE is the comm plan that survives contact.
PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency): what you switch to when the first plan stops working.
RADIO is the fast setup and behavior check you run before mission start and during random check-ins.
RADIO checklist:
Right net: correct preset/frequency or hopset, correct time sync, correct call signs for this mission block
Authentication and crypto: correct keys loaded and selected, secure mode actually enabled, short secure radio check
Discipline: short transmissions, mission-only, no names, no locations, no routes, no intent
Interference check: monitor before transmit, if anything sounds wrong, stop and fix it before you add more noise
Output control: lowest power that works, correct antenna setup, emissions match the EMCON posture
If you want to turn this into a training routine that sticks, run it the same way every time.
Make RADIO the pre-comms drill before anyone moves.
Make PACE part of every mission brief, even for “easy” days.
Do spot checks during operations, not just at the start.
Correct minor sloppiness immediately, or it becomes normal.
The reel is just a reminder of something the comms world already knows: the spectrum is always listening. The fix is not complicated. It’s consistency.