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240623
June 23 2024 was the fourth Sunday of the month, and an exceptional day in HFGCS monitoring, with the first year anniversary of the NEET INTEL DAILY TIMECARD PROJECT being marked by a NOTHINGMASTER led by an E6 in Norway that sounded like it was descending into Terminal Dogma.
DTCP Comments
This timecard happens to be the 1 year anniversary of the Daily Timecard Project. That June 21-23 2023 was busy enough to motivate me to return to actively monitoring the HFGCS, and June 21-23 2024 feels remarkable in several ways, is probably not coincidental.
Although I've made a general argument that it doesn't work to analyze HFGCS traffic as a simple "what happened June 23 2023? that might tell us what will happen June 23 2024" but rather to say "well June 23 2024 is the fourth Sunday of June 2024, what happened on the fourth Sunday of June 23?" and I think in this case events from June 21 2023 – June 23 2023 should be compared to June 21 2024 – June 23 2024, as there are similarities in traffic and actively. In a recent look back during a livestream, I wondered aloud whether June 21 2023 was actually a SKYMASTER event and we simply did not recognize it for lack of hearing anyone say 'SKYMASTER', and I propose the same is possible here.
Rather, it might challenge the functional utility of identifying STRATCOM exercises simply by whether or not we hear "SKYMASTER" or "SKYMASTER-format messages". Since I am both monitor and transcriber at this time, I have to do all that before I can do any message analysis (even in a general sense), and then contextualizing that analysis and explaining what I've observed for a larger audience – so simply, for most of the audience, it is not going to be obvious that an apparently multi-phase exercise just occurred from June 21 – 23 2024, but it's rather obvious to me that something well outside normal operations occurred. The most obvious air traffic is going to be activity of E6 #AE0413 in Norway, and I would suggest that was just one part of what I could characterize as an exercise in at least 4 parts. Evidence of the other possible "parts" of the exercise would come from looking at the EAMs broadcast during the period mentioned, and identifying irregularities in the messages, which I have already done in the comments for the June 21 and 22 timecard and will do again here for June 23.
- 31 messages (10 unique)
- LOOKOUT = E6 #AE0413
- ORTHODOX = E6 #AE0415
- MUSCULAR = E6 #AE040D
- SINGSONG = E6 #AE0410
- 26 character EAMs broadcast at 0732z, and 0834z & 0836z
- In a first for the Daily Timecard Project, I have simply no idea who the broadcaster of an EAM might be – there is no easy answer for the identity of LOOKOUT44. All EAMs I've logged to this point can be attributed to either ground station or an E6/E4. This was during the period of time when E6 #AE0413 was in Norway, but we heard it check into the net as callsign APPLE PIE (and later check out under that same callsign), and there is no obvious reason it would use a callsign LOOKOUT44 instead of APPLE PIE. I think it would be worth going back and checking if the voice that read off the 0836z message as LOOKOUT44 is identical to any of the voices we heard as APPLE PIE. Otherwise, I think we simply do not know.
- E6 AE0413 was heard re-transmitting some of the EAMs as an FSK on 29.4 kHz (50/50 5N1V).
- Other activity on the HFGCS while E6 AE0413 was active in Europe included voice traffic from STERLING22, WINGMAN24, [TEST SCORE?], [? GUARD?]. Operators were heard talking about progressing through numbered activities (Activity 8, 9, 1, 13, and 16 were heard mentioned, in that order).
- At one point STERLING22 and LOOKOUT44 were heard confirming something regarding a "TODOR PORTA"? I have not had any success identifying what they were speaking about.
- ORTHODOX broadcasts were unusual in several regards, including the uncommon instance of an E6 broadcasting a message longer than 30 characters, broadcasting only the first 6 characters of a message vs an entire message (the context of their 2224z broadcast suggested this was normal, 'complete' transmission). ORTHODOX was active and broadcasting for an unusually long period of time.
- The last time I documented a 102 character message was over two years ago, on February 23 2022. Despite this, the structure of the message has a fair amount in common with it (see my tweets on June 24 2024). If memory serves, that was a rather conspicuous date..
- I have documented a number of 120 character messages and most of them have structural similarities with each other – today's seems like it might have nothing in common with any of them. (More analysis is necessary.)
DTCP Comment (Claude ver.)
June 23 2024 marked the one-year anniversary of the NEET INTEL DAILY TIMECARD PROJECT, with the inaugural timecard covering June 21-23 2023. Analysis of HFGCS traffic patterns suggests potential correlation between the periods of June 21-23 2023 and June 21-23 2024, though the nature of this relationship extends beyond simple day-to-day comparison. Rather than analyzing individual dates in isolation, examination of HFGCS activity patterns may prove more productive when considering comparable time periods within monthly or weekly frameworks, such as comparing activity during the fourth weekend of June across different years.
The June 21-23 2024 period exhibited several operational characteristics distinguishing it from typical HFGCS traffic patterns. E-6B aircraft #AE0413 conducted extended operations over Norway under the callsign APPLE PIE, representing the most conspicuous element of what monitoring data suggests may have constituted a multi-phase exercise spanning the three-day period. Additional evidence supporting this characterization emerges from analysis of Emergency Action Message characteristics during this timeframe, including multiple structural irregularities documented in the June 21, 22, and 23 timecards.
Activity on June 23 2024 comprised 31 total message transmissions representing 10 unique messages. E-6B platforms operating during this period included #AE0413 (LOOKOUT/APPLE PIE), #AE0415 (ORTHODOX), #AE040D (MUSCULAR), and #AE0410 (SINGSONG). Three 26 character Emergency Action Messages were broadcast at 0732z, 0834z, and 0836z, representing an uncommon message length within the standard EAM format repertoire.
Several transmission anomalies warrant documentation. The broadcaster identity for an EAM transmitted under callsign LOOKOUT44 at 0836z remains unattributable through standard analysis methods, as this transmission cannot be definitively associated with either ground station operations or known airborne platforms operating during the period. E-6B #AE0413, while active in the European theater during this timeframe, had established communications using the callsign APPLE PIE rather than LOOKOUT44, creating ambiguity regarding the source of this transmission. Voice analysis comparing LOOKOUT44 transmissions with documented APPLE PIE communications may provide clarification. During European operations, #AE0413 was documented retransmitting Emergency Action Messages via frequency-shift keying on 29.4 kHz using 50-baud, 5-bit Baudot encoding with normal polarity and 1 stop bit (50/50 5N1V).
Concurrent HFGCS voice traffic included transmissions from callsigns STERLING22, WINGMAN24, and potentially TEST SCORE and GUARD, though the latter two require verification. Monitoring of operator communications revealed references to numbered activities progressing through sequences 8, 9, 1, 13, and 16 in that observed order, suggesting structured exercise progression. STERLING22 and LOOKOUT44 were documented discussing an entity or procedure referred to as "TODOR PORTA," though the referent remains unidentified through available sources.
E-6B #AE0415 operating as ORTHODOX exhibited operational patterns diverging from typical airborne platform behavior in several respects. The aircraft broadcast a message exceeding 30 characters in length, representing an uncommon occurrence for airborne EAM transmissions. Additionally, at 2224z ORTHODOX transmitted only the initial six characters of a message rather than a complete message sequence, with contemporaneous communications indicating this constituted normal, complete transmission protocol for the specific operational context. ORTHODOX maintained active broadcasting operations for an extended duration relative to typical E-6B transmission patterns.
Two extended-length messages broadcast during this period merit structural analysis. A 102 character message represents the first documented transmission of this length since February 23 2022, with preliminary analysis suggesting structural similarities between these two messages separated by more than two years. A 120 character message was also transmitted, though initial examination indicates this message may lack the structural commonalities typically observed across previously documented 120 character messages, potentially indicating a distinct message format or encryption scheme requiring further analysis.
The concentration of operational irregularities during June 21-23 2024 raises questions regarding the functional utility of exercise identification methodologies relying primarily on explicit SKYMASTER callsign usage or recognition of SKYMASTER-format message structures. The documented activity patterns during this period suggest the possibility of exercise operations occurring without traditional identifying markers, similar to speculation regarding whether June 21-23 2023 activity constituted an unrecognized SKYMASTER event due to absence of explicit callsign usage despite operational characteristics consistent with exercise activity.