Activity on TXWARN LAW 1-T?

mfn002 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 09:05 PM

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Since yesterday, I've been hearing traffic with units going by the callsign "Minuteman". I just heard one of the units saying they were "leaving the Bryan Armory en-route to Riverside." It sounds military-related, but anyone know for sure?

Northzulchrancher · #2 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfn002

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Since yesterday, I've been hearing traffic with units going by the callsign "Minuteman". I just heard one of the units saying they were "leaving the Bryan Armory en-route to Riverside." It sounds military-related, but anyone know for sure?

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is an A&M graduate and a Army reserve E7 He said what you probably heard was part of a maneuver by the corp. of cadets from the A&M campus doing maneuvers to the Riverside campus west of College station.

Richard

mfn002 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 11:54 PM

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That's what I was thinking. I find it kinda odd that they would be using TXWARN, though.

mfn002 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 04:34 PM

They have now moved to Disaster City and are simulating some sort of terrorist attack on a stadium. They are currently using TxWARN Gulf Coast Interop LAW 1-T, LAW 2-T, and LAW 3-T (GCI 1-3). Northzulchrancher, do you know if they are using any other frequencies, or just TxWARN?

Northzulchrancher · #5 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 04:46 PM

Sorry, I don't know. My buddy is not envolved with this exercise so he isn't sure either.

mfn002 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 06:16 PM

Gotcha. For some reason, the simulated incident is set in Nashville, TN at Vanderbilt University. Don't know why they chose that location. At any rate, the incident involves someone who drove an explosives-laden propane tanker into a stadium during a football game and detonated it.

Northzulchrancher · #7 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 06:38 PM

That would make quiet a mess. In Vietnam they would drop those out of the back of a C130, release the gas just above the ground and explode it. It was called a daisy cutter and was used to clear out helicopter landing fields in the jungle. They were also used during desert storm to clear land mines and as a shock effect on the Iraqi troops.

There is now a much larger version of it in use now called Moab (mother of all bombs) The Russians have experimented with an even larger version of the Moab and they say it is very close to being equivalent to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Richard

mfn002 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 06:52 PM

Being somewhat of a military history buff, I've heard about those.

Northzulchrancher · #9 (**permalink**) 10-09-2011, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfn002

Being somewhat of a military history buff, I've heard about those.

PM sent.

mfn002 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-11-2011, 02:07 PM

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That's what I was thinking. I find it kinda odd that they would be using TXWARN, though.

texasemt13 · #11 (**permalink**) 10-11-2011, 06:11 PM

When I was in the Corps (not too long ago) we didn't do "maneuvers" that required such large scale planning. If you've heard it during "the academic day" (M-F 0730-1600), I can almost guarantee it wasn't the Corps. These guys are college students and aren't missing classes for Corps exercises (it happens but very rarely). The phrase "Bryan Armory" suggests it was National Guard, and they've been known to use Riverside also. In my time as a cadet we never once did maneuvers at Riverside Campus or Disaster City.

I'm not saying it isn't the Corps, but highly unlikely judging by the conversations, prior experience and that we never used radios once for an FTX (field training exercise).

mfn002 · #12 (**permalink**) 10-12-2011, 05:04 PM

It sounds more like some sort of disaster drill. One of the Minuteman units sometimes signs off by saying, "Always ready". Just FYI, they're still working the drill. Most of the conversations I've heard have been referring to some sort of computer messeging system.

texasemt13 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-12-2011, 08:33 PM

Could this be Texas TF1 or DMAT exercises? They train and stage at TEEX. The tactical callsign almost fits their mission.

mfn002 · #14 (**permalink**) 10-13-2011, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texasemt13

Could this be Texas TF1 or DMAT exercises? They train and stage at TEEX. The tactical callsign almost fits their mission.

Sounds more military. I once heard them requesting a Minuteman unit to check a message on "troop net" (among other "nets"). It seems that there is no special channel assignment for the operations. I've heard one unit talk on LAW 1T, and the next moment come up taking to someone else on LAW 3T. When they say that they will do something, say, in 30 minutes, they will say "30 mike". They have also started mentioning stuff about "heading to Reliant Stadium" or "staging at Reliant Stadium". Traffic seems to trail off at around 8 PM or so, and picks back up at around 6 AM, though there still will be units on the air at all times.

Also, this is the first time I've ever heard this sort of thing. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard ANY traffic on the Gulf Coast Interop channels.

Northzulchrancher · #15 (**permalink**) 10-13-2011, 11:58 AM

This may also just be a command and communications exercise without actually deploying troops. This would allow them to practice with all of the agencies that would be involved with this type of threat and work out the bugs before something actually does happen. I was involved in several of these types of exercises while stationed in Alaska.

Northzulchrancher · #16 (**permalink**) 10-13-2011, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfn002

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Since yesterday, I've been hearing traffic with units going by the callsign "Minuteman". I just heard one of the units saying they were "leaving the Bryan Armory en-route to Riverside." It sounds military-related, but anyone know for sure?

I think I may have found the answer to your inital question. This was posted on KBTX web site this evening and will probably air on the 10:00 news tonight.

Preparing for the Worst: Texas National Guard Trains for Nuclear Attacks in BCS

Richard

texasemt13 · #17 (**permalink**) 10-13-2011, 09:11 PM

Good find Northzulchrancher, that's exactly what it is. When the rig explosion happened last April, wasn't it mostly Nat'l Guard units that users were hearing (mostly from LA and MI) that were being patched through to these GCI talkgroups, since all the "state" P25 systems were linked (MSWIN, LWIN and TxWARN)?

texasemt13 · #18 (**permalink**) 10-19-2011, 11:09 AM

So I was driving southbound 35 this morning and was passed by a G71 plated F450. Dark blue, box on the back (instead of a truck bed), multiple antennas, and a crest on the doors with "JTF-71 Homeland Response Force" on the side. Looking in to that unit I see they are the Minuteman Brigade. See here. That's who they were.

mfn002 · #19 (**permalink**) 10-20-2011, 11:20 AM

Exactly. I think they finished up sometime last week, because I haven't heard anyting out of LAW 1-T or 2-T, or even 3-T lately.