Hi Al, this is a broadcast used by the U.S. Air Force, I used to send them
back when I was an air/ground radio operator. I believe the intent was to send
an instruction or test message to SAC aircraft that monitor the GHFS
frequencies. I remember when things were really hot in Vietnam some nights
we sent a bunch, other nights were just a regular scheduled broadcast.
The person on the receiving end presumably could de-code it to mean something
and to be sure it was an accurate message an authenicator followed that had to
be looked up in some top secret code book. I don't even know if they still
use the same callsign but "LOOKING GLASS" was the SAC airborne command post.
There was always a cp bird in the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Since the end of the cold war I'm sure they have cut back. There are some books
advertised in Popular Communications that give all the freqs and what some
of the traffic is about.
I just found this:
Hi Al, this is a broadcast used by the U.S. Air Force, I used to send them back when I was an air/ground radio operator. I believe the intent was to send an instruction or test message to SAC aircraft that monitor the GHFS frequencies. I remember when things were really hot in Vietnam some nights we sent a bunch, other nights were just a regular scheduled broadcast.
The person on the receiving end presumably could de-code it to mean something and to be sure it was an accurate message an authenicator followed that had to be looked up in some top secret code book. I don't even know if they still use the same callsign but "LOOKING GLASS" was the SAC airborne command post. There was always a cp bird in the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Since the end of the cold war I'm sure they have cut back. There are some books advertised in Popular Communications that give all the freqs and what some of the traffic is about.
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.radio.shortwave/c/7WQ1VUGrK_c
Did we know about this "Looking Glass?"
Thanks for the links, fren! This is the first time I've heard "looking glass" in this context.
That adds additional context to "Think Mirror"
What if the military is split into 2 parts, the DC political wing, and the mirror, where the real command and control lies?