RATEL
As a JTAC or NCO you must also be able to communicate at short ranges and long ranges between sections, the platoon and air assets. As such knowing RATEL is essential.
Knowing the basic structure of what is called the “wave” is the first most fundamental skill you must have when operating a radio.
The first initial part is the person you are wanting to speak to. This second part is describing who you are. The Third part is your request or what you are doing, this part is highly interchangeable and can be replaced with anything and the final part is the transmission end. This is interchangeable with either Over or Out. Over signifies that you are waiting for a response and out signifies your transmission is complete and that you do not want a response. Out would be used if you were simply passing on information or giving an order and do not want a response.
Once you have sent your “wave” you have to wait for a response. The Response is generally structured in this format.
The format goes like this. Who they are transmitting to i.e. you, who they are, what they want you to do and then their transmission end that signifies they are awaiting your response.
This can basically be translated into:
“Hey you, It's me, talk now, I'm waiting.”
Obviously don’t use that over radio but it helps give an idea of what it means.
Once you have received the response to your “Wave” you must then send your message. For an example we will do a contact report.
“One Actual this is 1-1, We have received contact from grid, wait”
Wait is used to give you time to gather the information needed for the message.
“Grid 0578, 2655, say again my last, over”
Say again my last is used to ensure that the person receiving your transmission understands what you have stated so far and makes them repeat it so that you can verbally correct them. They will then reply with “1-1, this is, One Actual. Grid 0578, 2645”.
Once they have repeated your message you will then correct them, “Wrong, Grid 0578, 2655”. Once you have corrected them and they have reconfirmed you will then continue your transmission.
“Contact consisted of indirect machine gun fire and mortars, over”
Once you have ended your transmission you will then wait for a response which will generally sound like the following.
“1-1 this is One Actual, Roger, out.”
This response signifies that the person you are transmitting to has received the transmission and understands it. They will then end their transmission with “out” to signify that no response is needed.
Now that we have covered the basic structure of a radio message we will now cover some more advanced radio procedures that as a radio operator you will find yourself having to complete.
The first basic procedure we will cover is the proper format of a SITREP or a Situation Report. The situation report is used by your squad leader to establish the overall picture of what everyone is doing and what you plan on doing to HQ. During briefing your commander may choose to set SITREP intervals for example, every 5 minutes you are to provide a SITREP. Generally SITREP’s are only done on a squad to HQ level however fireteams may sometimes provide one.
The basic five steps of a proper SITREP are as follows:
- What you currently see/where you currently are,
- What you are doing,
- What you have done,
- What you plan on doing/where you are going,
- And what you need. This 5th step can be excluded however if you are short on ammunition or medical supplies you can include this step to ensure you have the correct supplies for your objective.
We will now go through how you work all of those steps into a radio message and how the radio conversation generally starts and ends.
“One Actual this is Sunray, SITREP, over”
“Sunray this is One Actual, we are at grid 1234, 5678, we are moving to grid 4321, 8765, more to follow”
More to follow allows you time to gather information and piece together your message and to cut up the radio message making it easier to understand. Once you have done that you do not need to reopen the transmission.
“We just cleared the town of Staszow at grid 1233, 1332, we plan to move to Hanover at grid 6666, 7777 and clear it out, more to follow”
“We require air support to weaken the fortifications around the town, over.”
When your section has just been in contact and there is a lull in the battle it is always a good idea to conduct an ACE (Ammunition, Casualties and Equipment) report. ACE reports have four different levels.
Ammunition Casualties Equipment
| Colour | Definition | Colour | Definition | Colour | Definition |
| Green | You have plenty of ammunition remaining. | Green | No injuries sustained. | Green | No significant impact on equipment. |
| Yellow | You have half of your ammunition supply. | Yellow | Minor injuries sustained. | Yellow | Approx half of equipment used. |
| Red | Dangerously low. | Red | Severe injuries sustained with casualties. | Red | Running Low on equipment. |
| Black | Completely out. | Black | Mass casualty. | Black | No equipment remaining. |
We will now cover the radio procedure for conducting an ACE report to higher ups such your platoon commander.
“Sunray, this is, One Actual, SITREP, over”
“One Actual this is Sunray, send it, over”
“Ammunition, red, resupply needed urgently, casualties yellow, minor injuries sustained from prior contact, equipment Black, no AT left need an urgent resupply. Overall we are not combat effective, over.”
“One Actual this is Sunray, send grid for supply drop, over.”
It is up to you when you complete an ACE report but they are an essential tool for painting a clear picture to HQ what your situation is. This can also be used from fireteam leader to squad leader and so on so that all commanders all the way up the chain are fully aware of the situation.
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