[The Pack Knight]

In the Army, we used encrypted, frequency-hopping radio in training all the time. There may well be reasons for the Coast Guard not to do that - I certainly don't want to jump to conclusions - but I can't think of what that would be.

It's not so much that I'm afraid of some yahoo listening in and doing what he did today. I'm more afraid of the wrong people listening in in order to gather intelligence on the Coast Guard's tactics and procedures for dealing with potential hostiles.

[_Jim]

In the Army, we used encrypted, frequency-hopping radio in training all the time. There may well be reasons for the Coast Guard not to do that

They don't even have to go that far; any of the Project 25 compliant radios produced by EF Johnson or Motorola can be equipped/'optioned out' with AES encryption with a chack mark on the order/provisioning sheet ...

[RinaseaofDs]

CG has had those spread spectrum encrypted radios for years. Only reason why they’d be on regular VHF is because they are trying to raise the suspect vessel and were unsuccessful. I doubt very seriously this was a training exercise. Especially with live fire. Especially with the bridges open. Especially on 9/11. Especially without issuing a notice to mariners and a notice to airmen.

It’s why National shut down the airport. There was no NTM/NTA so they assume this is NOT an exercise.

WH is lying through its teeth again.

[Cold Heat]

This being DC, I'm betting all the available encrypted channels are all reserved for certain activities. I don't know for sure however.

But this was just a daily routine trainer. Something they did a thousand times already and there should not have been a issue of any-kind. The president was back at the WhiteHouse and this crap came from nowhere. When I saw CNN break this I was concerned until I saw the pictures. What I saw was 4 patrol boats, with three of them containing and stopping the fourth. They were identical boats and I thought, "This is a friggin exercise".

When I heard the CNN babe say there was radio traffic about shots fire and apparently someone said "bang", I knew immediately it was a exercise, and I am a Army guy, not a squid. We did the same sort of stuff for daily training.