American Forces Network
From Freepedia
American Forces Network, or AFN - the acronym that it's most commonly known as, is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its networks worldwide.
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Organization
American Forces Network (AFN) is the operational arm of the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS); an agency of the American Forces Information Service (AFIS), and is under the operational control of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA).
This broadcasting service employs primarily military broadcasters, but there are some civilians employed as engineers or operations personnel. Service personnel hold a broadcasting occupational specialties for their military branch. All of AFN's military personnel receive primary and follow-on training at Defense Information School, Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland. Some of AFN's broadcasters have previous commercial broadcast experience prior to enlisting in the military. The broadcasters operate state-of-the-art audio and visual editing equipment and receive training from professionals in the broadcast industry.
History of American Forces Network
The American Forces Network can trace its origins back to 1942, when the US War Department established the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). A television service was first introduced in 1954 and AFRS became the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. All of the Armed Forces broadcasting affiliates worldwide merged under the AFN banner on January 1, 1998.
The Beginning of the AFN
In the years just preceding World War II there were several radio stations based in American military bases, but none were officially recognized until 1942. The success of these individual radio stations helped pave the way for the AFN.
World War II
The U.S. Army began broadcasting from London during World War II, using equipment and studio facilities borrowed from the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
The first transmission to U.S. troops began at 5:45 p.m. on July 4, 1943 and included less than five hours of recorded shows, a BBC news and sports broadcast. That day Corporal Syl Binkin became the first U.S. Military broadcaster heard over the air. The signal was sent from London via telephone lines to five regional transmitters to reach US troops in the United Kingdom as they made preparations for the inevitable invasion of Nazi occupied Europe.
As D-day approached, the network joined with the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to develop programs especially for the Allied Expeditionary Forces. Mobile stations, complete with personnel, broadcasting equipment, and a record library were deployed to broadcast music and news to troops in the field. The mobile stations reported on front line activities and fed the news reports back to studio locations in London.
Although the network's administrative headquarters remained in London, its operational headquarters soon moved to AFN Paris.
As Allied forces continued to push German soldiers back into their homeland, AFN moved east as well. The liberation of most of Western Europe saw AFN stations serving the forces liberating Biarritz, Cannes, LeHarve, Marseille, Nice, Paris, and Reims.
Post war contraction and expansion
On December 31, 1945, AFN London signed off the air, and during 1948 AFN closed all its stations in France. This started the cycle of AFN stations where they would be built up during wartime then torn down or moved after the war was over. Of the 300 stations in operation worldwide in 1945, only 60 remained in 1949.
After World War II
AFN continued its mission of connecting troops with home and boosting morale in both the Vietnam and Korean conflicts.
Korean War
When war broke out in Korea, the AFN set up in Seoul, in the Banto Hotel (the old American Embassy Hotel). When the Chinese entered Seoul in December, 1950, the crew moved to a mobile unit that was just completed and retreated to Taegu, South Korea. Due to the large number of American troops in Korea, a number of stations were also started.
Vietnam War
As the American military presence in Vietnam increased AFRTS opened radio and later on television stations there. During the Vietnam War, the first broadcasts were beamed to the ground from fully equipped flying studios operated by the United States Navy.
AFRTS stations in Vietnam were initially known by the name "AFRS" (American Forces Radio Saigon), but as the number of stations quickly expanded throughout South Vietnam became known as "AFVN" (American Forces Vietnam Network) and had several stations including Nha Trang, Pleiku, Da Nang, with the headquarters station in Saigon.
In Vietnam, AFRTS had a number of war related casualties. The station staff at Da Nang had been captured and spent time as POWs. Armed Forces Vietnam Network served around 500,000 at one time.
For Vietnam AFRTS developed a program along the lines of “G.I. Jive” of the World War II. A number of local disc jockeys helped make hour-long music programs for broadcast. Perhaps the best known program became the morning "Dawn Buster" program thanks to the popularity of the sign-on slogan "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam" which later became the basis for the film Good Morning Vietnam starring Robin Williams. Among the notable people who were AFVN disc jockeys were Pat Sajak and Adrian Cronauer. Beginning in 1971 AFRTS began to close some stations in Vietnam. The last station to close was in Saigon in 1973.
Central America
Radio, and later television, to U.S. troops stationed in the Panama Canal Zone was provided by the Southern Command Network (SCN) which broadcasted from Fort Clayton, with translators located on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone. SCN continued broadcasting in Panama after the turning over of the Canal Zone to Panama in 1979. SCN also broadcasted to U.S. troops stationed in Honduras starting in 1987. SCN discontinued broadcasts in 1999 when U.S. troops were removed from the Republic of Panama persuant to the Panama Canal Treaties.
AFN Television Services
EUROPEAN OPERATIONS:
Until the early 1970s, U.S. military television service was provided in Central Europe by Air Force Television at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. In the early 1970s, AFN assumed this responsibility for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).
On October 28, 1976, AFN television moved from AFTV's old black and white studios at Ramstein Air Base to the network's new color television studios in Frankfurt. In the 1980s the network added affiliates with studio capabilities in Wuerzburg, Germany and Soesterberg, the Netherlands.
PACIFIC OPERATIONS:
Over-the-air TV for U.S. Forces in the Pacific is currently provided by AFN-Korea, AFN-Japan and AFN-Kwajalien.
AFN-Korea -- formerly American Forces Korea Network (AFKN), is the largest of AFN's Pacific TV operations. AFKN began TV operations on September 15, 1957, and consists of an originating studio in Seoul and six relay transmitters throughout the peninsula. AFKN's first live television newscast aired on January 4, 1959.
AFN-Japan -- formerly the Far East Network (FEN) -- has only one full-power VHF TV outlet on the island of Okinawa serving Marines, Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers; and two low-power UHF transmitters serving personnel at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Commander Fleet Activities Sasebo. Viewers on military bases in Japan can view AFN via base cable TV services, or DTH dishes if they reside off-base.
AFN-Kwajalien is the only civilian-run affilate in AFN, broadcasting on U.S. channel 13 for military personnel and civilian contractor employees and their families on Kwajalien Atoll. AFN-Kwajalien's signal is beamed by microwave to the nearby atoll of Roi Namur and rebroadcast on channel 8.
With the availability of AFN's DTH service, over-the-air TV broadcasts at all AFN outlets are slated for deactivation in the near future.
Gulf War
In January 1991, the network dispatched news teams and technicians to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. These broadcasters reported to families of soldiers deployed from Europe, and staffed a number of the U.S. radio stations making up the Armed Forces Desert Network.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Broadcasting "from a secret location" in the Baghdad area, radio's "most heavily armed staff" continues the AFN tradition of going where the troops go with AFN-Iraq. AFN-Iraq began broadcasting in the FM band shortly after the fall of Saddam and legend has it the first song on the air was Rock the Casbah by the Clash. By the end of OIF II, AFN-Iraq was broadcasting three FM channels on the increasingly busy Iraqi airwaves.
Operations in Western Europe
AFN in Germany and SEB (Southern European Broadcasting) in Italy provided broadcasting to U.S. troops in Western Europe throughout the Cold War.
The US defense drawdown began in earnest after the Gulf War, and impacted AFN stations across Europe, as many stations were closed because of the closing of bases.
In Europe, AFN is still on the air from Tuzla, Bosnia and Taszar, Hungary to inform and entertain U.S. forces.
AFN went on the air May 29th with service at the Tirana airport in Albania with satellite decoders and large screen televisions placed in high traffic areas. At the same time, the AFN also advanced into the Yugoslav Republic of Kosovo along with NATO.
AFN viewers abroad witnessed live television coverage of the terrorist attacks on The Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
During military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq AFN provided non-stop coverage of the campaigns. AFN radio and television media personnel from Europe deployed with the troops to cover events. Today AFN has a staffed affiliate in Iraq, AFN Baghdad (launched 2003).
Wherever large numbers of US troops are deployed, the AFN sets up operation, providing news and entertainment from home. Today the AFN has several satellites and uses high tech digital compression technology to broadcast TV and radio to 177 countries and territories, as well as on board US Naval vessels.
Media Services
AFN's television service is broadcast in standard North American NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) format of 525 lines. All programming delivered by satellite is encrypted using MPEG-2 compression. While programming is provided to AFN by major American TV networks and program syndicators at little to no-cost, for copyright and licensing reasons it is intended solely for U.S. Forces personnel, authorized Department of Defense civilian employees, State Department diplomatic personnel, and their families overseas.
AFN-TV is available to authorized viewers by "Direct-To-Home" (DTH) service; with set-top decoders purchased or leased through military exchanges (similar to a membership store), licensed/contracted commercial cable operators, or terrestrial signal. With the advent of DTH service, AFN plans on phasing-out terrestrial TV broadcasts over the next few years.
Commercial Breaks
AFN inserts public service announcements, educational featurettes, and localized messages from senior leadership in place of normal commercials. Many service members welcome this approach, while others find it troublesome, especially during the airing of the Super Bowl.
Television
AFN's TV regional and network wide channels include include:
- AFN Atlantic - general entertainment; for Europe, Middle East; Africa and South Asia, also broadcast solely via antennae near military installations in Europe.
- AFN Pacific - similar to AFN Atlantic but timeshifted for Asia and the Pacific.
- AFN Korea - similar to AFN Pacific, but with a few program changes because of more restrictions placed on broadcast affiliates in South Korea
- AFN News - news coverage from AFN and US domestic networks;
- AFN Sports - football, baseball, hockey and other sports coverage
- AFN Spectrum - variety entertainment programming
- Pentagon Channel - military news and information programs (launched 2002)
- AFN Movie Channel - popular movies (launched 2004)
- AFN Family Channel - programs suitable for all ages (launched 2004)
Radio
American Forces Network Radio, aka Armed Forces Radio, has a primary radio service known as the Interruptible Voice Channel, an audio newswire service featuring assorted network news radio bulletins and syndicated updates as well as long-form news/talk programs, is also sent overseas by shortwave radio on various frequencies.
American Forces Radio expanded in the early 2000s; while it was common for many decades to just have one AM radio station serving an area of installations, the new technology available has allowed the U.S. military to get space on the FM bands in their various host countries for niche programming. The most recent addition is AFN-Iraq broadcasting news, information, and entertainment programs, including adult contemporary music, broadcast within Iraq
AFN also offers a variety of radio programming over its various frequencies throughout the world. Music programming spans Rock, Oldies, R&B and Country Music. Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 and the American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley are broadcast weekly over AFN Radio. In addition to music, AFN broadcasts syndicated talk radio programs such as Car Talk, Kim Komando, Rush Limbaugh, The Motley Fool Radio Show, A Prairie Home Companion, Dr. Laura, Sports Overnight America, and other programs from National Public Radio and other sources.
