Page 45 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

lEI Naval Communications

Communication means transmlttll1g a message so the receiver
understands it accurately. The tools of communication are written
and spoken words. In order to communicate well, ideas must be
put in the form of words that accurately convey them. This is espe-
cially important when the messages are commands or orders.
Naval communications is the transmission and reception of
military instructions and information by sound, electronics, or
visual means. The Navy operates worldwide, so it needs a global
communications network. A commander must be able to commu-
nicate orders to or from ships, shore stations, and aircraft.
Communications makes it possible for a commander to evalu-
ate a situation and determine appropriate courses of action for his
units from a central command post. Without the ability to com-
Satellite communications dishes at Wahiawa, Hawaii, for the satel-
municate, there could be no coordinated action among ships, air-
lite-based Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) that will eventually
craft, and ground forces. link together all U.S. and allied forces within a theater of operations.
Naval communications must be reliable, secure, and rapid in (John Ciccarelli)
both peace and war. Of the three, reliability is the most important;
it must never be sacrificed for security or speed. If a choice must aircraft talk to one another. The communications organization
be made between security and speed, the originator must decide aboard ship is under the direct control of the commanding offi-
which of the two is more in1portant. cer. The size of shipboard communications organizations depends
on the size and type of the ship. A large ship, such as an aircraft
carrier or amphibious command ship, has a separate communica-
Naval Telecommunications tions department. In other ships, such as destroyers or auxiliaries,
The term naval telecommunications includes all of the communi- the communications division is part of the operations department.
cations effort within the Department of the Navy. These telecom- Shipboard communications facilities have ample communications
munications are of three types: electrical/electronic, visual, and equipment for their needs, plus expansion capabilities in the event
sound. The main function of naval telecommunications is to meet of emergency.
the communication needs of the operating forces. Its secondary
function is to allow administration of the naval establishment. Electrical/Electronic Communications
Telecommunications includes routing, reproducing, distributing, Today, we usually refer to electrical communications as elec-
record keeping, and encrypting and decrypting naval messages. tronics, which has to do with the movement of electrons in a con-
ductor (wire), the dissemination of radio waves in or above our
Telecommunications and Command atmosphere, or the generation of sound pulses in water.

The naval telecommunications system includes all communi- Radio is one of the Navy's main forms of communication. Radio
cations facilities on shore. The largest of these facilities are called circuits are potentially the least secure of all communications, how-
naval communications stations (NavComSta). They have both ever, so most radio messages are enC1ypted, that is, sent in code. Most
transmitting and receiving equipment to give support to the fleet Navy radio messages are now encrypted elech'onically, so decryption
in a specific geographic area. Fleet commanders control all tactical by unauthorized listeners is considered nearly impossible.
communications of ships and aircraft under their command. Radiotelephone (RIT). The radiotelephone (voice radio) is con-
For the operating forces, telecommunications is the voice of sidered one of the most basic military communication devices.
command in tactical situations. It is the way in which ships and Because it is easy, direct, and convenient to operate, it is used rou-

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