American Forces Network

American Forces Network (or AFN) is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide.

Organization

AmericanForces 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 the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. Some of AFN's broadcasters have previous commercial broadcasting 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.

The current head of the AFN is Allison Barber.

History of American Forces Network

The American Forces Network can trace its origins back to 1942, when the War Department established the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). A television service was first introduced in 1954 with a pilot station at Limestone AFB, Maine and AFRS became the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). 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. As such, there was no single station that could be called the "first" to sign on as an AFN station. About two months before formal establishment of AFN, however, a station called "PCAN" began regular broadcast information service in the Panama Canal Zone, primarily for troops on jungle bivouac. The station, located at Fort Clayton, was later to become part of AFRS, first simply as "Armed Forces Network" located at Albrook Field.

World War II

The U.S. Army began broadcasting from London during World War II, using equipment and studio facilities borrowed from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

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 U.S. 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 in 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, Army broadcasters 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 Daegu, South Korea. Due to the large number of American troops in Korea, a number of stations were also started. Mobile units followed combat units to provide news and entertainment on the radio. By the time the 1953 armistice was signed, these mobile units became buildings with transmitters, and a network, American Forces Korea Network, was born.

Vietnam War

As the American military presence in Vietnam increased, AFRTS opened radio and later 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" (Armed 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 Hue had been captured and spent time as prisoners of war. At the height of American involvement in the war, Armed Forces Vietnam Network served over 500,000 fighting men and women at one time.

For Vietnam AFRTS developed a program along the lines of "G.I. Jive" from 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, (the brainchild of Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle in 1962) thanks to the popularity of the sign-on slogan "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam" (which was initiated by Adrian Cronauer and later became the basis for the film Good Morning Vietnam starring Robin Williams). Among the notable people who were AFVN disc jockeys were Cronauer and Pat Sajak. 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 initially by Armed Forces Radio (AFN) at Albrook Field and later as the Caribbean Forces Network at Fort Clayton with translators located on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone. In the early 1960s with reorganization of the command located in the Canal Zone, CFN became the Southern Command Network (SCN). SCN also broadcasted to U.S. troops stationed in Honduras starting in 1987. SCN discontinued broadcasting in 1999 just before the turnover of the Canal Zone to the Republic of Panama when U.S. troops were removed from that country pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaties.

Shortwave Radio

AFRTS has shifted its emphasis to relaying its broadcasts by satellite; however, there are still a number of single sideband shortwave radio relay sites around the world to provide service to ships, including Diego Garcia, Guam, Sigonella, Italy; Puerto Rico; Hawaii; and others.

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 Würzburg, Germany and Soesterberg, Holland.

Pacific operations

Over-the-air TV for U.S. Forces in the Pacific is currently provided by AFN-Korea, AFN-Japan and AFN-Kwajalein. All local operations merged under the AFN banner effective January 1, 1998.

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 one full-power VHF terrestrial TV outlet. Located on Okinawa atop the Rycom Plaza Housing area in the central part of the island, AFN-Okinawa's TV signal serves Marines, Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, and their families stationed on-island. AFN-Japan also operates three low-power UHF terrestrial transmitters at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Commander U.S Fleet Activities Sasebo, and Misawa Air Base. TV viewers on military bases in the Tokyo and Kanto Plain area of Japan can view AFN via contractor-operated base cable TV services, or through AFN Direct-To-Home (DTH) dishes if they reside off-base.

AFN-Japan's radio services consist of AM and FM stereo operations at Yokota Air Base (AM), MCAS Iwakuni (AM), FLTACTS Sasebo AM), Okinawa (FM stereo & AM) and Misawa Air Base (AM).

AFN-Kwajalein at the Reagan Missile Test Range on Kwajalein Atoll is the only civilian-run affiliate in AFN, broadcasting on U.S. channel 13 for military personnel and civilian contractor employees and their families. AFN-Kwajalein'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, terrestrial 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 that the first song on the air was Freedom by Paul McCartney. By the end of OIF II, AFN-Iraq was broadcasting three FM channels on the increasingly busy Iraqi airwaves.

Censorship

Shows which regularly feature non Republican War Veterans (Fighting Dems) running for Congress are currently being censored by the AFN. ^*

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 U.S. 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 advanced digital compression technology to broadcast TV and radio to 177 countries and territories, as well as on board U.S. Naval vessels.

Media Services

AFN's television service is broadcast in standard North American National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) format of 525 lines. All programming delivered by satellite is PowerVu encrypted DVB. 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.

AFN programming

While the audience tunes-in to AFN to watch their favorite shows or listen to the latest Stateside hits, entertainment is the "candy coating" used to attract the military viewer/listener; as AFN's primary mission is to provide access for local command information (CI) programs. Spots run in the place of commercials in breaks run the gamut from reminding servicememebers to register to vote, promotions of local command-sponsored recreation events, off-duty educational programs, health and wellness tips, and what's playing at local base movie theaters.

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.

The network is allowed to broadcast commercial movie promotion trailers provided by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and the Navy Motion Picture Service (NMPS) to promote the latest film releases in base theaters worldwide. They are the only true "commercials" authorized for broadcast.

Radio

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. Ryan Seacrest AT 40 and the American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks 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 Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Motley Fool Radio Show, A Prairie Home Companion, Dr. Laura, Sports Overnight America, and other programs from National Public Radio and other sources. Letters From War by Mark Schultz was the #1 song on AFN in 2004.

As of 2005 the Network has liberal/progressive talkers Al Franken from Air America Radio and Ed Schultz from Jones Radio Network. ^*

On December 5, 2005, Al Franken and Ed Schultz, along with Sean Hannity, were added to the radio programs provided by the AFN Broadcast Center to its affiliate stations.

On April 24, 2006, AFN Europe launched AFN The Eagle, a virtually 24-hour-a-day radio service with a format modeled after "Jack FM" . This replaced ZFM, which usually used the Z Rock stream (see below).

Altogether, AFN produces 10 general-use streams for AFN stations to use. Of these, seven are music-based, two are sports-based, and one is a general channel (which is also the one heard on shortwave, if the shortwave radio has Single sideband (also known as SSB) installed). How these stations use these formats is up to them These formats are:

Oldies Radio (50's, 60's, and 70's)
Hot AC (young adult alternative/80's and 90's)
Z Rock (alternative rock)
Bright AC (adult contemporary hit radio)
Country (country/western)
the Touch (urban adult contemporary)
Adult Rock and Roll (classic rock)
Interruptible Voice Channel (mainly NPR programming and sports programming from FOX, ESPN, and the Sporting News; this channel also broadcasts many talk shows such as those from Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh; it's called "Interruptible" because the channel can be "interrupted" by sports programming)
ESPN Plus (sports programming from ESPN and the Sporting News)
FOX Sports Plus (sports programming from FOX)

Television

Like its radio counterpart, AFN TV tries to air programming from a variety of sources to replicate what is airing on American TV. This means that a lot of programming is sourced from commercial networks and PBS at minimal or no cost. Like in the United States, AFN broadcasts using the NTSC television standard.

There are 8 TV streams that are produced by AFN. All of them can be picked up via satellite by military audiences. These streams are:

AFN Prime. Formerly AFN Atlantic and AFN Pacific. The standard AFN feed airs current sitcoms, dramas, syndicated "judge" shows, talk shows, game shows, and reality shows popular in the United States, with a time delay from 24 hours to a week behind the United States airdates. In addition, popular US soap operas such as Guiding Light, General Hospital and Passions are aired by AFN on a one-week tape delay. This stream is divided into two feeds (AFN Prime Atlantic and AFN Prime Pacific); the difference between the two is that they are both time-shifted so that programs air later on AFN Prime Pacific then they are on AFN Prime Atlantic. Many regional feeds (such as AFN-Europe, AFN-Iraq, and AFN-Korea) are based off of AFN Prime and add local programming to it; thus, in a way, AFN Prime mimics the regular network TV concept.
AFN Spectrum. AFN Spectrum is more of a culture-oriented channel and also airs a lot of public television programming in addition to programming from cable networks and classic TV series. In a way, it mimics the "superstation" concept from cablecasters Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) and WGN-Chicago.
AFN Xtra. A youth-oriented channel
AFN News. AFN News is a rolling-news channel providing news from all major news outlets, including military ones. Newscasts, such as the NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, and CBS Evening News, were all scheduled to air in the mornings so viewers could watch the headlines live, but now they air on a tape delay in the regular early evening slot, back to back. In addition, AFN News also airs current affairs programming.
AFN Family. AFN Family is a general family-entertainment channel providing programming for children aged 2-17.
AFN Movie. AFN Movie is a channel showcasing movies as well as film-oriented programming.
AFN Sports. AFN Sports is a rolling-sports channel, providing sports news and programming, including ESPN's SportsCentre.
Pentagon Channel. This is the only AFN channel that is available in the USA to the general public. It airs military news and information programming 24h a day.

Literature

Patrick Morley: 'This Is the American Forces Network'. The Anglo-American Battle of the Air Waves in World War II. Westport, CT (2001)
Trent Christman: "Brass Button Broadcasters: Lighthearted Look at Fifty Years of Military Broadcasting." Turner Publishing (1992)
American Forces Information Service: "History of AFRTS, the first 50 years." U.S. Government Printing Office (1993)

External links

Military media of the United States | Controversies

American Forces Network | AFN | AFN

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