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99-608: Now known as the American Forces Network -Japan (AFN-Japan), with the disestablishment in 1997 of the Far East Network, this network provides military members, Department of Defense civilian employees, and State Department diplomatic personnel and their families with news, information and entertainment by over-the-air radio and TV, and by base cable television. In addition to its primary military and authorized U.S. civilian audience, AFN-Japan also has

198-578: A "shadow audience" of an estimated 1.2 million non-military listeners; mostly Japanese studying English , and other English-speaking foreign nationals residing in Japan. AFN-Japan is headquartered at Yokota Air Base , a major U.S. Air Force installation on the outskirts of Tokyo, and is also known as "AFN-Tokyo". The network has affiliates located at Misawa Air Base (AFN-Misawa), Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (AFN-Iwakuni), and Fleet Activities Sasebo (AFN-Sasebo). While not operationally part of what

297-513: A Top 40 hits format, combined with programming from AFRTS Hollywood-sourced stateside shows such as American Top 40. Programming broadcast over AFCN broadcast radio and television transmitter antennas also reached some local civilian markets across Puerto Rico, such as San Juan. 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

396-767: A complex of high-powered radio transmitters was organized to transmit programs to military men and women serving in Europe , Alaska, and the South Pacific . When AFRS broadcasts were transmitted in the Pacific, they were done so under two different commands. Outlets in the Southwest Pacific were operated under Army General Douglas MacArthur ; those in the Central Pacific , under Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz . By July 1943, AFRS had set up two stations in

495-784: A day Monday through Friday, with the exception of U.S. federal holidays. Stateside, AFN's broadcast operations, which include global radio and television satellite feeds, emanate from the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California . What is today the Maryland-based headquarters of the American Forces Network began on 26 May 1942 when the War Department established

594-481: A few weeks later with its first radio broadcast occurring on Saturday, 28 July 1945. (In 1949, the station moved from the city of Bremen north to the port city of Bremerhaven and became AFN Bremerhaven .) On 31 December 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

693-481: A lesser extent, Denmark . Many Dutch households switched to the program, also because of their positive experiences with the American liberators. Also featured were live performances of classical music and jazz by Samuel Hans Adler 's Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in support of America's cultural diplomacy initiatives in the post war period. In France, about a dozen AFN stations operated, with AFN Orléans as

792-513: A major Communication Zone Signal Corps agency, served Army depots and installations in Southwestern France with locally originated programs and network feeds from AFN Orléans via Frankfurt, Germany. It was the only other studio station affiliate of AFN Orléans because of the large American military presence and its resident Department of Defense dorm school for children of American military and civilian families assigned to Poitiers, and

891-807: A severance pay (in French francs and taxable) of one month per year of service, paid by the U.S. Army to the French government, in dollars (all the French employees were managed by a specially created service: le Bureau d'Aide aux Armées Alliées or AAA). 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,

990-553: A small island just off the harbor at New Rochelle. At its peak in 1965, the Army Chaplain school was also located there. In 1963 the campus operated in a "university" setting with a relaxed military environment. The Army ran the Information School although training was offered to members of all military branches. Radio types took a rather severe audition written by CBS for their network announcers. Those who survived

1089-475: A station often had to provide its own independent power source. In the Central Pacific, once a station had been set up and broadcasting, locally based servicemen were trained to operate the outlet. Usually, after the team was sure that the station could be run by the local GIs, they returned to Honolulu for reassignment to another location. This connected conglomerate of military stations became known as

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1188-510: A technical director, a program director, several military American broadcast professionals, and some French studio operators, record librarians, secretaries and maintenance technicians. The Frankfurt network programming was received, then re-fed from AFN Orléans studios to another studio-equipped affiliate, AFN Poitiers and its repeater transmitters via modulation lines rented from the French postal service. AFN Poitiers, based at Aboville Caserne, Poitiers, France, home of an Army logistical command and

1287-507: Is archived at Rock Radio Scrapbook: AFVN: The GI's Companion. Beginning in 1971, AFVN began to close some stations in Vietnam. The last station to close was the key station in Saigon in 1973. Broadcasting continued under civilian leadership on FM only and using the name American Radio Service (ARS). The civilian engineers were provided by Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE). ARS stayed on

1386-695: Is by the Department of Defense , whereas the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) , for example, is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the British armed forces. AFN employs military broadcasters as well as Defense Department civilians and contractors. Service personnel hold broadcasting occupational specialties for their military branch. Since 1997, all of AFN's military personnel receive primary training at

1485-802: Is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland . AFN comprises two subordinate overseas commands and one directorate in the continental United States. Overseas, AFN Europe is headquartered at Sembach Kaserne in Germany and consists of 15 subordinate stations in the countries of Bahrain , Belgium , Cuba , Germany, Greece , Italy , Spain , and Turkey . AFN Pacific is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Japan and consists of nine stations in Diego Garcia , Japan, and South Korea . Stations under AFN Europe and AFN Pacific broadcast live local radio shows 12 hours

1584-565: Is located at DMA headquarters at Fort Meade. Day-to-day AFN broadcast operations are conducted at the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center in Riverside , California, from where all global radio and television satellite feeds emanate. Until the early 1970s, U.S. military television service was provided in Western Europe by Air Force Television at Ramstein Air Base , Germany. In the early 1970s, AFN assumed this responsibility for

1683-480: The Admiralty Islands (April 1944) and Rabaul (May 1944). These were all under Gen. MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Command, and at various times were referred to as the "Jungle Network" or the "Mosquito Network." AFRS team personnel received mixed receptions from the various island commanders. Drawn from whatever dominant branch of service on any particular island, some island commanders were very high on

1782-734: 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 Paris . As Allied forces continued to push German troops back into their homeland, AFN moved east as well. The liberation of most of Western Europe saw AFN stations serving

1881-930: The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and the ROC government . Today, ICRT is the only English-language radio service in Taiwan. Then still known as the American Forces (or Armed Forces) Radio and Television Service, military bases and facilities throughout Puerto Rico received original radio programming from Army studios at Ft. Brooke in San Juan, Air Force studios at Ramey Air Force Base, and radio and television originating from Navy studios at Roosevelt Roads, in addition to local playback of stateside entertainment radio and television shows. This broadcast service

1980-505: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The first transmission to U.S. troops began at 5:45 p.m. 4 July 1943, and included less than five hours of recorded shows, including a BBC News and sports broadcast. That day, T5 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

2079-737: The Caribbean Forces Network at Fort Clayton with translators 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 broadcast to U.S. troops stationed in Honduras starting in 1987. SCN discontinued broadcasting on 1 July 1999 just before the 31 December turnover of the Canal Zone to

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2178-616: The Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland . Before 1997, DINFOS was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis , Indiana . In 1997, Fort Benjamin Harrison was largely closed as a function of the 1991 Base Closure and Realignment Commission . Additional/Advanced training is also available at Fort George G. Meade. In the 1960s, DINFOS was located at Fort Slocum, NY on

2277-676: The Marshall Islands and one on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands , went on the air in February 1944. Teams of military broadcast specialists were trained at AFRS' headquarters in Los Angeles to operate radio stations. Later, they traveled to Hawaii , where they picked up equipment and briefed on their assignment and local conditions, and then proceeded to their posts by whatever means they were able to travel. Some of

2376-658: The Pacific Ocean Network (PON). By late spring of 1944, the island-hopping campaigns of the war had made household words out of the names of previously little-known islands in the Central and South Pacific. The hard-fought battles in each area as the Allies moved northward introduced many famous battlegrounds. AFRS stations were set up on most of them, including Bougainville and New Britain (Solomon Islands—March 1944), New Guinea , New Ireland , Kavieng , and

2475-736: The Pacific Ocean theater of World War II . It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War and one of three United States commands in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater . Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the U.S. Navy , Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet , headed the command throughout its existence. The vast majority of Allied forces in the theatre were from the U.S. Navy , U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps . However units and/or personnel from New Zealand ,

2574-592: The Republic of Panama when U.S. troops were removed from that country under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties . AFN Honduras , which began in 1987 as SCN Honduras, now broadcasts from Soto Cano Air Base on 106.3 FM, and serves more than 600 American service members stationed at the installation, as well as numerous civilian employees and contractors. The station's primary mission is radio, originating programming including two daily live shows following

2673-806: The Solomon Islands campaign during 1943–44. U.S. Army Air Forces operated in the POA under the Seventh , Thirteenth , and Twentieth Air Forces at various times. On 10 March 1944, the Department of War approved the activation of an additional AAF headquarters for the Pacific Ocean Areas. To head this new command the Air Staff in Washington DC had decided as early as 16 April upon Lt. Gen. Millard F. Harmon , who, as commander of U.S. Army Forces, South Pacific Area, had had long experience in

2772-756: The South West Pacific Area (SWPA), and the Southeast Pacific Area (which was never activated). Details and transition, including whether Nimitz "appointed" or "nominated" the commander of the South Pacific Area, were worked out between 3 April and formal assumption of the overall Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas by Nimitz on 8 May 1942. The JCS designated Admiral Nimitz as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, with operational control over all units (air, land, and sea) in that area. The theater included most of

2871-580: The U.S. national anthem : Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm Chief Master Sergeant Bob Woodruff Station Manager of the American Forces Radio and Television Service in Tehran . After 22 years of radio broadcasting and 17 years of telecasting in Tehran, AFRTS Radio 1555 and TV Channel 7 cease all operations in this country at this time. I bid you all goodbye and thank you for letting us serve you. And now

2970-632: The United Kingdom as they made preparations for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe . Fearing competition for civilian audiences, the BBC initially tried to impose restrictions on AFN broadcasts within Britain (transmissions were allowed only from American bases outside London and were limited to 50 watts of transmission power) and a minimum quota of British produced programming had to be carried. Nevertheless, AFN programs were widely enjoyed by

3069-412: The United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , Mexico , Fiji and other countries also saw active service. On 24 March 1942, the newly formed British and U.S. Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. On 30 March the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) divided the Pacific theater into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA),

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3168-408: The "Eagle" format. Personnel also occasionally produce video news packages. As of 15 January 2013, AFN Honduras is one of 18 stations under the operational control of AFN Europe. With the advent of satellite broadcasting , AFRTS has shifted its emphasis away from shortwave . Currently, the U.S. Navy provides the only shortwave single sideband shortwave AFN radio broadcasts via relay sites around

3267-730: The AFN branch in Taiwan was Armed Forces Network Taiwan (AFNT), which had a main station in Yangmingshan American Military Housing , Taipei . After the U.S. armed forces withdrew all its troops stationed in Taiwan (including the United States Taiwan Defense Command ) as Washington, D.C. , recognizes Beijing and broke ties with Taipei, the station was reorganized under the name of International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) by

3366-721: The AFTN station, killing 9 Air Force broadcasters. Pilot Leaphart and Navigator Bernholz ejected from their battle damaged plane when it went out of control on final approach. Both crewmen were injured but survived. The incident was the single worst catastrophe in the history of military broadcasting killing: TSGT Jack A Hawley, Wakeman, OH; SSGT James A. Howard, Denver, CO; A1C Andrew C. McCartney, Lakewood, OH; SSGT Alfred N. Potter, Forest Grove, OR; SGT John Charles Rose, Bloomfield, NJ; TSGT Frank D. Ryan Jr., Mercer Island, WA; SSGT Edward W. Strain, Myrtle Beach, SC; TSGT Roy Walker, Albuquerque, NM and A1C Thomas L. Waterman, Roanoke, VA. AFTN became

3465-457: The Allies drew closer to Japan , the fighting turned into a desperate island-by-island struggle. Command of the airwaves over areas changed hands as much as twice weekly, and in a few instances, twice daily. That made it even more difficult for those manning the AFRS radio stations, because, if they got too close to the battlefronts, aerial bombing could destroy the stations. On more than one occasion

3564-792: The American Forces Thailand Network in the summer of 1969, and continued operations until the spring of 1976 when the remaining U.S. troops in Thailand were withdrawn at the request of the Thai government. More than 600 broadcasters from the Air Force, Navy and Army had served during the ten years that AFTN operated. Before the United States and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations in 1979,

3663-488: The American installations located throughout Southwestern France. Children living in outlying American military installations and communities commuted to Poitiers once a week for daily classes and departed for home by bus and train. AFN France was dismantled in 1967, when U.S. forces left France due to the French government's decision of President (General) Charles de Gaulle to withdraw its forces from NATO 's military command. The French employees were dismissed but were granted

3762-599: The Armed Forces Korea Network, under his birthname of Jim Dooley, spending one year in Korea before attending the University of Pennsylvania to further his education. An AFRTS radio station became operational in Tehran , Iran in 1959. This was followed by a television station in 1960, known as AFTV. It broadcast a radio service on 1555 kHz and a television service on Channel 7 in Tehran and

3861-503: The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) in Los Angeles, California with U.S. Army Colonel Tom Lewis in command. The original American Forces Network began on 4 July 1943 when AFRS established what is today AFN Europe in London , England with U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Charles Gurney in command. A television service was first introduced in 1954 with a pilot station at Limestone Air Force Base , Maine . In 1954,

3960-489: The Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). AFN Bremerhaven was the first AFN television station in Europe to broadcast its programming in color. The U.S. European Edition of Stars and Stripes ( S&S ) reported in its Thursday, 21 August 1975, edition that the AFN-Europe Commander, Lt. Col. Floyd A. McBride, announced that AFN's first color TV broadcast would begin in Bremerhaven on Monday 25 August 1975. As S&S reported, because Bremerhaven's TV operation

4059-430: The British civilian listeners who could receive them, and once AFN operations transferred to continental Europe (shortly after D-Day ) AFN was able to broadcast with little restriction with programs available to civilian audiences across most of Europe , (including Britain), after dark. As D-Day approached, the network joined with the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to develop programs especially for

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4158-446: The Morale Services Division of the War Department , the new American Forces Radio Service (AFRS) also included a combination of such activities as command troop information programs, local command news, information broadcasts and morale-building transmissions. By late 1942, the new AFRS had begun receiving direct support from both the Army and the Navy with the assignment of personnel tasked with producing special radio programs. In 1943,

4257-402: The POA (the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions also fought in the SWPA in 1943). From 1944 to 1945, five Army infantry divisions ( 7th , 27th, 77th , 81st , 96th ) and six Marine divisions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th , 6th ) served in the POA. An additional 15 Army divisions fought in the SWPA during this time. Among allied land force formations was the 3rd New Zealand Division , which fought in

4356-408: The Pacific Ocean and its islands, but mainland Asia was excluded from the POA, as were the Philippines , Australia , the Netherlands East Indies , the Territory of New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago ) and the western part of the Solomon Islands . U.S. strategic bomber forces in the theatre were under the direct control of the JCS. All land forces in Alaska and Canada remained under

4455-404: The Pacific. By May the War Department proposed that Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson Jr. , commanding U.S. Army Forces Central Pacific Area, be named Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas. Harmon was made responsible to Nimitz for all matters regarding 'plans, operations, training, and dispositions' of his forces. In addition, as deputy commander of the Twentieth Air Force, Harmon

4554-710: The Solomon Islands that was west of 159° east longitude he reported to MacArthur. When he operated east of 159° east longitude he reported to Nimitz. The 159° meridian east runs through the middle of Santa Isabel Island . During the 1942 Aleutian Islands campaign Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald commanded Task Force 8 afloat. Theobald as Commander North Pacific Force reported to Nimitz in Hawaii. Task Force 8 consisted of five cruisers , thirteen destroyers , three tankers, six submarines , as well as naval aviation elements of Fleet Air Wing Four . From 1942 to 1943, three Army infantry divisions ( 23rd/"Americal" , 25th , 27th ) and two Marine divisions ( 1st , 2nd ) fought in

4653-405: The Southwest Pacific (SWP) Region, operating a small station in New Georgia . The following month, a similar mobile station began broadcasting near Vella Lavella . The first AFRS stations established under the Central Pacific Command were set up on the Tarawa Atoll and islet of Makin , both located in the Gilbert Islands , in November 1943. Three more stations, on Kwajalein and Eniwetok in

4752-404: The U.S. military from Clark. Broadcasts ended on June 15, 1991, with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures being the last TV show broadcast on the station. In May 1942 the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), was established on the Alaskan island of Kodiak . Radio broadcasts were used to provide information to members of the American armed forces serving off of the U.S. mainland. Evolving from

4851-426: The West. Also, unlike stations such as Radio Free Europe , which broadcast in Eastern European languages, AFN was not jammed by the Soviets. Especially popular was Music in the Air , which aired on the full European network at 19:00 CET. The host was AFN Frankfurt (civilian) manager John Vrotsos, who had an especially warm baritone voice. He began each program by saying (after an introductory piano phrase from

4950-501: The air until the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. It was to play Bing Crosby 's version of Irving Berlin 's " White Christmas " as a signal for Americans that the final evacuation of Saigon had begun. The Crosby version of the record could not be found so Tennessee Ernie Ford 's record from 1968 was played. In Thailand , the Department of Defense began the planning for the Armed Forces Thailand Network in 1964 with Project Lamplighter and Project Limelight. By late 1966, implementation of

5049-537: The air, signing-on with the phrase, " This is Armed Forces Radio Service, Station W-V-T-R in Tokyo. " The date was September 12, 1945. The Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) building in Tokyo was the home to station JOAK, and shared its facilities with WVTR from 1945 to 1952. With the consolidation of all the AFRS outlets under the newly established Supreme Commander Allied Powers (SCAP), the fledgling Far East Network had eighteen stations in Japan broadcasting daily to troops ashore and afloat. DWFE-AM (1512 kHz Olongapo )

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5148-453: The audition became "Broadcast Specialists" with a 703 MOS and went on to an AFRTS assignment. Some of AFN's broadcasters have previous commercial broadcasting experience before enlisting in the military, but it is not a prerequisite for enlistment in the military as a broadcaster. During their training, the broadcasters are taught to use state-of-the-art audio and visual editing equipment similar to their civilian counterparts. AFN management

5247-479: The broadcast idea, and gave support wherever they could. Others were less receptive, and there were times when the problems AFRS teams confronted had to be "bumped up" to the next higher echelon of command. Though there were untold numbers and types of problems facing the generals and admirals in the war theater, the largest single problem was how to boost and keep up the morale of the hundreds of thousands of servicemen under their command. The delivery of mail from home

5346-425: The control of the U.S. Army's Western Defense Command . The JCS subdivided the Pacific Ocean Areas into the North, Central and South Pacific Areas . Nimitz designated subordinate commanders for the North and South Pacific Areas but retained the Central Pacific Area, including the Army's Hawaiian Department , under his direct command. General Douglas MacArthur assumed command of the SWPA. The result of this split

5445-453: The country. As the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam increased, AFRTS opened radio and later television stations there. 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 Qui Nhơn , Nha Trang , Pleiku , Da Nang and Huế ,

5544-525: The crew moved to a mobile unit that was just completed and retreated to Daegu . Due to the large number of American troops in Korea, a number of stations were 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. Canadian and American television personality Jim Perry began his broadcasting career fresh out of high school with

5643-401: The forces liberating Biarritz , Cannes , Le Havre , Marseille , Nice , Paris and Reims . During the period between 1943 and 1949 the AFN also broadcast programs developed through a collaboration of the Department of State 's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and the CBS network while supporting America's cultural diplomacy initiatives. Included among the programs

5742-442: The height of American involvement in the war, Armed Forces Vietnam Network served more than 500,000 fighting men and women at one time. AFVN developed a program along the lines of " GI Jive " from World War II. A number of local disc jockeys helped make hourlong 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

5841-420: The history of AFN is available online. The first station to be under the control of the U.S. Armed Forces was KGEI in San Francisco, whose origins come from a GE exhibit, which in February 1939 started shortwave broadcasts aimed at the Philippines, which at the time were under American control. The station was used as a counterpoint to Radio Tokyo and ultimately became a model for the army network following

5940-424: The invasion of Pearl Harbor in late 1941. The first radio station began in Delta Junction, Alaska , on what was then known as Fort Greely . It was called KODK and was operated by on base personnel. In the years just before 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

6039-535: The islands months later that captured documents revealed the tremendous successes of the broadcasts in convincing the Japanese commanders that their war efforts were futile. The broadcasters and maintenance men who set up and operated the mobile stations experienced extreme hardships. In some cases, personnel, equipment, food and weapons were dropped by parachutes or delivered by PT boats . Some were brought to new sites by light planes, which landed on dirt strips, laboriously hacked out of rain forests . Other hazards in

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6138-440: The latter being overrun by the People's Army of Vietnam during the Battle of Hue in January/February 1968 and replaced by a station in Quảng Trị . AFVN's headquarters station was located in Saigon . In Vietnam, AFVN had a number of war-related casualties. After a fierce fire fight that killed two soldiers and a civilian contractor, the remaining AFVN station staff at Huế was captured and spent five years as prisoners of war. At

6237-406: The latter frequency until 2020, due to the network's franchise expiration) and also on UHF Channel 50 in Metro Manila . Its radio stations DWFE-AM in Olongapo and DWFA-AM in Balanga, Bataan , and Far East 95.1 (now RW 95.1 ) on FM are as a part of their network's operations from 1946 to 1991 but the TV channel was forcibly shut down due to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo and the withdrawal of

6336-424: The main Japanese bases in SWPA and the main Allied bases in POA. However, MacArthur's Operation Cartwheel , which gave full operational command of naval and amphibious forces to POA's Admiral William Halsey in the Solomons while MacArthur strategically directed the whole operation, was a resounding success because of the rapport and great personal relationship between MacArthur and Halsey. When Halsey operated in

6435-405: The national anthem of the United States of America." The following day, AFRTS radio and television services in Iran were replaced by those operated by the state broadcaster National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT), which were similar in content, appealing to the 60 000 U.S. Army and civilian personnel then stationed in Iran, as well as the wider population of foreign nationals resident in

6534-450: The network began by the U.S. Air Force with stations on the air at Korat , U-Tapao , Ubon , Udorn , Takhli and Nahkon Phanom . In addition, there were more than 20 satellite stations that rebroadcast one or more of the primary stations, and that included one or more clandestine locations in Laos . In April 1970, a battle-damaged RF-4C Phantom II #65-0863 returning to Udorn from a reconnaissance mission in northwest Laos, crashed into

6633-418: The operators did not have time to transport their equipment away from contested areas, and had to abandon the stations where they were. As the war front drew closer to Japan's four main islands, another AFRS outlet was established, on the island of Okinawa, in July 1945. Ten days after the formal surrender ceremonies aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay , the first AFRS station in Japan went on

6732-420: 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 Don L. "Scotty" Brink, Lee Hansen , Les Coleman and Pat Sajak , Chris Noel , John Allgood, Joe Huser, and Dennis Woytek. Army Spec. 5 Robert Morecook announced

6831-412: The program's theme music) "Listen ... [pause for more piano] ... there's music in the air". The theme was "Music Everywhere" in an arrangement by Victor Young . Later in the 1950s, Leroy Anderson 's Belle of the ball was used. The program was popular throughout Northern Europe , especially in the liberated countries such as the Netherlands , Belgium , France (the northern part), Luxembourg and, to

6930-434: The radio service operated for around 18 hours a day. In deference to Iranian sensitivities, AFRTS avoided carrying programming that might be construed as offensive on political or religious grounds, instead carrying cowboy or detective movies. Following the nationalization of the privately owned Television Iran network in 1969, AFTV was the only television service not in the Iranian government's hands. However, in 1976, it

7029-470: The regional newscast, Pacific Report. The Pacific Report can be seen every weekday throughout the Pacific and around the world on the AFN-Pacific digital satellite feed and on the Pentagon Channel . In the Philippines, FEN Philippines was broadcast on UHF Channel 17 (from 1955 until 1981, FEN operated on Channel 8) in Pampanga and Zambales (as in Subic and Clark bases), and UHF Channel 34 in San Miguel, Bulacan ( ABS-CBN Corporation occupied

7128-428: The sentence "Good morning! This is AFN Munich, the voice of the 7th Army!". General George S. Patton , commander of the 3rd Army, was furious with the opening as his army had taken control over Munich the previous night, and demanded that the responsible person be court-martialed . Soon after AFN Munich signed on the air in the southern part of occupied Germany , in northern Germany , AFN Bremen begin broadcasting

7227-428: The sounds of exploding bombs and artillery shells, the stillness was so profound that an occasional harsh cry from a startled bird seemed to be sinister and awe-inspiring. Keeping equipment in operating order was difficult at best. Drifting clouds that wreathed the treetops in swirling mists fed the dense canopy of dripping foliage far above the ever-saturated and almost sunless floor of the primeval jungle. Even though

7326-568: The station on Peleliu, beamed special broadcasts in Japanese to the Imperial troops remaining. Japanese-Americans made these broadcasts. Leaflets, dropped by patrol planes flying over the islands, alerted the Japanese forces there as to when the special broadcasts would be made. Japanese music was sometimes included in the broadcasts to get their attention. It was only after the surrender of

7425-493: The station's transmission tower was in the glide path to the airfield and was not jammed by the Soviets . During the 1950s and 1960s, AFN had large civilian audiences in Europe , as European radio stations rarely played American music. In Communist countries, all radio stations were state-operated, and never played American music. Despite the language barrier, the people in those countries saw AFN as an alternative connection to

7524-637: The studio control station. The network broadcast music, shows, and news relayed from AFN Frankfurt, locally produced shows, and other features aimed at the American soldiers and their families stationed in France. In particular, a whole team of reporters and technicians was sent to cover the 24-hour auto race at Le Mans , at a time when Ford was doing its best to beat the Ferraris, and finally succeeded. AFN France broadcast with 50 watt FM transmitters made by French manufacturer TRT, type OZ 305. The network employed

7623-640: The summer and early autumn of 1944, the Pacific Ocean Network added several other stations to its chain, including those on Saipan and Guam ( Mariana Islands in July and August 1944), and on Peleliu and Ulithi ( Caroline Islands in September 1944). The station on Ulithi sometimes operated up to nineteen hours a day to serve the gigantic fleets anchored nearby. As the island hopping toward Japan continued, AFRS became more and more popular among

7722-561: The surrounding area from its studios in the city. Its listeners (and viewers) were American military personnel stationed in Iran as part of ARMISH (the US Army mission) and Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) programs. AFTV was also popular with Iranian viewers, particularly children. As the TV service only had a power of 1000 watts, it was only on air for a few hours each day, whereas

7821-468: The teams carried complete radio transmitting equipment: 50-watt transmitters , turntables , a tiny mixing console and several boxes of records. A few teams were provided with short-wave receivers so they could monitor AFRS newscasts from San Francisco . Each team usually consisted of an officer and five or six enlisted men. Upon reaching its destination, a team operated by whatever means they could. Electrical generators were often hard to acquire, and

7920-416: The teams resorted to other methods of getting the job done. Several Pacific Ocean Network stations acquired high-powered transmitters, up to 200 watts in strength, through requisitioning procedures. A few obtained theirs through what came to be known as "midnight requisitions," or simply absconding with them from various sources. There were times when pieces of captured equipment were modified and used. During

8019-685: The television mission of AFRS was officially recognized and AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) became AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service). All the Armed Forces broadcasting affiliates worldwide merged under the AFN banner on 1 January 1998. On 21 November 2000, the American Forces Information Service directed a change of the AFRTS organizational title from Armed Forces Radio and Television Service to American Forces Radio and Television Service. A timeline of

8118-404: The transmitters were set up under tents, they often experienced problems with short-circuiting caused by the moisture that constantly surrounded them. Back-up units were not always available, which meant that often transmitters had to be "jury-rigged" in order to get anything out of them. The hot and humid air also warped the discs (records) containing the recorded programming. On May 8, 1945, word

8217-464: The troops. The term "island hopping" is often used to describe the way in which Allied forces advanced toward Japan, mainly because many Japanese-held islands were literally bypassed, or hopped over. Some were neither captured nor occupied by Allied forces until after the official Japanese surrender. When the Allies eventually took control of the islands, there was little resistance at many of them, thanks to AFRS broadcasts. Several AFRS outlets, such as

8316-470: The tropics were jungle swamps, unbridged rivers and streams, and patches of mud into which men sank to their waists. The climate was hot and humid and frequent rainstorms made the atmosphere oppressive. Malaria-carrying mosquitoes were everywhere. On the larger, foliage-blanketed islands, from which outcrops of rocky mountains extended above the jungles, there was an ever-present, all-pervading scent of rotting vegetation that made breathing miserable. Except for

8415-699: The upcoming end of the Vietnam War on AFVN-TV news in February, 1973, which followed 30 days later. Army Spec 4 Tom Fowlston was first to announce the war end on radio news. Harry Simons hosted the GO Show at both AFVN Saigon and Danang in 1968 and 1969. Simons along with broadcaster Mike Bates created and produced a 10-hour radio documentary ( AFVN: The GI's Companion ) as a tribute to AFVN and to honor all Vietnam Veterans. It aired and streamed on Veterans Day 2015 on WEBY Radio in Pensacola, Florida. The documentary

8514-557: The war was over. Of the 300 stations in operation worldwide in 1945, only 60 remained in 1949. A large number of AFN stations continued broadcasting from American bases in Europe (particularly Germany ) after World War II . (Eight remain on the air today. See article on German Misplaced Pages .) During the Berlin Blockade of 1948–1949, planes headed for Tempelhof in West Berlin tuned their radios to AFN- Berlin because

8613-619: 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 the 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 . The original AFN - present day AFN Europe - began broadcasting from London during World War II , using equipment and studio facilities borrowed from

8712-710: The world to provide service to ships, including Diego Garcia , Guam , Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy, Puerto Rico , Hawaii and others. The American Forces Network (AFN) is the operational arm of the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), an office of the Defense Media Activity (DMA). AFN falls under the operational control of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA). Editorial control

8811-410: Was Viva America which showcased leading musical talents from both North and South America and was transmitted for the benefit of armed forces throughout Europe and to South America over CBS's short wave network "La Cadena de Las Americas". On 10 July 1945, the first AFN station in occupied Germany started broadcasting: AFN Munich . Its first broadcast was however incorrect as it began with

8910-554: Was an AM radio station of FEN Philippines in the Philippines . The station's studio and transmitter were located Rizal Ave., Olongapo , Zambales . As of today, the 1512 kHz were reused this time in Lucena under DZAT . American Forces Network The American Forces Network ( AFN ) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas, and

9009-530: Was decided by the Iranian government that AFRTS should close down its radio and TV services, which it did on 25 October of that year, the day before the Shah 's 57th birthday. Radio 1555 closed with presenter Air Force Staff Sergeant Barry Cantor playing Roger Whittaker 's " Durham Town (The Leavin') ". This was followed by a closing announcement by Chief Master Sergeant and Station Manager Bob Woodruff, ending with

9108-836: Was known as AFCN, the American Forces Caribbean Network in the 1970s (later as the Armed Forces Caribbean Network) served military bases and facilities throughout Puerto Rico from transmitters in San Juan (Fort Brooke, Fort Buchanan), Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, and Ramey Air Force Base. Each of these bases also had their own television transmitters or cable systems that played back stateside TV programming delivered to each location in weekly "packages" of 16mm film, kinescope recordings, video tape, and satellite news programming feeds. AFCN Roosevelt Roads also produced live radio programming featuring Navy Journalist/Broadcaster disc jockeys in

9207-604: Was made responsible directly to Arnold in all matters affecting elements of the Twentieth Air Force in POA. Activation of Headquarters, Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAFPOA) at Hickam Field followed on 1 August 1944. The Seventh Air Force, formerly the senior command, was made "mobile and tactichi" on 15 August by the reassignment of 112 units of various types to AAFPOA. The VII Air Force Service Command, its former administrative functions having been assumed by Breene as AAFPOA deputy commander for administration,

9306-665: Was once FEN - US Air Force personnel assigned to the Army Network in Korea (AFKN) were under partial administrative control of the FEN Network Headquarters. Also part of AFN-Japan is AFN- Okinawa , located in the Rycom Plaza Housing Area adjacent to Marine Corps Base Camp S.D. Butler . AFN-Tokyo is also a Regional News Center, collecting news stories from all Pacific military public affairs offices and AFN affiliates, and packages them into

9405-667: Was received via radio from Delhi , announcing the end of hostilities in Europe. AFRS stations broadcast from the islands of New Guinea, Java , and Borneo in the Dutch East Indies as the Allies moved into the Gilbert Islands and Bismarck Archipelago to the east. Coast watchers and scouts also listened to the AFRS stations for information about what was happening. Coded messages were sometimes included in daily broadcasts to give them special information as well. As

9504-411: Was so small, only a "Class C" operation, and, at the time, served only one area with TV programming, it was easy to establish the color TV broadcast operation without extensive expense or expansion. Central Pacific Area Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific Ocean Areas was a major Allied military command in

9603-595: Was sporadic, at best, and often took several weeks or months to reach its destination. Though it was not long after the establishment of AFRS, commanders began to realize that AFRS was probably the greatest morale booster ever devised, especially if the radio stations provided entertainment as well as news from home. So, even the threat of reporting AFRS problems to a higher headquarters often resulted in quick action by local commanders to do whatever they could to solve them. Still, some AFRS teams experienced problems that could not be easily solved by local island commanders, and

9702-570: Was the creation of two separate commands in the Pacific: POA and SWPA, each reporting separately to the JCS, each competing for scarce resources in an economy-of-force theater, and each headed by a commander in chief from a different service. In particular, the division of the Solomons caused problems, since the battles of the Solomon Islands campaign in 1942–1943 ranged over the whole region, with

9801-575: Was transferred to ASC/AAFPOA, where it lost its identity as an operating agency. The Seventh Air Force was left only VII Bomber Command and VII Fighter Command. The other AAFPOA operating forces were XXI Bomber Command and the Hawaiian Air Defense Wing(?) (probable source misprint for 7th Fighter Wing ). In preparation for the support of VHB units, the Hawaiian Air Depot was expanded and assigned directly to AAFPOA. For

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