On Thursday evening, I made a last minute decision to travel to Valdosta for Hawgsmoke 2021. Hawgsmoke is an aerial gunnery/bombing competition for the US Air Force/US Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard A-10 community; it’s held every other year and this year it was hosted by the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB. I’d never monitored a Hawgsmoke before, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity since I had a few days off. I quickly booked a hotel room in Valdosta and headed southwest to catch the second day of activity.

I woke up early on Friday morning, got breakfast at the nearby Waffle House, then headed to the Moody AFB area to monitor the Hawgsmoke flights up close. I first explored the area around the north end of the base and was able to see the A-10s as they came off of runs from Grand Bay Range, hearing that truly impressive sound that only the A-10’s GAU-8 gun can make. At this point, I discovered that I left my camera bag in Savannah, so I couldn’t take any photos (I’m still kicking myself over that). I quickly realized that the flights were taking off from Moody on 257.650 with Moody Tower and switching to Valdosta Approach/Departure on 306.300 and/or 269.400 before being pushed over to 239.000 for the Moody MOAs. On 239.000, they checked in with AIR BOSS until they were handed off to Grand Bay Range on 236.075 for their range runs. I then headed down to a spot south of Moody where I could see them while they were on final for landing. From that spot, I hung out for quite a while listening to the range ops and watching the flights come back. I was also able to watch some of the Nigerian Air Force/81st FS A-29s work the pattern. I never saw it, but I also heard WHISKEY 11, which definitely a HH-60, probably one of the new HH-60Ws that the 41st RQS has received.

128.450/257.650 - Moody AFB Tower
   -THUNDER 0# (A-10C)
   -CASEY 0# (A-10C, 303rd FS)
   -ATTACK 0# (A-10C)
   -RAVEN 0# (A-10C, 104th FS)
   -BULLDOG 0# (A-10C, 354th FS)
   -SNAKE 0# (A-10C, 163rd FS)
   -VANGUARD 0# (A-10C, 76th FS); 240.100 a2a
   -BORER 0# (A-10C, 47th FS?)
   -LOBO 0# (A-10C, 358th FS)
   -DRAGON 0# (A-10C, 25th FS or 357th FS)
   -SKULL 0# (A-10C, 190th FS); 227.800 a2a
   -SCARE 81 (HH-60, 41st RQS)
   -WHISKEY 11 (HH-60W?, 41st RQS)
   -BRONCO ## (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS)
   -GLOCK ## (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS)
   -PANTHER ## (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS)
   -PUMA 4# (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS); 251.750 a2a
   -RAVEN 51 (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS)

125.475/126.600/132.375/269.400/285.600/306.300 - Valdosta Approach
   -THUNDER 0# (A-10C)
   -CASEY 0# (A-10C, 303rd FS)
   -ATTACK 0# (A-10C)
   -RAVEN 0# (A-10C, 104th FS)
   -BULLDOG 0# (A-10C, 354th FS)
   -SNAKE 0# (A-10C, 163rd FS)
   -VANGUARD 0# (A-10C, 76th FS); 240.100 a2a
   -BORER 0# (A-10C, 47th FS?)
   -LOBO 0# (A-10C, 358th FS)
   -DRAGON 0# (A-10C, 25th FS or 357th FS)
   -SNAKE 1# (A-10C, 163rd FS); 300.500 a2a
   -SKULL 0# (A-10C, 190th FS); 227.800 a2a
   -PUMA 4# (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS); 251.750 a2a
   -RAVEN 51 (A-29, Nigerian AF/81st FS)

239.000 - Moody MOA; AIRBOSS for HAWKSMOKE 2021
   -THUNDER 0# (A-10C)
   -CASEY 0# (A-10C, 303rd FS)
   -ATTACK 0# (A-10C)
   -RAVEN 0# (A-10C, 104th FS)
   -BULLDOG 0# (A-10C, 354th FS)
   -SNAKE 0# (A-10C, 163rd FS)
   -VANGUARD 0# (A-10C, 76th FS); 240.100 a2a
   -BORER 0# (A-10C, 47th FS?)
   -LOBO 0# (A-10C, 358th FS)
   -DRAGON 0# (A-10C, 25th FS or 357th FS)
   -SKULL 0# (A-10C, 190th FS); 227.800 a2a

236.075 - Grand Bay Range
   -THUNDER 0# (A-10C)
   -CASEY 0# (A-10C, 303rd FS)
   -ATTACK 0# (A-10C)
   -RAVEN 0# (A-10C, 104th FS)
   -BULLDOG 0# (A-10C, 354th FS)
   -SNAKE 0# (A-10C, 163rd FS)
   -VANGUARD 0# (A-10C, 76th FS); 240.100 a2a
   -BORER 0# (A-10C, 47th FS?)
   -LOBO 0# (A-10C, 358th FS)
   -DRAGON 0# (A-10C, 25th FS or 357th FS)
   -SKULL 0# (A-10C, 190th FS); 227.800 a2a

While I was in Valdosta, I had a secondary project of trying to figure out what Moody AFB is using for base communications. There wasn’t anything listed on RadioReference for the base itself or as sites for any of the US Air Force trunked repeater systems. I stayed approximately 10-12 miles from base at a hotel in Valdosta and was surprised that I couldn’t find anything when I got there on Thursday night. The next morning I couldn’t find anything either, but once I got closer to the base I was able to find a control channel on 138.0375, showing a system ID of 57C and a site ID of 001-097, which makes it a site of the USAF 57C TRS. Additional frequencies are 138.0875, 138.1375, 138.1875, 138.2375,138.3125, 138.3625, 138.4125, 138.5375, and 138.5875. The only talkgroup I could positively ID was 4763, which is the Moody AFB FD Fire/Crash net. (This information has been submitted to the RadioReference database). One of the reasons that I think this site wasn’t reported previously is that it seems to have a small footprint; you have to be within a couple of miles of the base to hear/track it reliably.

I’m glad I made that last minute decision to go to Valdosta for Hawgsmoke. It was a rare opportunity to hear A-10s from bases across the country doing almost non-stop range work. It’s never a bad day when you get to hear that big GAU-8 up close! (Even when you forget your camera and can’t take any photos)