Amateur radio operators will participate in the Department of Defense’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on May 9, 2026. The annual event will not impact any public or private communications.

For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have participated in this interoperability exercise between the amateur and government radio services. The AFD Crossband Test provides a unique opportunity to conduct two-way communication between military communicators and stations in the Amateur Radio Service (ARS), as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. These tests present both opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario.
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Military stations will transmit on selected military frequencies and will announce the specific ARS frequencies they are monitoring. All times are ZULU (Z), and all frequencies are upper sideband (USB) unless otherwise noted. An AFD message will be transmitted using the Military Standard (MIL-STD) Serial PSK waveform (M110), followed by MIL-STD Wide Shift FSK (850 Hz RTTY), as described in MIL-STD 188-110A/B. Technical information regarding these waveforms is available at drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pYDj7kQbm-QAyY4RPtx0dOXKohjaEjq9?usp=sharing.

To document your contacts with a QSL, visit: www.usarmymars.org/events-and-announcements and complete the request form.

Full story at ARRL website:
https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-to-participate-in-dod-armed-forces-day-crossband-test-on-may-9-2026

NOTE this is a cross-band, split-frequency event. U.S. Amateurs listen for Military stations on their announced, published frequencies, and transmit replies ONLY on the amateur band frequencies called out for by the military stations. NEVER transmit outside an amateur band!