Guerilla SIGINT Shops

Defensive SIGINT

The more our little war progresses, the more these non-shooting skills will become the “everything but the tip of the spear”. Because the tip is tiny piece of metal with the whole of the spear head and shaft. SIGINT at home isn’t sexy, cool, or particularly blood pumping excitement, unless you are an absolute nerd about radios like me. Just as important as the skills required is the location and the setup of a dedicated SIGINT Shop. Why call it a Shop? Because here is where Signals Intelligence is sourced, manufactured, and packaged for delivery. Even if you don’t have the community defense network outlined in most Prepper books, you can still have your own SIGINT shop. All you need is a way to intercept the desired frequency bands and way to listen and write. The ability to record conversations is invaluable and is highly recommended. Even if it’s an old tape recorder.

Being able to keep track of radio traffic in your area may not seem like such a pressing matter now, but eventually, you or a family member will need to monitor enemy radio traffic. The hordes of mostly peaceful protesters have used radios in the past during the 2020 attacks on US cities. They will likely be on the horn during the community raids.

What does a SIGINT Shop look like?

Above is a photo from United Kingdom forces in WW2. The lad closest to the camera has a pencil and paper and is seated next to fellow that appears to be listening to intercepted messages. In modern times we have a similar set up for intercepting Push-To-Talk(PTT) radio transmissions. One is listening, solely focused on the conversation taking place and echoing every word of it to the scribe while distinguishing which person is speaking. The Scribe position, being just as stressful, needs to write down almost verbatim the entire conversation. This only becomes more difficult when you intercept a message being spoken in code or even a foreign accent. Your brain naturally figures out the flow of a normal conversation. When you hear someone start to talk about frying bacon before they go for a walk to the coffee shop, it can be hard to follow. Though the Germans likely had a nice flow to the their code words.

Transcribing is tough work in the field so sometimes paraphrasing is the only real option to capture the whole message. If they are speaking in code, you’ll have to record and make sure it’s all written down. Passing these encrypted messages is a job for AndFLMsg which is an application plainly instructed in NC Scout’s book. Digital Messages over your analog radio. What a time to be alive! Your Listening Post/Observation Post(LP/OP) should not be cracking codes in the hide.  Their job is to intercept, direction find, and record. So of course they need to send the TOC messages which is dangerous to do in spoken voice which would take far to long. Some messages may just have to wait so the official recommendation is that unless you think that is a message of attack, just keep it in your notepad until you get home. Unless you are home, which we’ll get into soon.

To the Guerilla, numbers are usually not a strength and to think you’ll be able to fill a room with ears to listen and fingers to transcribe is a little far-fetched. Likely, it will be two or three, which is plenty of brain power. The G-SIGINT room should be whatever room in the home that isn’t regularly used for day-to-day activities. Big time HAMs are lucky here, many already have everything one would need in a room already. Sound proofing is recommended to reduce distracting noises. Having access to most frequency bands is crucial. HF, VHF, and UHF are the most common. HF is great to hear about what is happening in the next state, VHF is mostly Marine radio and NOAA, UHF is great for hearing the road workers and security guards. CB radio is so cheap and easy that everyone should have it. Naturally, having listed 4 frequency bands to monitor but telling you that you only need 2 or 3 guys is confusing, which is why you just have to suck it up buttercup. Either don’t listen to one band or listen to two at the same time. Enjoy!

LP/OP

Now, the main focus of a SIGINT shop is totally dependent on the task. Do you have LP/OPs set up somewhere? If so, how many? If the answer is more than zero, that’s a good start. If the answer is zero, set up an LP/OP. Which could very easily be your neighbor’s house down the street. The reasoning for this is simple: 2 is mo’ good than 1. Often times we get stuck in this mind set of being out in the woods and direction finding a Chinese platoon. Sexy, I know. But why can’t you just do that from your house too? If your house works, why not Cleetus’. It’s a very simple concept that many over look. You don’t have to rough it, in fact, I’d argue that most people don’t even have a place to set up a proper wood line LP/OP. You’d be much better off in your neighbors garage.

If you happen to find yourself on the front in a big war with artillery and bombers, now we can talk about setting up a field SIGINT shop and LP/OPs. Which are really just as simple, just less comfortable. SIGINT analysis should take place right next to the Tactical Operations Center(TOC). This is so when something extraordinarily mission critical is discovered, you don’t have to slo-mo run 1/2 mile to “HQ” to tell the Commander. There should be scheduled communications with far off LP/OPs and the TOC. Both for important updates if any, and general SALUTE reports.

Real World, Real Problems

Back from the LARP fantasy, most aren’t going to be leaving their homes, which means your home is now the TOC and an LP/OP for someone else. Knowing this, the need for community building is even more crucial for success than it was before. DO NOT make your first interaction with your neighbor an attempt to convince them of the need for you to build a shack in their backyard for Signals Intelligence for the Neighborhood Defense Team. Maybe try asking if they could use some help around the yard or inside their house first. If your whole block is already on board, have no fear and get your SIGINT Shop running.