The Partisan Operator Journals (Vol. 1) 2022 Edition is now available on Amazon!

The Partisan Operator Journals follows a small group of military veterans, ham radio operators, and patriots through a series of adventures following a major catastrophic event that the survivors came to call “Zero Day.” The results of this sudden event left much of the North American continent without electricity, telecommunications, effective governments, the rule of law, and without answers.

Volume 1 of the Partisan Operator Journals brings the reader forward to one year after Zero Day, when the first war since the Civil War, on American soil begins.

The main character, Phil (a former Marine Force Recon radio operator and combat veteran of the Afghanistan war) combines his military experience with his hobby and passion for ham radio. Once merged and adapted, these skills make him one of a handful of some of the most valuable assets to the new and fledgling provisional government’s Central Command.

Rumors abound of foreign militaries arriving on US shores under the auspices of bringing emergency assistance and aiding in the recovery from the disaster. Other rumors bring allegations of atrocities and unconfirmed reports of heavy handed martial law in and around North American coastal cities.

It was supposed to be a simple and routine mission to observe a remote mountain airstrip deep within the inland Pacific Northwest, days ahead of a planned meeting between commanders and leaders of the provisional government.

Phil finds himself at the leading edge of an emerging conflict between American patriots and a foreign invasion, and his tradecraft and skills as a radio operator skills were single factor in shifting the initiative to the patriots at Central Command.

Teaming up with a former Army Ranger sniper, the two-man team is inserted back in to the original Area of Operations in search of a missing militia squad. Little did they know they would become witnesses to atrocities, and they would carry out a devastating first strike against the invading forces and their forward operating base.

The Partisan Operator Journals is intended to emphasize how ham radio and other communications equipment, software, and methods might be realistically adapted to meet the demands of an austere operating environment. This, and future volumes, might be useful when considering just some of the tactical, operational, and strategic communications support roles radio operators might contribute in any future disaster or civil defense emergency.

Enjoy!

 

2022 Reprint and Revised Edition

Volume 1 of the Partisan Operator Journals was first published in 2020 and distribution was limited to several hundred copies. Although it was primarily marketed to the AmRRON radio operator community, it was publicly available through AmRRON’s Redoubt Gear Store.
Due to the popularity of the story and the content, we are re-releasing the POJ, Volume 1, with minor editing and some changes.
In the 2020 print edition, the main character, ‘Phil’, carried and used a CommRadio CTX-10 amateur radio transceiver. The CTX-10 is a superb ruggedized, low power, software defined field radio.
However, the radio was described as being ‘open banded’, which meant it was modified to allow operation outside of the designated amateur radio (ham radio) bands. Unfortunately, after inquiring with the manufacturer, it was reported that the radio cannot be modified for such use. At the time of the first Partisan Operator Journal writing, it seemed that the modification would be made available.
I want the reader to understand that the equipment, tactics, techniques, and procedures are realistic and applicable in a real-world operating environment in austere, and even hostile, conditions.
In this 2022 edition, the main character uses the ultra portable and coveted American-made Elecraft KX2, which can be modified to transmit outside the ham bands for Marine HF use, and extreme emergencies.

The requirements I was looking for in a field-portable HF radio for this story were:

– American-made (if possible), or at least non-Chinese
– Compact and lightweight SDR (Software Defined Radio)
– Must be able to be modified to operate outside ham bands
– All band/All mode
– Very low power consumption
– Internal battery capability
– ATU – Automatic Tuner Unit
– Minimum 10+ watts transmitter power

The KX2 and KX3, with their other features and options, such as filtering, notching, Pass Band Tuning, and superior DSP (Digital Signals Processing) capabilities (and more!) exceeded these requirements.

The downside: Cost and lack of ruggedness. Unfortunately, the American-made Elecraft radios and equipment are on the expensive side. Secondly, they are more fragile and less tolerant to inclimate weather or dusty, dirty field conditions. Compared to other brands of similar-featured HF field transceivers, many of which are superior on the ‘ruggedization’ scale, the KX2 and KX3 falls disappointingly short. Extra care must be taken to protect these rigs from moisture and dust intrusion, as well as shock from hard impact in a field environment.

Field operators would be all too excited to see Elecraft catch up and make available ruggedized versions of these rigs.

e-Book and Audio book versions will be released in the coming weeks.

Volume 2 is almost halfway finished.  You can learn more about how to follow along by visiting the posts linked below:

 

To learn more about the AIB training project, read the following postings.  You can participate too, and see each chapter as the next book is being written, before the rest of the world!

AIB ‘Veri-Code’: Layered Training with Rewards

AmRRON 2020 Part 3 Vericode Project

 

New Partisan Operator Journals are uploaded here (encrypted) as each POJ chapter is produced:

Partisan Operator Journal