The Annual Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test, hosted by the Department of Defense, is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, 2025.
The event will test two-way communications between military stations and amateur radio operators as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations 47 CFR 97.111. The test provides opportunities, and challenges, for operators to test their individual technical skills in a controlled scenario that will not impact public or private communications.
The annual DOD message will be transmitted via RTTY on 14667.0 kHz at 1400 and 2000 UTC. Military stations will transmit on selected military frequencies and announce the specific amateur radio service frequencies that will be monitored.
All scheduled times will be in UTC, and all scheduled transmissions will be upper sideband (USB), unless otherwise noted. Frequencies, times, and other technical information can be found at the DoD MARS – Armed Forces Day site at: www.dodmars.org/mars-comex-
Those who wish to document their contacts with a QSL card should visit www.usarmymars.org/armed-