BY LT SARAH DAVIS
e were transitioning from a night combat mission to heading home. I was thinking about what type of omelet to order at midrats when our crew heard a distinct starburst sound over the ICS. In the E-2D, we are trained to note this sound and associate it with a transition in the ICS routing, possibly indicating an issue with the fiber channel network switch (FCNS). The FCNS routes all ICS crew stations together. To complicate matters, each ICS crew station has different radios’ audio signals routed through it. In short, if you lose one crewmember’s ICS station, you also lose the ability to use one or more radios. 22
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Clifford L. H. Davis
As the starburst sound was heard by all crewmembers, it was odd not to hear from one of the most opinionated members of the crew, our chatty copilot, until the radar operator (RO) noted on the advisory caution and warning system (ACAWS) readout that we were seeing multiple “FC ACO-CP” and “FC CP-ACO” messages. Recalling our NATOPS knowledge, we discussed that the lost ICS crew station may be switched to an emergency mode of EM-1 or EM-2 to talk on radios one or two, respectively, and communicate with other crew members with the push-to-talk emergency ICS. However, this will also disable any radios associated with that station. For the copilot, the V/UHF-3 radio is associated to his or her ICS crew station along with UHF Guard and the MMR marker beacon. Through the pilot, we were able to determine that the copilot was hearing all communications but unable to transmit over ICS. After a brief discussion, the air control officer (ACO) suggested we use our squadron tactical frequency to test if he was able to transmit on the radio. It was confirmed he could not. He double-checked all cord connections and all switches then reset his ICS station and attempted to communicate using the emergency Approach
