American Forces Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. AFN comprises two subordinate overseas commands and one directorate in the continental United States. Overseas, AFN Europe is headquartered at Sembach Kaserne, Germany and consists of 15 subordinate stations in the countries of Bahrain, Belgium, Cuba, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. AFN Pacific is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan and consists of nine stations in the countries of Diego Garcia, Japan, and South Korea. Stations under AFN Europe and AFN Pacific conduct live local radio shows 12 hours a day Monday through Friday, with the exception of U.S. federal holidays. Stateside, AFN's broadcast operations, which include global radio and television satellite feeds, emanate from the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center in Riverside, California.[1]
"Armed Forces Radio" redirects here. For the Nigerian radio station, see Armed Forces Radio (Nigeria).Formerly
Armed Forces Radio Service (1942-1954)
Armed Forces Radio & Television Service
(1954-2009)
26 May 1942
- Fort George G. Meade, Maryland (HQ AFN)
Sembach Kaserne, Germany (AFN Europe)
Yokota Air Base, Japan (AFN Pacific)
March ARB, California (AFN Broadcast Center)
28 manned locations worldwide
Defense Media Activity (2009–Present)
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (1980–present)
Organization[edit]
The American Forces Network (AFN) is the operational arm of the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), an office of the Defense Media Activity (DMA). AFN falls under the operational control of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA). Editorial control is by the Department of Defense, whereas the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), for example, is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the British armed forces.
AFN employs military broadcasters as well as Defense Department civilians and contractors. Service personnel hold broadcasting occupational specialties for their military branch.
Since 1997, all of AFN's military personnel receive primary training at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. Before 1997, DINFOS was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1997, Fort Benjamin Harrison was largely closed as a function of the 1991 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Additional/Advanced training is also available at Fort George G. Meade.
In the 1960s, DINFOS was located at Fort Slocum, NY on a small island just off the harbor at New Rochelle. At its peak in 1965, the Army Chaplain school was also located there. In 1963 the campus operated in a "university" setting with a relaxed military environment. The Army ran the Information School although training was offered to members of all military branches. Radio types took a rather severe audition written by CBS for their network announcers. Those who survived the audition became "Broadcast Specialists" with a 703 MOS and went on to an AFRTS assignment.
Some of AFN's broadcasters have previous commercial broadcasting experience before enlisting in the military, but it is not a prerequisite for enlistment in the military as a broadcaster. During their training, the broadcasters are taught to use state-of-the-art audio and visual editing equipment similar to their civilian counterparts.
AFN management is located at DMA headquarters at Fort Meade. Day-to-day AFN broadcast operations are conducted at the AFN Broadcast Center/Defense Media Center in Riverside, California, from where all global radio and television satellite feeds emanate.
Television services[edit]
European operations[edit]
Until the early 1970s, U.S. military television service was provided in Western Europe by Air Force Television at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. In the early 1970s, AFN assumed this responsibility for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).
AFN Bremerhaven was the first AFN television station in Europe to broadcast its programming in color. The U.S. European Edition of Stars and Stripes (S&S) reported in its Thursday, 21 August 1975, edition that the AFN-Europe Commander, Lt. Col. Floyd A. McBride, announced that AFN's first color TV broadcast would begin in Bremerhaven on Monday 25 August 1975. As S&S reported, because Bremerhaven's TV operation was so small, only a "Class C" operation, and, at the time, served only one area with TV programming, it was easy to establish the color TV broadcast operation without extensive expense or expansion.[33]
That next year, S&S reported in its Wednesday, 23 June 1976, edition, that "the long-awaited switch to color by AFN-TV could come by the end of the year for viewers in most of West Germany. The only viewers enjoying color right now are those watching the pilot color TV station in Bremerhaven, which went on the air in…1975".[33]
Finally, on 28 October 1976, AFN television moved from AFTV's old black-and-white studios at Ramstein to the network's new color television studios in Frankfurt. In the 1980s the network added affiliates with studio capabilities in Würzburg, Germany, and Soesterberg, the Netherlands, expanding the network to 12 affiliate stations serving American military, DOD-employed civilians and their families estimated to be well-above 350,000 stationed in West Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This was accomplished by a system of 112 microwave transmitters operated and maintained by the Army's 5th Signal Command. Embassies and other entities of the American government without access to AFN TV signals received a 30-plus hour package mailed weekly of AFN and U.S. programming. In April 1984, AFN began broadcasting live news, information and entertainment programming received through an 11-meter satellite dish downlink at AFN network headquarters, in addition to primetime pre-recorded shows and movies received from the Armed Forces Radio-Television Service broadcast center in Hollywood. For outlying areas, broadcast feeds of live American sports events were frequently provided by European contractors.
AFN TV was available in West Berlin until 1994.[34] However, it was only available in the American Sector.[35]
In 1946, AFN Europe headquarters relocated from London to Hoechst Castle on the western edge of Frankfurt.
In 1966, AFN Europe headquarters relocated to the Dornbusch quarter of Frankfurt, adjacent to Hessischer Rundfunk.
In 2004, AFN Europe headquarters relocated to Coleman Barracks in Mannheim, Germany.
In 2014, AFN Europe headquarters relocated to Sembach Kaserne in Sembach, Germany.
Pacific operations[edit]
Over-the-air TV for U.S. Forces in the Pacific is currently provided by AFN-Korea, AFN-Japan and AFN-Kwajalein. All local operations merged under the AFN banner effective 1 January 1998.
Official website
Media related to American Forces Network at Wikimedia Commons