Chatter.

This is coolbert:

In a previous blog entry I mentioned that Japanese radio intercept operators aboard major Japanese warships during the Second World War [WW2] were able to provide advanced warning to the approach of American naval aviation aircraft. Primarily those aircraft launched from aircraft carriers. This was much to the Japanese advantage.

Much has been made over the years about American military radio INSECURITY.

How Americans during the various wars they have fought, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf Wars [I will not mention WW1 as radio was not used at the lower echelon level], have used radios in an injudicious and almost cavalier manner. This method of use allows your opposition to gain valuable intelligence about the activities of U.S. forces. Enemy radio intercept operators [such as those aboard the major Japanese warships, are able to answer such questions as the classic who, what, where, when that provides intelligence [in this case for the enemy combat commander]. So we can see that radio insecurity is a big negative.

And yet it seems that all the training, lectures, admonishments of superiors don't seem to curtail American radio insecurity. Naval aviation seems particularly susceptible to this weakness.

There maybe a very reasonable explanation for all this. Pilots in naval aviation are doing something VERY DANGEROUS. Intuitively so! Even more so than those in other combat branches.

Think about it.

The pilot takes off from the deck of an aircraft carrier, which becomes a little itty-bitty speck of "land" in mid-ocean. He then flies toward the target, all the time over water, arrives at the target, engages in battle with the enemy, and then returns to his "land" [aircraft carrier], again flying the entire time over water.

In fact the entire scenario may play out in mid-ocean where there is no land to be found for thousands of miles in any direction. The slightest navigation error, mechanical malfunction, or combat damage may doom that naval aviation pilot in a heartbeat, without any recourse to remedial action. And bailing out or ditching is not always a viable option either. Combat operations may necessitate that combat be continued without regard to finding downed pilots. Such a combination of factors all at once creates a situation of extreme anxiety and tension, regardless of how "cool" the individual is.

Chatter, and incessant radio talk maybe a way of dealing with this dangerous situation and the anxiety and tension. Consciously or unconsciously, the pilots of naval aviation are "dealing" by engaging in banter on the radio that has the effect to reassure one another. What these pilots are saying to one another, regardless if they realize it or not is, "we are not in this alone, we have one another to rely on, we have backup and someone to lend a hand if I need help." A reassurance that is needed and is provided by radio chatter.

It may also be that we can find such a similar equation in nature. I am a firm believer in the theories of Edwin O. Wilson. The Harvard "ant man". One of the world's foremost scientists. Edwin in the early 1970's proposed the theory [based upon his studies of ants] that much of man's social constructs and social behavior has a sound fundamental biological reason behind it.

Such behavior as "chatter" [called vocalizations by scientists] in what can only be described as a "dangerous situation" can be found most strikingly in the Emperor penguin of Antarctica. About the Emperor penguin, this has been observed:

"Nearly all creatures leave except for the emperor, the only animal that spends the winter on Antarctica's open ice.

There the males stand, for about 65 days, through icy temperatures, cruel winds, and blinding storms. And they eat nothing that whole time.

The male Emperor fasts through the winter during incubation of the egg. Incubation is solely his responsibility. He positions the egg on top of his feet and covers it with a warm fold of feathered abdominal skin. The incubation lasts nearly two months. [and this all occurs during the dead of the Antarctic winter].

Emperors clump together in huge, huddled masses. They take turns moving to the inside of the group, where they're protected from the icy cold temperatures and wind. Once they've had a chance to warm up, they take their turns back on the circle's edges, giving fellow penguins time in the warmer center."

This is the manner with which the Emperor incubates and hatches it's young.

The responsibility of the male. And does this during the most dangerous time of the year as well. By balancing the egg on it's feet during the entire time!! And it is not mentioned in the above quote that the clump of penguins is in perpetual motion the whole time, walking in a big circle. Once again, during the MOST dangerous time of the year under the most harshest conditions found on the planet period. What also is not mentioned in the above quote is that from the clump can be heard an INCESSANT CHATTER. THE WHOLE TIME THE CLUMP IS MOVING IN A BIG CIRCLE, THE PENGUINS KEEP UP AN INCESSANT CHATTER. This is something that astounds those naturalists that hear it. It is as if the Emperors are saying to one another, "we are in this together, we can do it, we are as one, keep the faith." Chatter and vocalizations that provide assurance.

Assurance provided by chatter is the same for the penguins as it is for the pilots of American naval aviation.

coolbert.