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American Forces Network history
American Forces Network company history timeline
The first transmission to United States troops began at 5:45 p.m. on July 4, 1943 and included less than five hours of recorded shows, a BBC News and sports broadcast.
July 4, 1943, and AFN went on the air with "The Star-Spangled Banner."
The idea of some sort of radio network for American GIs was first put on the table at a meeting in early 1943 between General George C. Marshall and General Dwight D. Eisenhower, realizing the dire need to boost morale.
You can hear Ernie “Bubbles’ Whitman introduce Duke Ellington and a whole show from March 1944 here.
Check out this episode of Command Performance from May 1944 which includes a great version of "Up a Lazy River" by Louis Armstrong.
Since neither the house nor the broadcast system had suffered major damage, it was a perfect setup for AFN to start operation in 1945—albeit with a famous blunder: It was founded in early June 1945 from a mobile unit attached to the Seventh Army.
AFN Berlin had been set up within 17 days, starting on July 17, 1945, when several GIs arrived on a jeep with orders to establish a radio station.
Once the station was made AFN headquarters in 1946, it moved to “romantic Hoechst,” outside of Frankfurt.
In 1947, Radio Annual reported that AFN was “still building morale” and explained to the folks stateside the importance of AFN for the men serving overseas.
By the time the 1953 armistice was signed, these mobile units became buildings with transmitters, and a network, American Forces Korea Network, was born.
AFKN began TV operations on September 15, 1957, and consisted of an originating studio at Yongsan Garrison, Seoul, and six relay transmitters throughout the peninsula.
AFKN's first live television newscast aired on January 4, 1959.
An AFRTS radio station became operational in Tehran, Iran in 1959.
In 1962, AFN Berlin went 24-hours on a permanent basis as a direct result of keeping the Soviets from airing on the same frequency in English, and with some similar music, but with anti-American and pro-Communist propaganda during the late evening hours.
In Thailand, the Department of Defense began the planning for the Armed Forces Thailand Network in 1964 with Project Lamplighter and Project Limelight.
By late 1966, implementation of the network began by the United States Air Force with stations on the air at Korat, U-Tapao, Ubon, Udorn, Takhli and Nahkon Phanom.
AFN France was dismantled in 1967, when United States forces left France due to the French government's decision of President (General) Charles de Gaulle to withdraw its forces from NATO's military command.
Following the nationalization of the privately owned Television Iran network in 1969, AFTV was the only television service not in the Iranian government's hands.
Beginning in 1971, AFVN began to close some stations in Vietnam.
Broadcasting continued under civilian leadership on FM only and using the name American Radio Service (ARS). The civilian engineers were provided by Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE). ARS stayed on the air until the Fall of Saigon in April 1975.
On 26 October 1976 a new government owned International Service of National Iranian Radio & Television (NIRT) began.
However, in 1976, it was decided by the Iranian government that AFRTS should close down its radio and TV services, which it did on 25 October of that year, the day before the Shah's 57th birthday.
Before the United States and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations in 1979, the AFN branch in Taiwan was Armed Forces Network Taiwan (AFNT), which had a main station in Yangmingshan American Military Housing, Taipei.
AFN Honduras, which began in 1987 as SCN Honduras, now broadcasts from Soto Cano Air Base on 106.3 FM, and serves more than 600 American service members stationed at the installation, as well as numerous civilian employees and contractors.
Turner Publishing (1992). History of AFRTS: The first 50 years.
Since 1997, all of AFN's military personnel receive primary training at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland.
All local operations merged under the AFN banner effective January 1, 1998.
SCN discontinued broadcasting on 1 July 1999 just before the 31 December turnover of the Canal Zone to the Republic of Panama when United States troops were removed from that country under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
On 21 November 2000, the American Forces Information Service directed a change of the AFRTS organizational title from Armed Forces Radio and Television Service back to American Forces Radio and Television Service.
AFN viewers abroad witnessed live television coverage of the terrorist attacks on The Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
AFN-Iraq began broadcasting in December 2003 on the FM band shortly after the fall of Saddam.
Today AFN has a staffed affiliate in Iraq, AFN-Baghdad (launched 2003).
In 2004, AFN Europe headquarters relocated to Coleman Barracks in Mannheim, Germany.
On December 5, 2005, liberal/progressive Ed Schultz and conservative talk show host Sean Hannity were added to the radio programs provided by the AFN Broadcast Center to its affiliate stations.
Launched in February 2006, AFN Xtra is young adult oriented channel with shows from Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, and more.
AFN Afghanistan operates out of a building on Bagram Air Base. Its first radio transmission was at 0630 on Friday, July 21, 2006.
Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20091215134713/http://afrts.dodmedia.osd.mil/heritage/heritage.asp.
As of 15 January 2013, AFN Honduras is one of 18 stations under the operational control of AFN Europe.
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