Description as found on the internet:
5 Sig - Consisted of 511, 512 and 513 TP. An Elite regiment that remained secretive despite the action they saw in Angola.
BRUSH - Bush Reconnaissance Unit Signal HQ [511 TP]

<Why were we so secretive? Was it because we were never �officially� there??>

About Me:
85202406BG Signalman C.G.Knight
Later Lance Corporal ('Bush rank' promotion) Stripe awarded - official ranking and pay.
Basics: Kimberley � Diskobolos Maintenance unit (3 1/2 weeks) - transferred to 5 Signal Regiment (Wonderboom - Pretoria) when it was discovered I understood a little Russian!
I was stationed at 5 Signals Regiment for approx 4 weeks.
I was in the process of being trained as a Portuguese (!) interpreter but my very basic knowledge of Russian was eventually noticed, again, and I was then sent to 511TP Grootfontein as a 'roofie'. I Served 18 months in SWA - mostly at Grootfontein NLC.
I was sent on a crash course in Russian studies in Pretoria for 6 months (flown down every alternate week) and eventually qualified as a NATO Grade 3 Russian Translator (no official certification ever given!)
I served my national service from January 1986 - early December 1987.
Duties:
Russian translator for Russian radio traffic interception and decoding, computer analysis and code decryption into Portuguese for English translation, also a roving electronics technician. Sole Russian translator available for 'active duties' in the 'red zone' even if I WAS G3K2! Called to whichever base required my services including Rundu (513TP), Oshakati (512TP), 'Buffalo' forward base and others. I was often flown directly from Grootfontein airbase by light aircraft - usually a Beechcraft 'Baron' - time being essential. Other times by 'flossie' (Dakota or Lockheed Hercules) under 'special forces' route forms. Spiraling down to land at Ondangwa was always hair-raising! Only one return road trip by truck recalled from Oshakati to Grootfontein by Samil 100 with the speed governor removed ... It hit an Eland at reportedly nearly 100km/h with me asleep in the back - severely damaging the truck - but everyone ate well for the next few days! I never traveled by road in a Samil again�.
Angolan operations
Communications Kaspir - onboard 'Hopper', VHF and HF receivers with fixed antennas and an additional HF lattice antenna that could be slung over trees.
Usually Portuguese (occasionally Spanish and a Russian translator <ME!> were also aboard. Onboard GPS which occasionally worked quite well�
(You could tell from it that you were indeed in Angola....more or less!)
Units:
511TP - 'Brush' a separate secured and fenced off section in front of Maintenance and to the right of the main entrance to Grootfontein NLC. Our antenna ruled the skyline!
512TP - Separate secured section next to the boundary fence near the mess tent area of Oshakati Base (who knew nothing of our operations 'officially'...)
513TP - Separate secured section situated next to the rear boundary fence of Rundu Base - Absolutely HATED by the base RSM - he had no authority over it!
Main Grootfontein Base - NLC - Northern Logistical Command
511TP Grootfontein (Orange Zone)
Main base had been attacked before
Grootfontein NLC was reportedly attacked at least once by RPG or mortar fire in 1985 but was never overtly attacked during my period of military service � although a few attempts may have been made... We did have the main base kitchen closed down for two whole weeks during 1987 for �health reasons� though!

Complement:
50-60 NSM. (Variable due to postings to and from 512TP/513TP)
Mostly Portuguese and Spanish speakers
During my time there was also one Englishman (me), One Czech, One Pole, One Romanian and one Afrikaans speaking member of SWA Territory Forces who was in charge of base security and had virtually no clue at all as to what we did there...
a deliberate situation for reasons that remain unclear to this day!
OIC's:
Captain Barnard PF <? - Dec 86>
Lieutenant Smith PF <Dec 86 - ?>
Base Housing:
Tents

Power:
Erratic and unreliable mains power with on-base diesel backup generator � A Rolls Royce Diesel (18 second power up lag)
Lovingly attended to every day by the base PF Sergeant.
Antenna:
30 Meter high Grinaker Electronics "Granger" HF antenna
'Pyramid' style design - complete with twin red aircraft warning lights on top!
Antenna description:
Tuned stepped dipole antennas across each face - blended into a common incoming
0-40 MHz HF feed for all workstations.
Efficiency:
Excellent but required constant connection maintenance - and the aircraft lights
(two 60 watt standard globes with red covers) on top failed on a regular basis.

Sometimes �straws� were drawn on who would climb the 30m mast to replace them as no safety harnesses were ever available. Other times it was a case of �YOU are the base technician � YOU do it!� I developed my current fear of heights around 1987...
The �Granger� was perfectly capable of illicitly receiving daytime Radio 5 from South Africa on 7.170 MHz despite standing orders not to do so!!
Operational Frequency Range:
0-40 MHZ - more efficient on specific 'active bands'
(7 MHZ was not 'officially' one of them!)
Lowest 'active band�:
3 MHz.
No VHF/ UHF radio transmissions or monitoring to or from 511TP.
Radios:
Rhode and Schwartz HF units - 2 or 3 receivers per workstation.
Radio Direction Finding:
Separate 'hopper' HF transceiver for RDF interception used in conjunction with an antique HF receiver (later a Rhode and Schwartz HF receiver) - in a secured room separated from the main working area. A Yaesu 7700 receiver was also tested but failed miserably.
Recorders:
Philips - variable speed cassette recorders - recording in real time - capable of slowing down during playback. Headphones were always used, some of them quite high quality � and were issued as �kit�.
Main working area
Called the 'ML' <MeerLuister>
The 18 Workstations in the ML were called 'Golf's�
The Russian workstation was Golf 34 (G34)

Frequencies covered by G34:
3.514 MHz, 4.412 MHz and 8.903 MHz upper SSB (single sideband)
Russian aircraft and Russian maritime communications monitoring.
Other sections:
Computer Decryption Room
Computer decryption - 3 secured (password locked) networked workstation code decryption computers obtained, supplied and programmed by CSIR in Pretoria - I know that for a certainty - I was sent there to be taught how to set them up, and how to use them. I then took them back to 511TP where I set them up for use!
Codes intercepted and broken:
FAPLA Alpha, numeric and alphanumeric 4, 5 and 6 figure grouped messages.
Telex room
2 direct permanent line 50 baud mechanical teleprinters,
5 other units in virtually continuous operation via �tickertapes� sent in from other bases.
Ticker Tapes
'Tickertapes' were received from 512TP/513TP and then fed through our teleprinters for direct transmission to DHQ
Radio Direction Finding Room
High Frequency Israeli inspired 'Hopper' radios (Grinaker?), used for communications Rhode and Schwartz HF used for RDF in conjunction with a fixed antenna.
Separate ablution caravan
Gas heated water for showers and sinks (remember the 'vooFFF!!!' ?)
Intercepted and decoded messages were translated into English from:
Russian (Russian 'advisors' talking to Cuban 'Liberator Forces'/Air to ground Cuban MIG pilots to Russian 'advisors'/Russian shipping and air traffic )
Spanish (Cuban 'Liberator force' traffic)
Portuguese (Angolan FAPLA unit traffic)
SADF and UNITA 'own forces' monitoring
Occasionally messages were intercepted in 'clear'(no encoding) and 'hopper' radios not used! All information received in this way was forwarded to DHQ by telex.
Aircraft radio intercepts in Russian and Spanish
SAAF pilots sometimes intercepted Spanish and Russian air band communications and recorded them on tape � they were then brought in to 511TP for decoding under strict secrecy conditions - decodes/translations were then urgently forwarded by telex to DHQ at any time of the day or night as 'flash traffic'.

However, being urgently woken at 3am only to listen to an intercept in which a Cuban pilot moans about his girlfriend in Luanda in Russian to his Russian advisor on the ground was never one of my fun things to do while out and about in Grootfontein!
512TP Oshakati (Red Zone)
Unit was often under attack
As the Oshakati base was so conveniently close to the border � well within the red zone, mortars coming in over the wall were not unusual as Oshakati base was ALSO the base for the notorious and much hated �Koevoet� counter insurgency force!
512TP was right next to the boundary fence and I experienced one such attack during one of my visits to �Shacks�.

Complement:
15-20 NSM. Estimated. (Also variable due to postings to and from 511TP)
Mostly Portuguese and Spanish Speakers

Base Housing:
Tents
Antenna:
Lattice HF antenna strung through the trees...
Frequency range:
0-40 MHz - no tuned 'bands'

Reception efficiency:
Poor!.
Radios:
HF Rhode and Schwartz.
5 HF workstations.
Radio Direction Finding:
'Hopper' HF transceiver used in conjunction with Rhode and Schwartz HF receiver connected to fixed antenna.
513TP Rundu (Red Zone)
Base was never directly attacked during 1987-1988
Although firmly in the red zone, to the best of my knowledge Rundu base was never attacked during the period of my military service.
If it had been, 513TP was, just like 512TP in �Shacks�, right next to the boundary fence�

Complement:
20-30 NSM. Estimated. (Also variable due to postings to and from 511TP)
Mostly Portuguese and Spanish Speakers

Base Housing:
Tents

ML worked partly from 'Communications Van' - Samil 50 with an insulated cargo container.
Antennas:
VHF 11 element Yagi rotatable antenna fitted on a collapsible mast on top of the container.
Separate HF mast with strung lattice HF antenna for ML operations.
7 HF workstations.
One VHF Workstation in the container.
Frequency ranges:
HF 0-40 MHz - no tuned 'bands'
Reception efficiency:
Good.
VHF 100-1000 MHz
Reception efficiency:
Good.
Radios:
Rhode and Schwartz HF and separate Rhode and Schwartz VHF (2 units)
Radio Direction Finding:
'Hopper' HF transceiver used in conjunction with Rhode and Schwartz HF receiver connected to fixed antenna.