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I have been thinking about the communication between team members in the Avengers movies, primarily when they talk over their team radio net. It seems like they have very little radio discipline in the fact that it always seems like they are using each others names. This seems dangerous as there might be people or groups trying to snoop on their radio chatter.

Some of this is fine, for example using "Tony" or "Stark" for Ironman, since his identity is known. Thor is the same, as well as Steve Rogers and War Machine as Colonel Rhodes.

But everyone is always calling Hawkeye "Clint", Black Widow "Nat", or "Romanov", Falcon was called both "Sam" and "Wilson" in Civil War. Again, some of these could be fine, maybe everyone knows who Falcon is, but wouldn't Agents like Black Widow and Hawkeye have better radio discipline drilled into them as super secret agents that sometimes need to go undercover? Isn't that why they have alias names in the first place?

We know they aren't completely careless, since Spiderman is never referred to as "Peter Parker" in Civil War, but Ant Man is called "Lang", which seems bad since his identity is not known very well.

Is there an in-universe explanation for why no one seems to have good radio discipline, or is it just something to make watching the movies easier since the names lead to more natural dialogue?

Majaii
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    My argument would be that the Avengers have access to some of the most advanced technology on the planet. With a VI like JARVIS to manage network encryption I would consider it reasonable to believe their communications are unhackable. – SGR Dec 06 '16 at 14:51
  • I think that is reasonable and did consider that, but then what about in Civil War when they are on different sides? Cap's team doesn't have Jarvis or Friday for that anymore right? – Majaii Dec 06 '16 at 15:00
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    I agree that they have terrible radio discipline (even if they do have the best encryption invented, the villains are constantly coming up with equally advanced tech/magic to surprise them with and might find a way to crack it.) However, if this is the thing that bugs you most from a "realism" point of view in the MCU movies, then I think the writers have done the job they set out to do well enough. – Steve-O Dec 06 '16 at 15:36
  • I never said it bugged me the most, simply that it made me curious. It is just so different from other super hero shows/movies where their identity is paramount. – Majaii Dec 06 '16 at 15:41
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    I guess agents Romanov and Barton might want to consider putting some masks on then. – Napoleon Wilson Dec 06 '16 at 15:48
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    As spies and master assassins, they would normally just kill anyone that shouldn't have seen them. – cde Dec 06 '16 at 15:55
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    Not much point in Romanov & Barton wearing masks. Didn't Natasha spill all the beans to Congress anyway? – Paulie_D Dec 06 '16 at 16:34
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    The typical answer would be simply, Tony Stark is a genius and came up with some secure system in a weekend that surpasses all other secure comms technology. – sanpaco Dec 06 '16 at 18:58
  • A lot of chatter comes from Tony Stark - an untrained vigilante with no formal military training, who is an unhinged alcoholic with PTSD. Its unsurprising he's not very disciplined. –  Dec 06 '16 at 23:44
  • I swear I read about a deleted scene in the first movie that explains that Tony Stark developed some super-advanced radios that were unhackable, unblockable, etc (probably made out of unobtainium with unlimited battery life, while we're at it - it's not like most of the technology in movies is realistic, anyway), so they wouldn't have to worry about that. I can't find it, sadly. – childofsoong Dec 07 '16 at 19:16

4 Answers4

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Yes, as you provide evidence of, they have terrible radio discipline. Trigger discipline too. Obviously this is due to the medium, movies and comics are verbal and the film makers need you to relate to human (ish) characters in a short amount of time. Sticking to radio silence and code names would make them too stiff to like.

That said, only Cap, Wilson and maybe Barton fail in this respect. They are the only traditional soldier types and would have radio discipline drilled into them. Then again. It's only really Wilson, as the rank and file soldier. Rogers spent most of his military career as a mascot capsicle, and the other half ignoring orders as a special agent. Nat is a spy, Thor is a loud boasting rage drunk, Lang a thief, Stark an egomaniac, etc.

Notice that SHIELD agents do not have the same lack of discipline or screen time that would cinematically necessitate this informal kidding over comms.

But to expand, there is more to it. The Avengers have the typical comic banter type of group dynamics. Contrast Cap in the serious missions during The First Avenger. Quick action scenes, and then his solo mission at the end. Widow uses talking as a weapon, to distract and throw off guard both foe and friend. It's part of her whole M.O., unassuming power house. Contrast Fury who tries to keep them on target.

Interestingly enough, the most disciplined is Hulk.

T.J.L.
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cde
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    Except Hulk keeps referring to himself in the 3rd person using his name. "Hulk SMASH!" ;) – krillgar Dec 06 '16 at 20:23
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    Also Cap is pretty old, did they even do radio training for everyone in the 30's? – martin Dec 07 '16 at 05:39
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    @martin .... spying on radio transmissions before encryption was a thing, and code breaking was a major problem in WW2. Enigma machine, coded transmissions, hand held transistor radios, etc. Radio discipline was very important in that time. – cde Dec 07 '16 at 05:53
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    @cde sure, all the more reason to only allow a few specially trained people ever use the radios. My history isn't very good, but I wouldn't be surprised if basic training just told everyone to stay away from the radio, rather than explain to everyone what can and can't be said. – martin Dec 07 '16 at 05:58
  • @krillgar Well it's not like there are thousands of green rage monsters running about the place, hiding his name is not the biggest issue. – SGR Dec 07 '16 at 13:55
  • This is basically what I thought, was just hoping for something more like in @childofsong comment, but good points thank you. – Majaii Dec 08 '16 at 13:50
  • @majaii as iron man 1 2 and 3, and AoU shows, Tony's tech gets hacked all the time. – cde Dec 08 '16 at 14:13
  • @cde Yeah true, which again is part of the reason I asked the question in the first place, but no one seems to have any true evidence that he created unhackable coms. Unless something like that comes forth yours is the best answer, which is why I accepted it. – Majaii Dec 08 '16 at 14:16
  • @SGR Plus, it's not like he's shouting "Bruce Banner Smash!" either. "Hulk" is his code name, and by acting like a mindless rage-monster he successfully deflects attention away from the mild-mannered polymath inventor helping Tony Stark build all those high-tech gadgets. – Chronocidal Mar 19 '18 at 14:20
  • "That said, only Cap, Wilson and maybe Barton fail in this respect. They are the only traditional soldier types and would have radio discipline drilled into them." While not a soldier in the military sense, as a highly trained spy, Black Widow will have equal or better training on communication channels and how to avoid overt details. – Flater Feb 02 '20 at 23:29
  • It's an acronym, so S.H.I.E.L.D. or at the very least SHIELD. – Acccumulation Feb 03 '20 at 00:41
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Mentioning Civil War, all of the Heros are asked to disclose their identity, by signing the Accords (read about the civil war comics). That being said, there is no reason, to disclose their Identity.

Romanoff does this even after (Captain America: Winter Soldier).

Secondly, they are not traditionlly using radio communication, where only one at the time is able to speak. They have more like a group conversation eg. skype, where all are able to talk to each other. This is probably encrypted by a mechanism developed by Tony, Vision and/or Jarvis, that would probably take more time to break, than the current mission.

Panther
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Frezzley
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    That's not what the Accords asks them to do. It wants government control over when they act. – cde Dec 07 '16 at 15:35
  • Well, maby not in the movies, but they certanly are in the comics. – Frezzley Dec 07 '16 at 16:11
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    We are discussing the movie... – cde Dec 08 '16 at 14:14
  • @cde the accords in the movies aren't just a single page with one sentence on it, also, they are somewhat based on the comics. I'm just guessing, but I think that this was still in the accords, however not discussed, by our heroes, because they were (mostly) well known.to be considered, though. – Frezzley Dec 08 '16 at 16:13
  • However, in the comics there are multiple branches of the avengers (east coast, west coast...), of which many members are unknown. This was even implied at the end of "Age of Ultron", but then not further considered in the storyline. This is also one of the reasons, that Tony votes for the accords, because he feels, that "Heroes" should reveal themselfs to the publich, as he did. – Frezzley Dec 08 '16 at 16:20
  • Then again, comic Tony still does the whole iron man is my body guard employee scam – cde Dec 08 '16 at 17:24
  • It doesn't matter if your radio is encrypted if the enemy (and their radio) are right in front of you listening in... Such as in the middle of a melee brawl. – Chronocidal Mar 19 '18 at 14:17
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This seems dangerous as there might be people or groups trying to snoop on their radio chatter.

This assumes they aren't using a secure system, which is a strange assumption as secure systems exist in the real world and have since WWII. With the advanced tech in the MCU movies, it's completely reasonable to assume that something even more advanced than the currently existing systems is available to them.

With a secure system, eavesdropping is virtually eliminated as a possibility; these systems are typically "closed," in that all devices in the system need to be programmed to recognize a new device being added to it. You can't just tune in to a frequency; the encryption will prevent an outside radio from picking up any chatter. Additionally, because the systems are not using "open" frequencies, no FCC or similar broadcasting licenses are required, and FCC regulations in the US (where the Avengers are based) do not apply.

I have used both secure and open systems in the past, and always assumed the Avengers were using a secure system; using an open system doesn't make any sense in-universe.

Allison C
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An in-universe explanation would be that they don't need it. Their communication is full-duplex, like chatting in Skype. It is also encrypted, probably to the point that they do not worry about enemy ever decrypting it. Finally, they don't have a leader micromanaging every action they take on field.

Barafu Albino
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