Miller didn't move the mountains. Instead, he did what every radio operator since the dawn of electricity has done when the manual fails: he turned it off, waited ten seconds, and turned it back on.
"Sir, the book says the mountains are in the way," Miller whispered. "Tell the mountains to move," the Captain replied. An Prc 117F Technical Manual
Miller looked at the manual. The manual looked back. Under "Troubleshooting," it suggested checking the cables. Miller checked the cables. They were tight. It then suggested "Environment Interference." Miller didn't move the mountains
: According to the diagram on page 4-12, Miller had to orient the foldable UHF antenna toward a satellite that was currently 22,000 miles above a very different part of the world. He adjusted the "tape measure" antenna, looking like a man trying to catch a signal with a metal ruler. "Tell the mountains to move," the Captain replied
Miller cracked the manual. The pages felt like stiff plastic, designed to survive a monsoon but apparently not his patience. He flipped past the warnings about high-voltage shocks—"Yeah, yeah, don't die," he muttered—and landed on the section for .
The manual spoke in a language of acronyms that sounded like bad beatboxing. COMSEC, TRANSEC, PT, CT, JTRS.