When a ship gives you BRC do you want it in Magnetic or True north? I’m on a big deck Amphib and the old Air Boss always gave it in Magnetic. He would convert it prior to transmitting. New Boss says it should be in True. I guess I never really thought about it and since I was always land based (H-3’s) I never really spent lots of time in the tower on small ships. What do you guys think?
By definition, "Foxtrot Corpen" is true. By definition, BRC is magnetic and if applicable, corrected for the landing direction (carrier, FLT I DDG, LPD, etc). It's a distinction that gets lost on a lot of people, specifically east coast sailors. Go to places like San Diego or Hawaii where your MagVar is 10+ degrees and it makes a big difference when shooting a TACAN approach to the back of the boat at night.
I believe the actual definitions can be found in the ATP-1 which is the Shoe maneuvering pub.
As for which is supposed to be given, I believe the 80T-122 states BRC. I can't remember for the LHA Natops. For CVs, obviously BRC is required for fixed-wing. I've only had very limited exposure to a CV as a helo and they were constantly turning all the time in Haiti, so you never knew what you would get.