The ARRL Awards Committee has voted to delete Kingman Reef (KH5) from the DXCC List, effective March 29, 2016. Kingman Reef will be added to the Deleted Entities List on March 29, 2016. The total number of entities on the List will drop from 340 to 339. The deletion process is described in DXCC Rules Section II DXCC List Criteria, Part 5(a) Deletion Criteria.

“An entity may be deleted from the List if it no longer satisfies the criteria under which it was added. However, if the entity continues to meet one or more currently existing rules, it will remain on the List.”

With respect to the previous paragraph’s text, Kingman Reef’s original addition by virtue of separate administration has changed (separate administration by the US Navy has been removed), and the reef does not meet any current criteria to remain on the list. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) administers Kingman Reef and Palmyra Island. The reef is too close to Palmyra Island to count as a separate entity. The reef is now considered part of the Palmyra/Jarvis DXCC entity.

DXCC members who have affirmed credit with Kingman Reef will see their current entity totals drop by one on their DXCC awards — including on the bands and modes where Kingman Reef credit is given. They will also see their DXCC Challenge totals drop commensurately. Honor Roll status will now be attainable after confirming 330 entities on the DXCC List.

Prior to its deletion, Kingman Reef was the seventh most-wanted DXCC entity, according to ClubLog. It was last activated as K5K in 2000, when 15 operators handed out the rare entity over the course of 10 days. Other DXpeditions have taken place over the years, however. The 1974 KP6KR Kingman Reef operation included a 2-day search to find the island, 5535 contacts in just under 30 hours of operation, and a white-knuckle departure during gale-force winds.