United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Major Albert J. Myer, and had an important role in the American Civil War. Over its history, it had the initial responsibility for portfolios and new technologies that were eventually transferred to other U.S. government entities. Such responsibilities included military intelligence, weather forecasting, and aviation.
United States Army Signal Corps
3 March 1863 – present
United States
Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, U.S.
Pro Patria Vigilans
(English: Watchful for the Country)[1]
Orange and white
21 June 1860
Colonel Julia M. Donley
Command Sgt. Maj. Linwood E. Barrett
Korean War and Vietnam War[edit]
During the Korean War and Vietnam War the Signal Corps operated officer candidate schools initially at Fort Monmouth in 1950–1953, graduating 1,234 officers, and at Fort Gordon in 1965–1968, which produced 2,213 signal officers. (The World War II Signal OCS program at Fort Monmouth, from 1941–1946 graduated 21,033 Signal Corps officers.)
Modern warfare utilizes three main sorts of signal soldiers. Some are assigned to specific military bases ("Base Ops"), and they are charged with installation, operation and maintenance of the base communications infrastructure along with hired civilian contracted companies. Others are members of non-signal Army units, providing communications capability for those with other jobs to accomplish (e.g. infantry, medical, armor, etc.) in much the same way as, say, the unit supply sections, unit clerks, or chemical specialists. The third major sort of signaleer is one assigned to a signal unit. That is to say, a unit whose only mission is to provide communications links between the Army units in their area of operations and other signal nodes in further areas served by other signal units.
Sending radio signals across the vast Pacific Ocean had always been unreliable. In August 1964, radio communications across the sea were given a huge boost in quality: The first satellite terminal ever installed in a combat zone was installed in Ba Queo, near Saigon, led by Warrant Officer Jack Inman.[14] This enabled trustworthy communications to Hawaii, and thereby to Washington, D.C.
From north to south, communicating across the varied landscapes of Vietnam presented a variety of challenges, from mountains to jungle. The answer came by utilizing the technology of "troposcatter". A radio signal beamed up into the atmosphere is "bounced" back down to Earth with astonishingly good results, bypassing debilitating terrain. The Army had little experience with this technology, so they contracted the development of the systems to Page Engineering. In January 1962, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the system of troposcatter units under the operational name of BACKPORCH.[15]
The escalation of the number of troops in the Vietnam War caused an increasing need for more communications infrastructure. In the spring of 1966 the assorted Signal units were reassigned to the newly formed 1st Signal Brigade.[16] By the close of 1968 this brigade consisted of six signal groups, and 22 signal battalions—roughly 23,000 soldiers.[17]
The first Vietnam War death on the battlefield was a Signal Corps radio operator, SP4 James Thomas Davis of the 3rd Radio Research Unit of the United States Army Security Agency.[18]
Post Vietnam and Gulf War[edit]
A major program in 1988 was the initial production and deployment phase of the mobile-subscriber equipment (MSE) system. The MSE system called for setting up the equivalent of a mobile telephone network on a battlefield, allowing a commander or Tactical Operations Center (TOC) to connect mobile telephones and fax machines in vehicles with each other, sending and receiving secure information. Talking through signal nodes, MSE established a seamless connection from the battlefield even back to commercial telephone lines. Significant to the Signal soldiers, MSE was fielded on the backs of Humvee, rather than on the larger, less-mobile M35 2-1/2 ton cargo trucks—the "deuce and a half".[19]
By 1990, most Army units had replaced their older VRC-12 series FM radios for the new SINCGARS ("SINgle-Channel Ground-Air Radio Systems") family of equipment. Rather than sending a signal along one signal frequency, the SINCGARS radios sent its signals across many frequencies, "hopping" from one frequency to another at high speed. This allowed many nets to share an already-crowded frequency spectrum.[20] Later generations of these radios combined the communications security (COMSEC) encryption devices with the receiver/transmitter, making a single easier-to-program unit. Most significant, the SINCGARS radios could send and receive digital traffic with great fidelity.[21] By the advent of Operation Desert Shield, all Army units were deployed using the most secure FM communications in the world. The SINCGARS radios have a failure rate in extreme heat of once every 7,000 hours compared to the VRC-12 series' failure rate of 2–300 hours.[22]
Afghanistan and Iraq[edit]
Since October 2001, the Signal Corps has provided communications for the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) and the War in Iraq. The Signal Corps is currently fielding the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T). It will eventually provide "On-The-Move" down to the company level for maneuver, fires and aviation brigades, and will fully support the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program; and also provide protected satellite communications "On-The-Move" capability against jamming, detection and intercept and will be aligned with the Telecommunications Satellite (TSAT) program.[23]
Notable members of the Signal Corps include General of the Army (later General of the Air Force) Henry H. Arnold, Lester Asheim, Frank Capra, John Cheever, Frank Lautenberg, Stan Lee,[31] Russ Meyer, Tony Randall, Jean Shepherd, John C. Holmes, Julius Rosenberg, Darryl Zanuck, Samuel Alito, and Carl Foreman.
Five members of the Signal Corps have been awarded the Medal of Honor: