The Necessity Of A Completed Organization For The Signal Corps

On the question of retaining Corps under military organization, with testimonials from military commanders and commercial, professional, and scientific organizations.

The Signal Corps in the twenty-first century bears little resemblance to the organization founded by Maj. Albert J. Myer in 1860. Although the United States Army was the first in the world to have a separate communications branch, the legislation authorizing its establishment provided for neither permanent personnel nor units. Soldiers were detailed to signal duty from their regularly assigned units. During the Civil War small signal parties served with the various military departments, but they were disbanded at the end of the conflict. For the next thirty years, the Signal Corps remained a small organization whose members were scattered among the Army's many posts to provide communications and take weather observations. The necessity for having a separate Signal Corps continued to be debated in the halls of Congress and within the Army itself. Communications still was not widely recognized as a military specialty in and of itself. The earliest permanent signal units were formed in the National Guard during the 1880s. New York and Illinois were among the first states to have such organizations. It took the Regular Army a little longer to follow suit. Signal companies designated A through H entered the force structure in 1898 and 1899. From this modest start, the Signal Corps continued to grow during the twentieth century as the United States and its Army assumed global responsibilities. The rise of telecommunications also meant that signaling duties became increasingly complex and an integral part of military operations. Today, the Signal Corps consists of approximately sixty-eight thousand men and women. Moreover, information dominance in the form of superior communications is considered to be sine qua non to modern warfare. The Signal Corps has indeed come a long way from Major Myer's original one-man branch. The purpose of this volume is to present in compact form official organizational history information for Signal Corps units. That the Army requires effective communications in an era known as the Information Age is axiomatic. Established in 1860 with the appointment of the first signal officer, the Signal Corps has had permanently organized units since late in the nineteenth century. Their growth in size and numbers over time highlights the increasingly specialized nature of warfare and the rise of sophisticated communications technology.

This professionally-formatted free-flowing ebook provides a complete guide to the famous Army Signal Corps, with reproductions of four major histories and documents from the Department of Defense.Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - Regiment * An Overview of Signal Corps History * A Brief History of the Signal Corps * Chief Signal Officers * Medal Of Honor Recipients * Chronology - This book traces the history of the U.S. Army Signal Corps from its beginnings on the eve of the American Civil War through its participation in the Persian Gulf conflict during the early 1990s. Over the course of its 135 years of existence, the Signal Corps has often been at the forefront of the revolutionary changes that have taken place in communications technology. It contributed significantly, for example, to the development of radar and the transistor. While accounts of the branch's service during the Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam have been published, little has been written about the rest of the Signal Corps' accomplishments. This book fills out the picture. It shows today's signal soldiers where their branch has been and points the way to where it is going. The reader, whether military or civilian, can follow the growth and development of one of the Army's most sophisticated technical branches. By telling the Signal Corps' story in a comprehensive manner, this volume makes a significant contribution to the history of the Army.Getting the Message Through - A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - CHAPTER I - THE BIRTH OF THE SIGNAL CORPS * Early Military Signaling * Albert J. Myer - Father of the Signal Corps * The Civil War - Organization and Training * Signal Equipment and Methods * Wartime Operations * The Confederate Signal Corps * The Signal Corps Survives Its Baptism of Fire * CHAPTER II - WEATHERING THE POSTWAR YEARS * The War Clouds Lift. * The Signal Corps Becomes the Weather Service. The Stormy Years * Military Signals Weather the Storm . A Change in the Weather * CHAPTER III - FROM THE TROPICS TO THE ARCTIC * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1891-1898 * The War With Spain * Postwar Operations * Organization and Training, 1899-1903 * New Frontiers: Alaska and the Dawn of the Electrical Age * The Roots of Change * CHAPTER IV - THE SIGNAL CORPS TAKES TO THE AIR * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1904-1907 * Upheavals at Home and Abroad * The Signal Corps Gets the Wright Stuff * Radio - The Wave of the Future * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1908-1914 * The Signal Corps Spreads Its Wings * Bordering on War * CHAPTER V - WORLD WAR I * Trouble in the Air * "Over Here": Mobilization and Training * "Over There": Organization and Training * "Over the Top": Signalmen in Battle * The Signal Corps Loses Its Wings * The Signal Corps Comes of Age * CHAPTER VI - BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1919-1928 * Research and Development * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1929-1939 * The Road to War * CHAPTER VII - WORLD WAR II: ESTABLISHING THE CIRCUITS OF VICTORY * The Search for Manpower and Brainpower * Marshall Reshapes the War Department * The Worldwide Network * Signal Security and Intelligence * Photography: Shooting the War * Equipment: Research, Development, and Supply * The Signal Corps' Contribution * CHAPTER VIII - WORLD WAR II: THEATERS OF WAR * Defending the Hemisphere, December 1941-June 1943 * Signal Support for the Pacific Theater, 1941-1943 * Passing the Test in North Africa and Italy * Signal Soldiers in Europe: D-Day and After * The Asiatic and Pacific Theaters, 1943-1945 * CHAPTER IX - THE COLD WAR, KOREA, AND THE COSMOS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1946-1950 * The Korean War * Signals in Space * From Signals to Communications-Electronics * Force Reductions, Readiness, and the Red Scare * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1960-1964 * From Cold War to Hot * CHAPTER X - THE VIETNAM CONFLICT * CHAPTER XI - SIGNALING AHEAD