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70-563: College Park Airport was established in August 1909 by the United States Army Signal Corps to serve as a training location for Wilbur Wright to instruct two military officers to fly in the government's first airplane. Leased on August 25, the first airplane, a Wright Type A biplane , was uncrated and assembled on October 7. Civilian aircraft began flying from College Park Airport as early as December 1911, making it

140-503: A 10-story hotel. Ground was broken for the hotel later in 2015 and opened in 2017. In 2022, Tailwind Air announced plans to begin a scheduled flight service from College Park to Skyport Marina , on Manhattan's East Side , on board a Cessna Grand Caravan . Service was set to begin on September 13, but service was delayed due to security concerns from the Transportation Security Administration and

210-459: A combat zone was installed in Ba Queo, near Saigon , led by Warrant Officer Jack Inman. 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

280-416: A historic site and operating airport whose history is depicted in the 27,000 sq ft (2,500 m) College Park Aviation Museum. Since the 9/11 attacks, and owing to the airport's proximity to the national capital, the operations of the airport have been severely restricted by the Transportation Security Administration in the interest of national security, but civilian pilots are still free to use

350-736: A more capable fleet as described in The Signal Corps: The Outcome (Mid-1943 Through 1945) : The first task was to obtain ships more suitable than the Harold or the Argosy . Such a ship was the freighterpassenger, FP-47, acquired by Signal Corps in March 1944, at Sydney. The Army had built her in the United States in 1942, a sturdy, wooden, diesel-driven vessel only 114 feet long, but broad, of 370 tons, intended for use in

420-566: A regular Signal Corps for the duration of the war. Some 2,900 officers and enlisted men served, although not at any single time, in the Civil War Signal Corps. Myer's Civil War innovations included an unsuccessful balloon experiment at First Bull Run , and, in response to McClellan's desire for a Signal Corps field telegraph train, an electric telegraph in the form of the Beardslee magnetoelectric telegraph machine . Even in

490-733: A seamless global information network that supports knowledge dominance for Army, joint and coalition operations. While serving as a medical officer in Texas in 1856, Albert James Myer proposed that the Army use his visual communications system, called aerial telegraphy (or "wig-wag"). When the Army adopted his system on 21 June 1860, the Signal Corps was born with Myer as the first and only Signal Officer. Major Myer first used his visual signaling system on active service in New Mexico during

560-1112: A single radio signal, increasing security and range and relieving frequency spectrum crowding. In December 1942, the War Department directed the Signal Corps General Development Laboratories and the Camp Evans Signal Lab to combine into the Signal Corps Ground Service (SCGS) with headquarters at Bradley Beach, New Jersey (Hotel Grossman). The Department also directed the Signal Corps Ground Service to cut total military and civilian personnel from 14,518 military and civilian personnel to 8,879 by August 1943. In June 1944, "Signees", former Italian prisoners of war , arrived at Fort Monmouth to perform housekeeping duties. A lieutenant colonel and 500 enlisted men became hospital, mess, and repair shop attendants, relieving American soldiers from these duties. One of

630-475: A single tail (unlike the eventual production Ercoupes, with their characteristic twin tails) and was known as the "Jeep". In late 1938, ERCO searched unsuccessfully for a suitable engine for its new airplane. ERCO hired Harold Morehouse , former engineer in charge of small engine design at Continental Motors , to design a new engine. He came up with the inverted, in-line I-L 116 , which provided good pilot visibility and enhanced aircraft streamlining. ERCO installed

700-534: A spy ring still existed in the Signal Corps labs. At first, McCarthy conducted his hearings behind closed doors, but opened them to the public on 24 November 1953. Extensive Congressional hearings were continued in 1955 under the chairmanship of Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. In the 1950s the Army Pictorial Service produced a series of television programs called The Big Picture that were often aired on American television. The last episode

770-409: 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

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840-681: The Aero Club of America chapters from Washington and Baltimore chose the College Park Airport for the next James Gordon Bennett Race . $ 11,000 was raised locally of the $ 100,000 prize. Belmont Park in New York was chosen instead for the October meet. The Christmas Aeroplane Company of Washington, D.C., built its first aircraft, the "Red Bird II" at College Park Airport with a claimed flight on 15 October 1911. The "Red Bird III"

910-563: The Army Air Service . During World War I. Chief Signal Officer George Owen Squier worked closely with private industry to perfect radio tubes while creating a major signal laboratory at Camp Alfred Vail ( Fort Monmouth ). Early radiotelephones developed by the Signal Corps were introduced into the European theater in 1918. While the new American voice radios were superior to the radiotelegraph sets, telephone and telegraph remained

980-541: The Army Ground Forces and the Army Air Forces . The Army Chief Signal Officer (CSO) was responsible for establishing and maintaining communications service schools for officers and enlisted soldiers, ranging in qualifications from those holding doctorates to functional illiterates. The single pre-war Signal training site was Fort Monmouth , New Jersey. To keep up with the demand for more signallers,

1050-512: The Federal Aviation Administration . College Park Airport covers 70 acres (28 ha) and has one runway: The road to the airport is named in honor of Corporal Frank S. Scott , who was the first US enlisted man to die in a military aircraft, an accident which occurred at this airfield. The College Park Aviation Museum first opened to the public in 1981, and houses antique and reproduction aircraft associated with

1120-1100: The SYNCOM satellite communications service, and a commercial fixed-station system known as the Integrated Wideband Communications System, the Southeast Asia link in the Defense Communications System . 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

1190-635: The Smithsonian Institution . It is owned and operated by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission . 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,

1260-660: The Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) formed a fleet, unofficially known as the "Catboat Flotilla" and formally as the CP fleet, that served as command and communication vessels during amphibious operations, starting with two Australian schooners Harold and Argosy Lemal acquired by the Army and converted during the first half of 1943 by Australian firms into communications ships with AWA radio sets built by Amalgamated Wireless of Australia installed. These initial vessels were joined by Geoanna , Volador and later by

1330-522: The Spanish–American War of 1898 and the subsequent Philippine Insurrection was on a grander scale than it had been in the Civil War. In addition to visual signaling, including heliograph , the corps supplied telephone and telegraph wire lines and cable communications, fostered the use of telephones in combat, employed combat photography , and renewed the use of balloons. Shortly after the war,

1400-718: The anti-aircraft artillery and guided missile firing systems. Following the arrest of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1950, two former Fort Monmouth scientists, Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant , defected to the Soviet Union. On 31 August 1953, having received word of possible subversive activities from Fort Monmouth's commanding general, Kirke B. Lawton, the Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), Senator Joseph McCarthy , suspected

1470-645: The early 1860s Navajo expedition . Using flags for daytime signaling and a torch at night, wigwag was tested in Civil War combat in June 1861 to direct the fire of a harbor battery at Fort Wool against the Confederate positions opposite Fort Monroe . For nearly three years, Myer was forced to rely on detailed personnel, although he envisioned a separate, trained professional military signal service. Myer's vision came true on 3 March 1863, when Congress authorized

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1540-569: The transistor , Fort Monmouth scientists were among the first to recognize its importance, particularly in military applications, and did pioneer significant improvements in its composition and production. Everything was to change as world tensions increased with the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift . To sustain the Army's worldwide commitments, it again became necessary to enlarge the capacity of every activity on-post. In June 1950, with

1610-539: The 1930s, radar was the most important communications development of World War II. During World War I, women switchboard operators, known as the " Hello Girls ", were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Despite the fact that they wore U.S. Army uniforms and were subject to Army regulations (Chief Operator Grace Banker received the Distinguished Service Medal ), they were not given honorable discharges but were considered "civilians" employed by

1680-554: The 3rd Radio Research Unit of the United States Army Security Agency . Engineering %26 Research Corporation Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) was started by Henry Berliner in 1930. Berliner was the son of Emile Berliner , who had patented numerous inventions relating to sound and acoustics , and pioneer of helicopter development with the experimental Berliner Helicopter . The younger Berliner founded ERCO to produce tools for

1750-583: The Airfield and ran it from 1927 until 1959, hosting numerous airshows and teaching hundreds of pilots to fly during his tenure. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) purchased the Airport in 1973 and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. A small museum was established in 1981 drawing 400–500 visitors on a weekend. Today it is run as both

1820-539: The Aleutians. Instead she had sailed to Australia as a tug. The Signal Corps fitted her with Australian transmitters and receivers, also with an SCR-300 walkietalkie, two SCR-808's, and an SCR-608, plus power equipment, antennas, and, finally, quarters for the Signal Corps operators. The Australian sets were intended for long-range CW signals operating in the high frequencies; the SCRs were short-range VHF FM radios for use in

1890-556: The Army Pictorial Service (APS) to produce motion pictures for the training, indoctrination, and entertainment of the American forces and their Allies . The APS took over Kaufman Astoria Studios in 1942 and produced over 2,500 films during the war with over 1,000 redubbed in other languages. The Army left Astoria studios and film production in 1971. Julius Rosenberg worked for the Signal Corps Labs from 1940 to 1945. He

1960-559: The Army, with the rank of Colonel. To confuse things even more, the 6 officers and 100 men authorized for the Signal Corp were to be chosen from the Corps of Engineers. Thus the Signal Corps was officially born. The electric telegraph, in addition to visual signaling, became a Signal Corps responsibility in 1867. Within 12 years, the Signal Corps had constructed, and was maintaining and operating, some 4,000 miles of telegraph lines along

2030-580: The Burgess Model F. The military aviation school saw numerous aviation firsts. Shortly following the cancellation of an international air meet at the airport in the fall of 1912, all aviators on the field participated in a demonstration for the International Congress of Hygiene participants. On October 7, 1912, Bernetta Adams Miller became the first woman to demonstrate a flight in a military aircraft. In 1915 Cecil Peoli , one of

2100-498: The CSO opened more training facilities: Camp Crowder , Missouri; Camp Kohler , California; and Camp Murphy , Florida. The Eastern Signal Corps Training Center at Fort Monmouth consisted of an officers' school, an officer candidate school , an enlisted school and a basic training center at subpost Camp Wood. The officer candidate school operated from 1941 to 1946 and graduated 21,033 Signal Corps second lieutenants. The term " RADAR "

2170-661: The Civil War, the wigwag system, restricted to line-of-sight communications, was waning in the face of the electric telegraph. Initially, Myer used his office downtown in Washington, D.C. to house the Signal Corps School. When it was found to need additional space, he sought out other locations. First came Fort Greble , one of the Defenses of Washington during the Civil War, and when that proved inadequate, Myer chose Fort Whipple , on Arlington Heights overlooking

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2240-508: The FP-47 moved early in September, this one ship handled an average of 7,000 to 11,000 code groups a day. Many film industry personalities served in the Signal Corps, including Stan Lee , an American comic book writer, Tony Randall , the actor, and Jean Shepherd , radio storyteller, author and narrator of A Christmas Story . In 1942 General George C. Marshall ordered the creation of

2310-549: The I-L 116 in the prototype Ercoupe Model 310 in 1939. The engine performed well, but ERCO discontinued it when Continental introduced the A-65 engine in 1940, which generated comparable horsepower at half the cost. Construction of the production prototype was completed in 1939, and certification by the CAA was completed in 1940. The first Ercoupe, serial No. 1, was owned by George Brinckerhoff,

2380-719: The Signal Corps constructed the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS) , also known as the Alaska Communications System (ACS), introducing the first wireless telegraph in the Western Hemisphere . In October 1903, Congress handed the then Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General Adolphus Greely what may be considered the supreme challenge. Accompanied by an appropriation of US$ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 0.85   million in 2023), it decreed that

2450-600: The Signal Corps participated in the First International Polar Year . One of the groups under the command of LT Adolphus Greely was to write another grueling chapter of suffering and extinction in the history of the Arctic. Greely's Signal Corps volunteers became separated from their base camp and were marooned on a huge ice floe. They were decimated by starvation and drowning; of the original 25 volunteers, only 7 survived. The Signal Corps' role in

2520-479: 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 . By the close of 1968 this brigade consisted of six signal groups, and 22 signal battalions—roughly 23,000 soldiers. The first Vietnam War death on the battlefield was a Signal Corps radio operator, SP4 James Thomas Davis of

2590-400: The airport after going through a one-time background check procedure. In 2015, Southern Management Corporation proposed a 233-foot (71 m), 13-story hotel on University of Maryland property in the approach path of the airport. The project was approved by the county but exceeded a 198-foot (60 m) tall FAA limit for a building at location in the flight path, prompting a redesign as

2660-414: The airport. Aircraft on display are: The museum offers rotating exhibits, special events, lectures, workshops and programs for the public, schools and groups. There are also an extensive library and archives which hold materials relating to the airport's history, early aviation history, especially relating to Maryland, and general aeronautics including related children's books. The museum is an affiliate of

2730-421: 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. The escalation of the number of troops in

2800-412: 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

2870-627: 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 . Support for the command and control of combined arms forces. Signal support includes network operations (information assurance, information dissemination management, and network management) and management of

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2940-687: The company moved to 6100 Sligo Blvd. In 1936, Weick left NACA to work for ERCO on his "safety airplane". In 1937, Berliner purchased 50 acres of land in Riverdale, Maryland near the College Park Airport and built the large ERCO factory and airstrip. One of ERCO's most significant achievements was the development of the Ercoupe aircraft. The first experimental model of the Ercoupe was test-flown at College Park airport in 1937. It had

3010-438: The country's western frontier. In 1870, the Signal Corps established a congressionally mandated national weather service . Within a decade, with the assistance of Lieutenant Adolphus Greely , Myer commanded a weather service of international acclaim until his death in 1880. The Weather Bureau became part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1891, while the corps retained responsibility for military meteorology. In 1881,

3080-640: The defensive need to counter the possibility of massive aerial bombardment . In 1941, the laboratories at Fort Monmouth developed the SCR-300 , the first FM backpack radio. Its pioneering frequency modulation circuits provided front-line troops with reliable, static-free communications. The labs also fielded multichannel FM radio relay sets (e.g., AN/TRC-1) in the European Theater of Operations as early as 1943. Multichannel radio broadcasting allowed several channels of communications to be broadcast over

3150-431: The electromagnetic spectrum. Signal support encompasses all aspects of designing, installing, data communications networks that employ single and multi-channel satellite, tropospheric scatter, terrestrial microwave, switching, messaging, video-teleconferencing, visual information, and other related systems. They integrate tactical, strategic and sustaining base communications, information processing and management systems into

3220-710: The enemy, and the resultant need to quickly locate and destroy the mortar sites resulted in development of the Mortar-Radar Locator AN/MPQ-3 and AN/MPQ-10 at the Communications Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center, better known as the Albert J. Myer Center, or simply, the Hexagon. Korea's terrain and road nets, along with the distance and speed with which communications were forced to travel, limited

3290-508: The first military pilot to solo in a government airplane. The same year on October 27, Mrs. Ralph Henry Van Deman was flown by Wilbur Wright to become the first woman to fly in a powered aircraft in the United States. Civilian aviation began at College Park with Rex Smith, an inventor and patent attorney, who operated the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company . Paul Peck and Tony Jannus were associates of his. In April 1910,

3360-523: The first radio navigational aids for use in "blind" or bad weather flying. This was the forerunner of the modern Instrument Landing System used today by aircraft. In 1937 the Engineering & Research Corporation (ERCO), based across the street (Good Luck Rd, now Campus Drive) in nearby Riverdale, Maryland , used the airport to test fly the early model of the Ercoupe , an airplane designed to be spin-proof. George Brinckerhoff took over management of

3430-428: The fleet net and for ship-toshore channels. Armed with antiaircraft weapons and machine guns (served by 12 enlisted men of the Army ship and gun crews), navigated by a crew of 6 Army Transport Service officers and the 12 men already mentioned, the FP-47 was ready for service in June. Her Signal Corps complement consisted of one officer and 12 men. The facilities of FP-47 were needed immediately at Hollandia to supplement

3500-464: The heavily loaded signal nets that could hardly carry the message burden imposed by the invasion and the subsequent build-up there of a great base. Arriving on 25 June, she anchored offshore and ran cables to the message centers on land. Her powerful transmitters opened new channels to SWPA headquarters in Brisbane and to the advance headquarters still at Port Moresby. At Hollandia, and at Biak, to which

3570-440: The history of College Park Airport. The current museum building opened on September 12, 1998. It includes a 90-seat auditorium, a non-circulating appointment-only library, gift shop, museum offices, and a replica of the original 1909 College Park Airport hangar, in addition to a main hangar with aircraft and exhibits on display. Artifacts and hands-on activities highlight the aviators, aircraft builders and airplanes that operated at

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3640-557: The major technology of World War I. A pioneer in radar , Colonel William Blair , director of the Signal Corps laboratories at Fort Monmouth, patented the first Army radar demonstrated in May 1937. Even before the United States entered World War II, mass production of two radar sets, the SCR-268 and the SCR-270 , had begun. Along with the Signal Corps' tactical FM radio , also developed in

3710-441: The manufacture of electronic components, and made the United States largely independent of foreign imports for this critical mineral. In 1949 the first auto-assembly of printed circuits was invented. A technique for assembling electronic parts on a printed circuit board, developed by Fort Monmouth engineers, pioneered the development and fabrication of miniature circuits for both military and civilian use. Although they did not invent

3780-496: The manufacture of metal aircraft and propellers. He founded the company in a shed at 2014 5th Street NW Washington D.C. Berliner met Fred Weick , an aeronautical engineer , who worked with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in cowlings and propellers on a 1926 while developing the propellers for the USS Akron . Weick also worked on an experimental aircraft that incorporated the up-to-date safety features. In 1935,

3850-465: The military should "build a flying machine for war purposes". Needless to say, the first attempts at flying were failures, but Greely handed the contract to the Wright brothers who piloted the first aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. For more details on this topic, see Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps and Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps On 1 August 1907, an Aeronautical Division

3920-548: The military, because Army regulations specified the male gender. Not until 1978—the 60th anniversary of the end of World War I—did Congress approve veteran status/honorable discharges for the remaining "Hello Girls". When the War Department was reorganized on 9 March 1942, the Signal Corps became one of the technical services in the Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces ). Its organized components served both

3990-470: The modern airport as a witness to this history. The airport code "CGS" originally referred to the airport's purpose in the 1930s as an airmail station (CGS = ColleGe Station). In 1920, Emile and Henry Berliner (father and son) brought their theories of vertical flight to the field and in 1924 made the first controlled helicopter flight. From 1927 until 1933, the Bureau of Standards developed and tested

4060-501: The more unusual units of the Signal Corps were the Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCOs). These companies were Signal Corps units that were made up of several hundred Army , Air Corps , and United States Navy communications specialists specially trained to link land, sea and air operational elements. They saw combat throughout the Pacific and European theaters during World War II in late 1943. JASCOs were much larger than normal signal companies. The joint assault signal companies were

4130-448: The national capital. The size and location were outstanding. The school remained there for over 20 years and ultimately was renamed Fort Myer . Signal Corps detachments participated in campaigns fighting Native Americans in the west, such as the Powder River Expedition of 1865 . In July 1866, Congress decided that there should be a unit or at least a Cadre of Signal even in peace time. It thereupon provided: One Chief Signal Officer of

4200-438: The onset of the Korean War , President Harry S. Truman quickly received the necessary authorization to call the National Guard and Organized Reserves to 21 months of active duty. He also signed a bill extending the Selective Service Act until 9 July 1951. The Officer Candidate School was reestablished. The fighting in Korea brought to light the need for new techniques in the conduct of modern warfare. The use of mortars by

4270-463: The operator of the College Park Airport, and flown there. It now is at the National Air and Space Museum . During World War II, the ERCO factory made several products under contract with the U.S. government, including gun turrets . ERCO earned an "E" award for excellence in meeting manufacturing goals in its war contracts. In 1947, Berliner decided to leave the aviation industry and sold the drawings, tools, parts, materials and distribution rights for

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4340-406: The predecessor to the Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company that exists today. JASCOs represented but one of many unprecedented Signal Corps' activities in the Pacific theater. Shipboard fighting was a new kind of combat for Signal Corps soldiers. Army communicators sometimes plied their trade aboard Navy and civilian ships. Signal Corps personnel also served on Army communications ships. In particular

4410-549: The use of wire. The Signal Corps' VHF radio became the "backbone" of tactical communications throughout the war. The development of new equipment, however, placed requirements on the Signal Corps to provide increased numbers of trained electronics personnel to work in the fire control and guided missiles firing battery systems. To meet this need, Signal Corps Training Units—the 9614th and 9615th—were established at Aberdeen , Maryland and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. These units provided instruction on electronics equipment used in

4480-525: The world's first professional aviators, died testing his 12-cylinder Rausenburger-powered biplane at College Park in preparation for New York and St. Louis cross country flights. In 1918, after a three-month trial with the War Department beginning May 15, the Post Office Department inaugurated the first Postal Airmail Service from College Park, serving Philadelphia and New York City ( Belmont Park ). Flights from College Park continued until 1921. The compass rose and original airmail hangar remain at

4550-420: The world's oldest continuously operated airport. In 1977, the airport was added to the National Register of Historic Places . College Park Airport is home to many "firsts" in aviation , and is particularly significant for the well-known aviators and aviation inventors who played a part in this field's long history. In 1909 Wilbur Wright taught Lieutenants Frederic Humphreys and Frank Lahm . Humphreys became

4620-424: Was built in the spring of 1912, with a contract from the U.S. Postal service to deliver Air Mail . In 1911, the nation's first military aviation school was opened at College Park, with newly trained pilots then-Lt. Henry H. Arnold and Lt. Thomas DeWitt Milling as Wright pilot instructors and Capt. Paul W. Beck as the Curtiss instructor. William Starling Burgess also brought a licensed Wright Model B named

4690-468: Was coined by the Navy in 1940 and agreed to by the Army in 1941. The first Signal Corps Field Manual on Aircraft Warning Service defined RADAR as "a term used to designate radio sets SCR ( Signal Corps Radio )-268 and SCR-270 and similar equipment". The SCR-268 and 270 were not radios at all, but were designated as such to keep their actual function secret . Although important offensive applications have since been developed, radar emerged historically from

4760-463: Was dismissed early in 1945 when it was learned he had been a member of the Communist Party USA secret apparatus , and had passed to the Soviet Union the secret of the proximity fuze . The Signal Corps' Project Diana , in 1946, successfully bounced radar signals off the moon, paving the way for space communications. In 1948 researchers at Fort Monmouth grew the first synthetically produced large quartz crystals. The crystals were able to be used in

4830-438: Was established within the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO). In 1908, on Fort Myer , Virginia, the Wright brothers made test flights of the Army's first airplane built to Signal Corps' specifications. Reflecting the need for an official pilot rating, War Department Bulletin No. 2, released on 24 February 1911, established a "Military Aviator" rating. Army aviation remained within the Signal Corps until 1918, when it became

4900-558: Was produced in 1971. On 18 December 1958, with Air Force assistance, the Signal Corps launched its first communications satellite , Project SCORE , demonstrating the feasibility of worldwide communications in delayed and real-time mode by means of relatively simple active satellite relays. The Vietnam War's requirement for high-quality telephone and message circuits led to the Signal Corps' deployment of tropospheric-scatter radio links that could provide many circuits between locations more than 200 miles apart. Other developments included

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