Henri Lachambre (30 December 1846, Vagney , Vosges – 12 June 1904) was a French manufacturer of balloons . His factory was in the Paris suburb Vaugirard . He also participated in ballooning himself carried out 500 ascents.
78-618: Lachambre supplied balloons to both the US Signal Corps and the ill-fated arctic mission of S. A. Andrée in 1897. He also worked with the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont , taking him for his first balloon ascent and going on to construct his first balloon in 1898 and later the envelopes for his dirigibles . Together with his nephew Alexis Machuron Lachambre wrote a book about Andrée's expedition, Au pôle nord en ballon (Imprimerie Nilsson, 1897, 250 pages), which
156-545: A bluff in the Congress Heights , precluded any bombardment of the Washington Navy Yard and southeastern portions of the city. It was supported by Fort Carroll to the northeast and Fort Foote to the south. It never fired a shot during the war, and after a brief stint as a U.S. Army Signal Corps training facility, was abandoned and the land returned to its natural state. As of July 2007, the site of
234-459: 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
312-706: A line of troops. What is to be prevented is the seizure of these heights for the purpose of establishing batteries to destroy the navy-yard and arsenal. For this purpose the works should be self-sustaining, or relying only upon such aid as a small movable body of troops can furnish, and upon succor, which may be thrown over the Branch after an attack is developed. Over the course of the war, these words would prove prophetic. No Confederate forces would bring Fort Greble under fire during its entire four-year active military career, and its garrison units, rotated regularly, served quietly behind its earthen walls. Daily life at Fort Greble
390-736: 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
468-566: 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
546-527: A report to General Totten, chief engineer of the U.S. Army was able to report "Forts Greble and Stanton are completed and armed;" on December 10, 1861. The fort was named for Lt. John Trout Greble , killed at the Battle of Big Bethel . The fort had a perimeter of 327 yards and places for 17 guns. A fall 1862 review of Washington's fortifications described Fort Greble as a "large and powerful work, well provided with magazines and bomb-proofs." Despite that praise,
624-733: 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
702-1112: 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
780-534: 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
858-532: A valuable part in the Civil War, had a need for a post-war training ground. In 1866, the Army allowed the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, General Albert J. Myer , to use Fort Greble for this purpose. Then, in 1868, Myer requested and received control over Fort Greble as a signal communications school for instruction in electric telegraphy and visual signaling. In January 1869, however, Myer moved
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#1732790122723936-409: 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
1014-563: 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
1092-541: 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,
1170-1100: 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
1248-660: 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
1326-465: 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,
1404-718: 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
1482-645: 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
1560-569: 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
1638-539: 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
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#17327901227231716-589: The 3rd Radio Research Unit of the United States Army Security Agency . Fort Greble Fort Greble was an American Civil War -era Union fortification constructed as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during that war. Named for First Lieutenant John Trout Greble, the first West Point graduate killed in the U.S. Civil War , it protected the junction of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, and from its position on
1794-539: 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
1872-556: 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
1950-559: 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
2028-498: 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 "
2106-661: 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
2184-508: 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
2262-467: The Heights would be the then-unnamed Fort Greble. Planning and surveying for the proposed line of forts progressed quickly, and by the end of September 1861, work had begun on what was to become Fort Greble. Under the direction of U.S. Army engineers, the work progressed quickly, and the fort, which was constructed as several closely supporting redoubts, was completed before Christmas. General Barnard, in
2340-701: The Military Division of the Potomac on July 26, 1861, he found that not a single defensive work had been commenced on the Maryland side [of the Potomac]. There was nothing to prevent the enemy shelling the city from heights within easy range, which could be occupied by a hostile column almost without resistance. In the wake of his declaration, fort construction was accelerated and expanded, with new strong points and artillery positions springing up around
2418-524: The Potomac River, Fort Greble was considered a rear-line fort. To man Fort Greble's 327 yards (299 m) of perimeter, Barnard designated a force of 165 men. If the fort needed to be fully garrisoned due to an impending attack, the difference in the actual garrison and the plan would be made good from Washington's reserve force. As General Barnard would say in a December 24, 1862 report, "It is seldom necessary to keep these infantry supports attached to
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2496-707: The Potomac to Fort Lincoln at the extreme eastern end of the District of Columbia. Rather, the fort and its sister emplacements on the east bank of the Potomac were intended to deny the Confederacy the possibility of infiltrating guns across the Potomac in order to bombard the Washington Navy Yard. This fact is best illustrated by the 1862 report of the Commission on the Defenses of Washington, which
2574-719: 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
2652-600: 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
2730-479: 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
2808-566: The Washington area during the summer. Though Fort Greble was built on a hill, the area immediately surrounding the fort consisted of swampy bottomland drained by the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, a breeding ground for malaria . Communication with the outside world was provided by the military road that served the Eastern Branch line of forts, and supply wagons would usually arrive on a weekly schedule. Trips to Washington or Uniontown from
2886-430: The Washington defenses, were to divide the defenses into three classes: those that should be kept active (first-class), those that should be mothballed and kept in a reserve state (second-class), and those that should be abandoned entirely (third-class). Fort Greble fell into the second-class category. To this end, the 22nd Army Corps issued General Order 89, which stated (in part) that the guns and ammunition removed from
2964-421: 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
3042-412: 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
3120-438: 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,
3198-640: 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
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3276-440: The dismantled forts should be kept in storage. Fort Greble was chosen as one of the storage locations. As a second-class fort, Fort Greble continued to receive regular maintenance and upkeep. By the end of August 1865, however, with funds running low, and no further appropriations likely, this work began to slack off. As the money ran out, more and more forts were designated as second- or third-class locations, and were dismantled and
3354-406: The drawing board, due to budget concerns and the political issues involved. Though many of the forts—including Fort Greble—did become parks, they were not connected in a grand plan surrounding Washington. Today, the site of Fort Greble is home to Fort Greble Recreation Center, a community center for local youths and neighborhood events. In 2006, a lighted baseball field was built at the site as part of
3432-431: 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
3510-710: 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
3588-645: The entire 37-mile (60-km) perimeter of the District of Columbia . In order to prevent an attack on the undefended Maryland side of the Potomac, Brigadier General John G. Barnard , chief engineer of the Department of Washington, directed that several forts be constructed on the Congress Heights in order to protect the Navy Yard and Washington Arsenal from bombardment. At the crucial western end of
3666-428: 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
3744-435: The fort could be safely placed in magazines to be built in place of the shanties. There simply had not been time in 1861 to construct proper earthen magazines. This sort of constant renovation and improvement would continue throughout the war as forts were adapted to new purposes and new garrisons. From the time of its construction, Fort Greble was never intended to serve as part of a continuous line of defenses stretching from
3822-709: The fort is a community park. Prior to the outbreak of war, Congress Heights (so called because the Capitol building in downtown Washington could be seen from the tops of the hills) were owned by the Berry family, who also owned much of the Anacostia River bottomland to the west of the Heights. In the days following the First Battle of Bull Run , panicked efforts by the Union were made to defend Washington from what
3900-412: The fort were uncommon, and by virtue of its location at the extreme end of the Eastern Branch defenses, Fort Greble was isolated even from its neighboring forts. Until 1864, communications between Fort Greble and its neighbors had to be routed through departmental headquarters in Washington. After a test of the system completely failed, efforts were made to establish signaling points between the forts, and
3978-530: The forts themselves were connected to Washington via telegraph wire. Signal detachments were present at Fort Stanton, near Uniontown, and sometimes visited Fort Greble as part of training efforts. In accordance to a plan laid out in an October 1861 report by General Barnard, "rear line" forts were to receive one man per yard of fort perimeter when fully garrisoned. Front-line forts were to receive two men per yard, when needed. However, most forts were not kept fully garrisoned at all times. Due to its location north of
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#17327901227234056-465: The garrison as "drilled some at artillery and infantry," putting it a step ahead of the garrisons of neighboring forts Wagner and Ricketts , which were judged as "Drilled but little at artillery and infantry; not efficient." After the surrender of General Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, the primary reason for manned defenses protecting Washington ceased to exist. Initial recommendations by Col. Alexander, chief engineer of
4134-571: The garrison of Fort Greble consisted of a single company of the Seventh Unattached Heavy Artillery, Massachusetts Volunteers, commanded by Captain George S. Worcester. 125 men of various ranks served six 12-pounder field howitzers , six 32-pounder barbette guns , one 8-inch (200 mm) siege howitzer , one Coehorn mortar , one 10-inch (250 mm) mortar , and one 30-pounder Parrott rifle . The same report lists
4212-464: 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
4290-721: The land returned to its original owners. In August 1867, the commander of the Department of Washington wrote to the Chief of Ordnance, asking how much longer he needed Fort Greble as an ordnance depot for materiel removed from dismantled forts. When it could do so, the Ordnance Department removed its property to the Washington Arsenal, now Fort McNair, or transferred it to a still-garrisoned fort, though with post-war budget cuts, these were becoming few and far between. The infant Army Signal Corps, which had played
4368-400: 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
4446-441: 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
4524-413: 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
4602-429: 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
4680-501: 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
4758-448: 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
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#17327901227234836-438: 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
4914-406: 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
4992-404: The report also recommended new gun platforms and protection for gun crews. The rapid completion of the fort did have some drawbacks, however. The fort lacked some of the refinements that would be present at later forts like Fort Foote . In 1864, civil engineer William C. Gunnell requested the removal of the wooden buildings that served as company quarters at Fort Greble so that the ammunition for
5070-462: The school from Fort Greble and soon established it at Fort Whipple, Virginia. Following that move, the fort was sold back into private ownership, where the land was later purchased for use as a park. Throughout the 20th century, various attempts were made to include Fort Greble as the terminus of a "ring" of parks surrounding the city of Washington. The parks would be connected by a 23.5-mile (37.8-km) Fort Circle Drive, but these plans never made it off
5148-549: 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
5226-461: The works." However, this plan only applied to men manning the walls of the fort, not the artillerymen who would be serving the fort's guns. To man the guns of Fort Greble and those of Washington's other forts, Barnard designated three crews for each gun. These crews would be permanently located at the fort, unlike the men assigned to the walls of the fort. To fire Fort Greble's planned complement of 15 guns, Barnard assigned 255 artillerymen. This plan
5304-421: Was affected by the needs of the war. As the fighting dragged on and casualties mounted, the various commanders of the Army of the Potomac repeatedly raided the Washington garrison for trained artillerymen and infantry replacements. By 1864, Washington had been stripped to a total less than half that of Barnard's 1861 recommendation. According to a May 1864 report by General Albion P. Howe , Inspector of Artillery,
5382-401: Was called at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Sunday was a break in the routine as the muster was immediately followed by a weekly inspection and church call. Sunday afternoons were a soldier's free time, and this was usually filled by writing letters home, bathing, or simply catching up on extra sleep. For much of the year, the garrison would be plagued by mosquitoes and the heat and humidity common to
5460-468: 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
5538-448: Was created by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to provide oversight to the Army Engineers constructing the defenses. Their report, released in December 1862, illustrated the isolated nature of the Eastern Branch defenses: In relation to this group of works, the Commission express the opinion that an enemy will not attempt to enter Washington from this direction, and that we cannot (as a general rule) expect to be able to meet him with
5616-593: 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
5694-652: 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 . 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
5772-591: 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
5850-465: Was perceived as an imminent Confederate attack. These makeshift entrenchments were largely confined to the direct approaches to Washington and the bridges that spanned the Potomac. Multiple forts were constructed in the Arlington region to the southwest of Washington on land rented or leased from the pre-war owners. Despite these efforts, following General George B. McClellan assuming command of
5928-558: 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
6006-516: Was quickly translated into Swedish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch and Polish. This French business–related biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . US 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
6084-541: Was similar to that experienced by soldiers at other forts in the Washington defenses. A soldier's normal day began with reveille before sunrise and was immediately followed by morning muster, at which the soldiers of the garrison were counted and reported for sick call. Following muster, the day was filled with work on improving the fort's defenses and drill of various types, usually consisting of gunnery practice, but also including infantry and parade drill. This schedule usually continued, broken by meal and rest breaks, until taps
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