IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1590 

Recognizing the 150th anniversary of the Army Signal Corps. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2010 

Ms. GIFFORDS (for herself, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

BONNER, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. BARROW, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. JONES, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. OWENS, Mrs. 

MYRICK, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ADERHOLT, 

Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. WITTMAN, 

Mr. TURNER, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, and Mr. HEINRICH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 150th anniversary of the Army Signal Corps. 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps consists of more than 

65,000 officers and enlisted soldiers; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps is responsible for all systems 

of communication for the Army; 

Whereas Major Albert James Myer first conceived the idea of 

a separate, trained professional military signal service in 

1860; 

Whereas, on June 21, 1860, the Army adopted Major Myer’s 

‘‘wigwag’’ communications system to form the Army Signal Corps; 


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Whereas the first Army Signal Corps methods were tested 

and proven during Civil War combat by using a single 

flag and a two-element code in daylight and torches at 

night; 

Whereas in March 1863, Congress authorized a regular Army 

Signal Corps for the duration of the Civil War, and approximately 2,900 officers and enlisted soldiers served in 

the Signal Corps during the Civil War; 

Whereas by 1867, the electric telegraph, along with visual 

signaling, became the responsibility of the Army Signal 

Corps; 

Whereas during the Spanish-American War of 1898, the 

Army Signal Corps played an integral role in victory with 

the employment of visual signaling, telephone and telegraph communications, combat photography, and balloons for intelligence gathering; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps introduced the first wireless 

telegraph in the Western Hemisphere shortly after the 

Spanish-American War, constructing the WashingtonAlaska Military Cable and Telegraph System; 

Whereas, on August 1, 1907, an Aeronautical Division was 

established within the office of the Chief Signal Officer, 

which lead to the Wright Brothers conducting test flights 

of the Army’s first airplane build to Army Signal Corps 

specifications in 1908; 

Whereas 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, 

New Jersey; 

Whereas during World War I, women switchboard operators 

were sworn into the Army Signal Corps; 


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Whereas Colonel William Blair, a pioneer in radar and director of the Army Signal Corps laboratories at Fort Monmouth, patented the first Army radar, demonstrated in 

1937; 

Whereas innovations by the Army Signal Corps in tactical 

frequency modulation radio radar became the most significant communications development of World War II; 

Whereas in 1941, the Army Signal Corps developed the first 

FM backpack radio, the SCR-300, providing front-line 

troops with reliable, static-free communications for the 

first time; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps played a crucial role in documenting evidence of Nazi atrocities and the Holocaust, 

with a number of these images later transmitted to news 

agencies in America, helping to inform the world about 

the horrors of Nazism and the plight of concentration 

camp prisoners; 

Whereas in Project Diana in 1946, the Army Signal Corps 

successfully bounced radar signals off the moon, helping 

pave the way for space communications; 

Whereas during the Korean War, the very-high frequency 

radio of the Army Signal Corps became the tactical communications backbone throughout the combat zone; 

Whereas during the Korean War and Vietnam War, the 

Army Signal Corps operated Officer Candidate Schools, 

initially at Fort Monmouth in 1950–1953, which graduated 1,234 officers, and at Fort Gordon in 1965–1968, 

which produced 2,213 signal officers; 

Whereas, on December 18, 1958, the Army Signal Corps, 

with Air Force assistance, launched its first communications satellite, Project SCORE, demonstrating the feasiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:04 Jul 31, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1590.IH HR1590

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bility of worldwide communications in delayed and real 

time by means of simple active satellite relays; 

Whereas during the Vietnam War, the requirement for highquality telephone and message circuits led to the Army 

Signal Corps’ deployment of troposphereic-scatter radio, 

as well as developing the SYNCOM satellite communications service and a commercial fixed-stations system 

known as the Integrated Wideband Communications System; 

Whereas during Operation Desert Shield and Operation 

Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, computers and satellites 

greatly enhanced the ability of commanders to coordinate 

their forces; 

Whereas in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army Signal Corps 

automate, transmit, and receive voice and data information to keep the Army informed and ready to respond to 

any contingency; 

Whereas the soldiers of the Army Signal Corps serve in both 

combat brigades and functional units from the foxhole to 

the White House; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps’ 9th Signal Command 

(NETCOM) located at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, operates 

and defends Army computer networks; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps’ 5th Signal Command is a 

European-based tactical and strategic communications 

organization specializing in command and control in support of theater-limited, joint-forces and combined forces 

activities; 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps’ 335th Signal Command 

manages the telecommunications infrastructure for 

Southwest Asia in support of USARCENT/Third Army 


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and CENTCOM during peacetime and contingency operations; 

Whereas the soldiers of the Army Signal Corps skillfully handle the dynamics and professional hurdles that are so familiar to the Corps; 

Whereas, after 150 years, the mission of the Army Signal 

Corps remains to provide and manage communications 

and information systems support for the command and 

control of the Armed Forces; and 

Whereas the Army Signal Corps consistently carries out its 

mission with the utmost efficiency and effectiveness, helping to ensure the safety and situational awareness of 

members of the Armed Forces in harm’s way: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the 150th anniversary of the 

3 Army Signal Corps; 

4 (2) recognizes the valuable, historic, and contin5 ued contribution of the Army Signal Corps; 

6 (3) honors the members of the Army Signal 

7 Corps; and 

8 (4) honors the members of the Army Signal 

9 Corps who have perished in pursuit of the cause of 

10 freedom. 

Æ 


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