Evening star., 1943-02-05
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES,

Star Staff Correspondent
FORT MONMOUTH. N. j., Feb. 5
Scouts that lurk in coils and tubes
and speak in electrical impulses
spies that 60 streaking over the air
listen to the enemy and tell you
where he is-these were some of the
scientific marvels shown at this
Signal Corps base to a group OF
press and radio correspondents.
And, looking over the amazing
Signal Corps experimental and de-
velopment laboratory, you could
realize how far armies have come
in a comparatively few years, since
the era when dispatch rider had
to spur madly to the rear to tell the
commanding general what was hap
pening at the front.
More to Guido Foe.
After the visitors had seen this
Wizardry and tried to understand
some of it. Maj Gen. Dawson Ohm
stead, chief signal officer OF the
Army. said at a luncheon:
This equipment includes some OF
the most complex and intricate
scientific and manufacturing princi-
piles that American ingenuity has
been able to devise. OF what we
have accomplished we can justly be
proud-but that is not enough '
And the general added:
Already we have planned and
are actively engaged in the Job of
more than doubling our efforts and
production during 1943. Already We
are working on newer equipment
on more fantastic devices by which
We can gain that margin of supe-
riority over the enemy. We know
what our fighting men at the front
need to win this war. We know
what our enemies have, and what
we must do to be better than they"
Gen. Olmstead reminded the
newsmen: Signal Corps communi-
cations are the very nerve centers
of every single branch of the Army
from the doughboy in the trenches
to tre tail gunner in a Flying
Fortress"
And. during question period, the
general pointed out that in North
Africa, our mechanical caravans
moving along the roads can talk to
planes and the planes can answer
back. and both can talk to distant
headquarters-all made possible by
recent developments in the portable.
two way radio, which works on
rushing vehicle or anywhere else.
Flags Outmoded.
There should be, somewhere in
the laboratory. a figure OF an old
time Scout dashing back to head
quarters on his horse There is a
set of signal flags, symbols OF the
corps which you will find on the
lapel of every officer and soldier in
this branch. The flags. too, are
almost a museum piece-the flags
with which they used to signal
lot even during the last war. They
are used now only as a last resort,
when all other means of communica-
ton have failed. The reason is
that enemy planes can spot flags.
Several types OF "walkie- -talkies,"
small portable sending and receiv-
Ing radio sets, are on display. The
smallest weighs 5la pounds, and |
can be carried about by a girl. The
reporters. in fact. saw a girl in the
held operating one of the devices,
talking into it and picking up a
from some distant
point on the post.
One of the amazing things about |
his, complex post is the role women
nave taken in the work. There Is |
not WAAC on the reservation, but
he laboratory technicians and stu
dents are to large extent feminine.
This releases young men for more
active service.
Drive Jeeps, Trucks.
The correspondents even took a
ride in jeeps chauffered by women
not the least of the phenomena.
And women drive trucks and Army
cars. The women are en-
ployed by special abilities or apti-
tudes and they automatically ac-
Qulre civil service status after six
months.
There's portable radio set called
"snooper," which picks up any
enemy messages lurking in the air
ana furnishes data on which the
operators quickly can compute ap-
proximately where the wireless came
from. There are other types of
message -interceptors. They make
a visible record on an indicator
which spots any air conversation
within a given range of freouencies.
There are so many different types
Of radio equipment that it would
take a volume to describe them
assuming one had the technical
knowledge. The larger, fixed sets.
with tremendous range are carried
on trucks and quickly set up. There
are hand-portable sets adopted to
nearly every condition and service.
Telephone and telegraph COM
munications are preferred in the
field If they can be used, because
the enemy may spot your radio
messages just as you're equipped
to search out his
Other Branches Use Equipment.
For the benefit of the visitors,
field artillery unit was drawn up in
simulated combat, its guns hidden
In the woods. its communicate
system set up in every detail. While
the Signal Corps has units with di-
visions end larger organizations. its
equipment is used largely by men in
other hranches-infantry, artillery.
alr forces, anti-aircraft. The men
are trained to use it, and some of
them attend the big signal school
here.