Joseph Mauborgne Joseph Oswald Mauborgne ( February 26 , 1881 – June 7 , 1971 ) co - invented the one - time pad with Gilbert Vernam of Bell Labs . In 1914 he published the first recorded solution of the Playfair cipher . Mauborgne became a Major General in the United States Army , and from October 1937 to his retirement in 1941 was the Army ' s 12th Chief Signal Officer , in command of the Signal Corps . Biography . Mauborgne was born on February 26 , 1881 in New York City to Eugene and Catherine Elizabeth McLaughlin Mauborgne . After graduating in 1901 from the College of Saint Xavier in New York , he studied fine arts until commissioned a 2d Lieutenant , Infantry , in the regular Army in 1903 . Stationed in the Philippines several times at several infantry posts , Mauborgne attended the Army Signal School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , in 1909 - 1910 , graduating from the Signal Officers Course , followed by a tour of duty in Washington D . C . in the office of Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General George P . Scriven . While stationed at Fort Riley , Kansas , in 1912 , he installed a radio transmitter in an airplane and had 1st Lt . Henry H . Arnold send him the first successful air to ground radio transmission on November 2 . Two years later , while in command of the radio station at Fort Mills on Corregidor , Mauborgne went up himself with 2nd Lt . Herbert A . " Bert " Dargue in a Burgess Model I seaplane to conduct a series of experimental flight tests of an airborne radio , and made the first two - way radio telegraphy between an airplane and a station on the ground on December 16 , 1914 . After World War I , in the 1920s and 1930s , Mauborgne pursued communication advancements in numerous research - and - development assignments , including a stint as chief of the Signal Corps Engineering and Research Division and as commander of the Signal Corps laboratory in the Bureau of Standards . During the early 1930s , Mauborgne was Signal Officer for the 9th Corps Area and later Director of the Signal Corps Aircraft Factory , Wright Field , Ohio . He attended the Army War College during its 1931 - 32 academic session . As Chief of Signal , Mauborgne supported technological development and oversaw the mass production of the SCR - 268 and SCR - 270 Army radar s . Just a few months after he retired ( September 30 , 1941 ) , two Signal Corps soldiers — using an SCR - 270 radar at Oahu , Hawaii in the early morning of December 7 , 1941 — spotted Japanese aircraft on their way in to attack Pearl Harbor . In addition to his professional study , Mauborgne attended the Chicago Art Institute in 1922 - 1923 . Returning to Washington D . C . in 1923 he continued his art studies at the Corcoran Art Galley between 1923 and 26 . Portraits and etchings produced by Mauborgne were exhibited in galleries in Washington , San Francisco , and Dayton , Ohio ; acquired by the United States Military Academy , and sold to private collections . Mauborgne reached the mandatory retirement age in October 1941 and retired near Fort Monmouth , New Jersey . Among his interests were music and violin - making , for which he won an international competition in The Hague in 1949 . During his early career , Mauborgne was a recognized marksman , on the " Distinguished Shooters " list of the Civilian Marksmanship Club . Mauborgne married Katherine Hale Poore in December 1907 , and had two sons , one of whom was also a career Army officer . Mauborgne moved to Atlanta , Georgia , in ill health in 1970 and died on June 7 , 1971 . He was buried in Andersonville National Cemetery . General Mauborgne is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame . General Mauborgne is also known as " The Cubic General " . Awards and Decorations . Army Distinguished Service Medal citation . The President of the United States of America , authorized by Act of Congress , July 9 , 1918 , takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant Colonel ( Signal Corps ) Joseph O . Mauborgne , United States Army , for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States , in a duty of great responsibility during World War I . As head of the Engineering and Research Division of the Signal Corps , Lieutenant Colonel Mauborgne rendered conspicuous in connection with coordinating the design and supply of new technical apparatus for the Signal Corps . He was largely responsible for the high type of radio equipment developed for our Army and rendered unusual service in connection with cipher telegraphy .