January 2021

Plus:
 Project Warrior
 Information Warfare
 Signal History
The Army Communicator is published as a command information e-publication for
the men and women of the United States Army Signal Corps under the provisions of
AR 360-1.
Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of Office, Chief of
Signal, the US Army or the Department of Defense.
Submit articles, photos, graphics, videos, story ideas, and nominations for “Signal
Spotlight” to the editor here. For additional information, please call (706) 791-7384.
Follow the Signal Regiment on Facebook here.
Follow the Signal School Commandant on Twitter here.

COL John T. Batson

Signal School Commandant

CSM Darien D. Lawshea

Signal Corps Regimental Command Sergeant Major

CW5 Garth R. Hahn

Signal Corps Regimental Chief Warrant Officer

Nicholas M. Spinelli
Editor-in-Chief

On the Cover
United State Southern Command
Network Operations Center, JBSA-
Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
US Army photo

2
Signal Regimental Team
Happy New Year! We hope that each of you enjoyed the holidays and were able
to celebrate, relax, and enjoy time with family and friends. The New Year is tradi-
tionally a time to reflect on the past year and resolve to improve in the next. Alt-
hough the challenges of 2020 were faced the world over, together, our dispersed
team of Signal Soldiers and Leaders met each challenge with professionalism and
a determination to overcome. COL John T. Batson
Signal School
Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by Commandant
the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacle which he has over-
come.” We did more than simply overcome, we reacted, adapted, and developed
new and efficient ways of conducting operations; and we’re excited to carry that
momentum of progress and innovation into 2021.
The Signal Corps is the tip of the spear when it comes to finding new and better
ways to connect and pass information. From the earliest days of Wig-Wags to our
current utilization of Big Data and Cloud Computing, Signal continues to pioneer
the communication field. This year, I believe we will achieve greater heights, estab-
lish new standards, and pave the way for the future of the force.
Much of this promise is explored in this – and every issue – of the Communica- CSM Darien D. Lawshea
Regimental CSM
tor. This is the venue for the Signal Regiment to explore the latest technologies,
learn about upcoming initiatives, and celebrate the men and women who make up
our team of professionals. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or submissions for
future issues, let us know. And remember, stay safe, remain vigilant in all that you
do, and take ownership of your situation to improve the lives of your Battle Bud-
dies, your Family, and Yourself! Know that you are a valued member of a time-
honored team and CSM Lawshea, CW5 Hahn, and I are very appreciative of your
dedication to defending our great Nation.
Now, let’s have a great year! Pro Patria Vigilans!
CW5 Garth R. Hahn
Regimental CWO
3
Cyber, IT leaders focus on proper
resourcing to win future fight
Devon Suits pled that with the Department of Defense's push for
Army News Service cyber, cloud, data, [artificial intelligence], and C3," or
command, control, and communication.
Close to 250 Army civilians supporting information The current IT workforce needs to expand its existing
technology and cyber missions are now training under skillsets to support the DOD's drive for new capabilities,
the Army's Quantum Leap pilot program, as leaders con- Garcia said, adding programs like Quantum Leap are
tinue to refine the initiative to meet future demands. necessary to keep the Army competitive and deter future
Earlier this year, the Army announced Quantum Leap conflict.
as a means to recode, reskill and upskill about 1,000 ex- With the recent success of the Quantum Leap pilot,
isting IT positions by fiscal year 2023, said Gregory Gar- which began in September and is expected to run for a
cia, the Army's deputy chief information officer. year, program officials are now seeking more opportuni-
"The Army's priorities are focused on people, readi- ties, including extending the program to support Soldiers
ness and modernization," Garcia said on Nov. 19 during and civilians across a wider range of cyber and IT fields,
the AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days event. "We have cou- Garcia said.
Thus far, personnel have averaged approximately 14
hours of training and completed nearly 200 bodies of
work, with many receiving new certifications in various
cyber or network-related disciplines, said Garcia, citing
recent program data.
"We started this out with a civilian population, but it is
spreading rapidly to [other missions] throughout the Ar-
my," Garcia said. "Quantum Leap is focused on bringing
skills" to support emerging IT requirements.
The Army recently realigned its CIO/G-6 position into
two separate roles to meet current and future multi-
domain operational requirements within the cyber and IT
space, said Lt. Gen. John B. Morrison Jr., the Army dep-
Army G-6 leaders are currently working to create a unified network by uty chief of staff, G-6.
collapsing the divide between the enterprise and tactical systems.
Photo by Spc. TaMaya Eberhart
As the new G-6, Morrison is responsible for the plan-
4
ning, strategy, network architecture, the right data at the correct time. to synchronize and integrate opera-
and implementation of both CIO poli- "Cyber effects are going to be de- tions at echelon to react to an adver-
cy and the Army's enterprise and tac- ployed around the globe and into a sary in the cyber and electromagnetic
tical networks. theater of operations" to enable tacti- spectrum is paramount," he said.
Proper implementation of C3, net- cal effects, Morrison said. "We have The G-6's third and fourth pillars
work architecture, and cyber opera- got to set that unified network so that include reforming cybersecurity pro-
tions are vital to worldwide opera- we can compete and win." cesses, along with a need to drive ef-
tions, he said, and allow the force to Along with a unified network, the ficient investments in network and
"execute violently" when needed. G-6 office is working to posture and cyber capabilities.
"We certainly need to understand train its signal and cyber branches to Currently, officials are working on
where we're going," Morrison said. support the future battlespace, he a new model to measure cybersecuri-
"Our look is two to three years out, said. Current efforts include the tran- ty risk after a new system, application
but we still keep our eye on the long sition of expeditionary signal battal- or capability is added to the Army's
game" to support the multi-domain ions to more agile ESB-enhanced network, Morrison said. This new
battlespace. units to increase each formation's ca- model will also decrease bureaucracy
Realignment of the CIO/G-6 posi- pability. tied to current security authorization
tion will be critical to the Army's future The enhanced units are modular, processes early in the evaluation pro-
success, Morrison added. The force scalable, and provide alternative tac- cess, all while simultaneously inte-
now has two offices dedicated to the tical network equipment to reduce the grating measures to protect network
vertical and horizontal integration of Army's reliance on the Warfighter In- capabilities.
cyber and IT assets. This change is formation Network-Tactical, according
necessary to bridge the gap between to Program Executive Office Com-
policy development, implementation mand, Control and Communications-
and execution. Tactical officials.
To support current efforts, the G-6 The 50th ESB, 35th Theater Tacti-
office will push forward under four pil- cal Signal Brigade at Fort Bragg,
lars, he said. In the first, leaders aim North Carolina, was the first pilot unit
to create a unified network by col- selected in 2018.
lapsing the divide between the enter- ESB-E capabilities will aid the
prise and tactical systems. Army's ability to support DOD Infor-
Bridging the two networks will be mation Network operations, or
necessary to support multi-domain DODIN ops, Morrison said.
operations and the Army's moderni- "From the global perspective, all
zation priorities, he said. Doing so will the way down to the tactical level,
ensure the right echelon is receiving building that DODIN ops framework
5
Army fast-tracks radars for congested environments
US Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory Public
Affairs

A new machine learning approach could improve ra-

dar performance in congested environments.
Researchers from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities
Development Command, now known as DEVCOM, Army
Research Laboratory and Virginia Tech developed an au-
tomatic way for radars to seamlessly operate in congest-
ed and limited spectrum environments created by com-
mercial 4G LTE and future 5G communications systems.
“Future implementations of this algorithm into Army
legacy and developmental radars will provide unprece-
dented spectrum dominance for Soldiers,” said Army re-
searcher Dr. Anthony Martone. “This will enable Soldiers
to use their radars for problems such as tracking incom-
ing targets while mitigating interference to maximize tar- Army researchers used machine learning to improve radars for spectrum
get detection range.” dominance..
Courtesy graphic
The researchers examined how future DOD radar
systems will share the spectrum with commercial com- notably expedited cycle compared to the more typical 30
munications systems. The team used machine learning -year cycle, which will more quickly provide secure com-
to learn the behavior of ever-changing interference in the munications for Soldiers.”
spectrum and find clean spectrum to maximize the radar The team is leading future research and development
performance. Once clean spectrum is identified, wave- efforts to make cognitive radar possible and sharing new
forms can be modified to best fit into the spectrum. research areas within the radar community, with the in-
This research is part of a larger defense program to tent to continue development using more advanced soft-
implement adaptive signal processing and machine ware-defined radar platforms.
learning algorithms onto software-defined radar plat- The team published its research, Deep Reinforce-
forms for autonomous real-time behavior. ment Learning Control for Radar Detection and Tracking
“With development of this algorithm, this capability is in Congested Spectral Environments, in the peer-
fast-tracking from a concept to a Defense program of reviewed journal, IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Com-
record in less than eight years,” Martone said. “This is a munications and Networking.
6
Preparing the Visual Information shift
Sgt. 1st Class Heather A. Denby
Army Public Affairs Center

Enlisted Visual Information

specialties are realigning with
Public Affairs under the Commu-
nication proponent known as the
Army Public Affairs Center
(APAC) by October 1, 2022.
Army Visual Information enlist-
ed specialties serve in a number
of prestigious assignments in-
cluding the Army’s only active du-
ty Combat Camera unit: 55th
COMCAM at Fort Meade, MD,
the White House Communica-
tions Agency in Washington, DC,
and the Psychological Operations
Battalions at Fort Bragg, NC.
The VI legacy will remain un-
der the Signal Corps heraldry at
the U.S. Army Center of Military
History and their documentation
can be viewed publicly by visiting
the Defense Imagery Manage-
ment Operations Center.
In October 2019, the
“engagement” between Visual In-
formation and Public Affairs
kicked off with syndicate training
A visual information specialist documents military training. Visual information specialists are currently
of all their enlisted specialties part of the Signal Corps but are slated to merge with Army Public Affairs in FY23.
through the Mass Communication Courtesy photo
7
Foundations course at the Defense The Army is the last military and PA service members under one
Information School (DINFOS) at Fort branch to merge its VI and PA force common proponency, this “marriage”
Meade, MD. Visual Information and structures, which has allowed for is unique because it comes during
Public Affairs Soldiers now attend the considerable insights from those additional consolidation of VI special-
same 108-day course before contin- branches on how best to aid the ties. The Department of the Army di-
uing on to master their specific skill transition. Although all branches of rected the merge of the 25M
sets. the military will now merge their VI (Multimedia Illustrator) and 25V
(Combat Documentation/
Production Specialist) spe-
cialties effective October 1,
2021. Then, by October 1,
2022, the enlisted special-
ties of 25R (Visual Infor-
mation Equipment Opera-
tor-Maintainer), 25V and
25Z (Visual Information
Operations Chief) will
transfer nomenclatures to
46R, 46V and 46Y respec-
tively and be fully aligned
under CMF 46.
The reassignment of
Visual Information propo-
nent activities to APAC, as
a single proponent for PA
and VI, will better integrate
the two specialties to meet
the demands of the infor-
mation environment, sup-
port commanders’ commu-
nication objectives and im-
Sgt. Kris Diamond, a Mass Communication Foundation course instructor at the Defense Information School,
prove communication ca-
shows Spc. Justin Nye, a student at DINFOS, key components of peripheral audio recording equipment Novem- pability.
ber 22, 2020. The MCF is a 108-day course that teaches concepts needed in both public affairs and visual infor- But it’s not just the com-
mation specialties.
US Marine Corps photo by Pvt. 1st Class Austin R. Fraley manders who will benefit
8
from this union. Enlisted Visual Infor- taught to only public affairs special- listed counterparts, as required. How-
mation specialty training offers the ties will now be introduced to all VI ever, the marriage of enlisted Visual
unique opportunity for Soldiers to ex- Soldiers during their initial training. Information and Public Affairs is cur-
pand their skill sets based on the new Civilians who are currently as- rently exclusive. The Civilian Human
Advanced Individual Training at DIN- signed to Visual Information positions Resources Agency provides equiva-
FOS. Basic journalism writing and (Career Programs 22 & 34) will con- lent services and support to the VI ci-
storytelling techniques previously tinue to train at DINFOS with their en- vilian workforce.

Courtesy graphic
9
56th Signal Battalion builds capability through transformation
Maj. Amir Ezzeddine tablished a detachment with ARSOUTH and relocated
56th Signal Battalion Operations Officer the battalion headquarters to Fort Gordon, Ga.
The 56th Signal Battalion’s mission expanded with the
The cherished history of the 56th Signal Battalion’s addition of Geographic Combatant Commander’s Com-
colors traversed the sands of Omaha Beach, France dur- munications Teams (GC3T) and was redesignated as a
ing D-Day and operated extensively in Central and South strategic signal battalion in 2012. That same year, the
America since the 1980s. The battalion’s present day headquarters moved to Fort Sam Houston, TX where it
roots are traced back to Operation Just Cause in 1988, currently resides. Although under-resourced after the re-
where the battalion emerged at Corozal, Republic of designation from an expeditionary signal battalion, the
Panama with the reorganization of U.S. Army Information battalion stayed true to its roots by retaining the Signal
Systems Command South, into the 1109th Signal Brigade Corps’ only tactical combat net radio platoon. The Head-
and the 1190th Signal Battalion (Provisional). Following quarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) and the
the removal of General Noriega from power and return- United States Army Network Enterprise Center Southern
ing order and democracy to Panama, the battalion head- Command (USANEC-SOUTHCOM) in Doral, Florida,
quarters relocated several times within the United States continue to provide long-haul, tactical radio, and base
Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of operation. operations communications support to USSOUTHCOM
In 2003, upon the relocation of United States Army South and ARSOUTH. The newly assigned GC3T mission also
(ARSOUTH) to Fort Sam Houston, TX, the battalion es- expanded the battalion area of operation across North
America.
Over the course of the last year, the 56th Signal Bat-
talion adapted and restructured to build capability expo-
nentially in a no-growth environment. The Wolfpack Bat-
talion is entrusted with the mission of enabling
USSOUTHCOM and ARSOUTH with strategic long-haul
and tactical expeditionary communications. In addition,
the 56th Signal Battalion provides the highest quality ex-
ecutive communications to eight general officers by way
of the GC3T. Operationally assigned to USSOUTHCOM
and ARSOUTH, 56th Signal Battalion is administratively
controlled by and a subordinate unit of the Army Network
Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM). Being
Combat Net Radio Platoon conducting training. structured under a Table of Distribution and Allowances
US Army Photo

10
(TDA) enables the battalion to reor- nificantly increase the
ganize rapidly. Resourcing under a battalion’s capability in
TDA requires leadership to utilize the support of both
Army systems which traditionally en- USSOUTHCOM and
ables Modified Table of Organization ARSOUTH. A three
and Equipment (MTOE) units. This pronged reorganization
effort will pave the way to operation- was developed focus-
alize strategic signal battalion mis- ing on creating a pro-
sions across the Army. The 56th Sig- gram of record for the
nal Battalion has adapted to meet GC3T while also build-
mission requirements throughout its ing capability in US-
history and the guidon continues to ANEC-SOUTHCOM
lead from the front. and HHD.
The 56th Signal Battalion is the The battalion’s
sole communications unit designated GC3T mission is to Combat Net Radio Platoon enabling the combat paramedic course
to support multiple GC3Ts and United man, train, and equip culminating FTX with communications.
States military operations in Central the eight teams which US Army photo
and South America. It does so by provide standardized
providing strategic communications executive communications to the and maintenance responsibility on
to thirty-seven Security Cooperation commanders of: USSOUTHCOM, Ar- the battalion at a significant financial
Organizations (SCO) across twenty- my Futures Command, Untied States cost. As equipment ages, identifying
two Central and South American Army Central, United States Army a sustainable solution becomes cru-
counties and the USSOUTHCOM North, Untied States Army Cyber cial. The battalion worked with the
headquarters in Doral, FL. The battal- Command, United States Army Cyber Center of Excellence Army Ca-
ion’s primary tactical mission is to Space and Missile Defense, AR- pability Manger to build the require-
provide short-notice expeditionary SOUTH, and Surface Deployment ment to create an ECK program of
communications for foreign humani- and Distribution Command. This record which has yet to be estab-
tarian assistance, disaster relief, and standardized NETCOM capability lev- lished under the Program Executive
crisis response in support of United el-sets each team via the battalion Office Enterprise Information Ser-
States Army South. In a resource standard operating procedures and vices (PEO EIS). As a program of
constrained environment, the 56th certifies them via the battalion signal record, the ECKs would not only be
Signal Battalion, under Lt. Col. Jen- gunnery tables. Each GC3T is issued standardized across the Army, but al-
nifer Colvin’s command, conducted a two Executive Communication Kits so have an established logistics plan.
holistic capabilities analysis and ap- (ECK). The ECKs are commercial-off- By way of a reorganization, the
plied a DOTMLPF-P approach to sig- the-shelf which places the lifecycle USSOUTHCOM Network Operations
11
 of this reorganization is commenda- forces. Once fielded, HHD will grow
ble. Seldom have units created a its digital footprint from zero to four-
NOSC in a headquarters, let alone in teen supported command posts sim-
a four-star combatant command in ultaneously. Furthermore, leveraging
under a year. Adm. Craig S. Faller, current technology allows for scalable
the United States Southern Com- communications platforms to enable
mand Combatant Commander, rec- a Joint Force Land Component Com-
ognized the team for their hard work mander. In an era of highly complex
and lasting positive impact to battlespaces, the ability for HHD to
USSOUTHCOM. provide the network transport for criti-
With Maj. Gen. Daniel R. Walrath cal situational awareness to the com-
56th Signal Battalion Soldier providing long
at the helm, United States Army mon intelligence picture (CIP) and
hall communications during World War II. South also operationalized its grow- the common operational picture
US Army photo ing mission in Central and South (COP) keeps commanders ahead of
& Security Center (NOSC) became America and relies heavily on the 56th the adversary’s decision cycles.
fully operational on November 8, Signal Battalion to enable mission Working closely with NETCOM, the
2020. From day one, it has met our command. The Battalion’s current ca- placement of the newly acquired
nation’s adversaries head-on in cy- pability is limited to a combat net ra- equipment on the proper Table of Or-
berspace. By operationalizing US- dio platoon, which is why the require- ganization and Equipment (TOE) has
ANEC-SOUTHCOM, the NOSC is ment to add an additional signal pla- long term mission and logistical sup-
able to control timing and tempo in toon in Headquarters and Headquar- port implications.
the cyber domain. This allows the ters Detachment (HHD) became evi- Over the coming year, the Wolf-
Combatant Commander to maintain dent. Battalion leadership quickly de- pack Battalion will continue to trans-
the initiative and enables him to veloped a no-growth solution trans- form at USANEC-SOUTHCOM, HHD
make key decisions in support of op- ferring fifteen military billets from US- and the GC3Ts into a more capable
erations. A year in the making, NOSC ANEC-SOUTHCOM and the Colom- force, ready to accomplish any mis-
leadership rewrote and awarded a bia Security Cooperation Office to sion. Human capital is the 56th Signal
new $800 million contact, reor- HHD in FY22. The signal platoon is Battalion’s greatest asset which ena-
ganized its civilian and military per- being resourced with a material solu- bles it to adapt and restructure. Main-
sonnel and worked closely with the tion supported by an ARSOUTH com- taining a highly trained and capable
Defense Information Systems Agen- mand endorsed Operational Needs force is top priority. The 56th Signal
cy, Joint Service Provider, and sever- Statement (ONS). ARSOUTH is the Battalion remains ready, and will con-
al other mission partners to establish only Army Service Component Com- tinue to train vigorously to sustain the
standard operating procedures and mand without dedicated digital signal competitive edge over the adver-
exercise the new capability. The pace assets requiring frequent requests for saries of the United States.
12
Project Warrior from a Signal Perspective
Cpt. Michael J. Kocsis and Cpt. Rob Villareal their respective Commanders or Division G6’s. Signal
Signal Captains Career Course Branch CPT Career Managers also inform and recruit
442nd Signal Battalion, 15th RSB during unit visits and Officer interactions. Cohort 3 in-
cludes Officers who are assigned as OC/Ts and are
Project Warrior (PW) program began in the late nominated by the Commander of Operations Group
1980s, as Vietnam veterans retired, and the Army started while at a CTC. Once nominated, Human Resources
to lose Soldiers and Officers with combat experience. In Command (HRC) and Signal Branch review each Of-
order to retain that experience of direct action combat, ficer’s file to assess its quality and to ensure that being
the program selected top talent from across the maneu- selected will not hinder the Officer’s professional time-
ver branches and would send them to be observer / con- line.
trol / trainers (OC/T) at Combat Training Centers (CTCs). Many Officers ask themselves: “Why Project Warri-
In the summer of 2013, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray or?” This is a difficult question. According to Lt. Col. Rett
Odierno announced the re-establishment of Project War-
rior to help the Army transition from a force focused on
counterinsurgency operations to a smaller, more versa-
tile Army, one ready for a wide range of missions.
Project Warrior remains a highly selective program
designed to spread the expertise developed by either a
Battalion S6 or Signal Company Commander across the
rest of the Signal force. The Project Warrior Officer will
serve as an observer / control at a Combat Training Cen-
ter (CTC), followed by an assignment as Small Group
Leader (SGL) at the Signal Captains Career Course. In
order for the Signal Regiment’s Project Warrior program
to succeed, we must endorse and attract the right lead-
ers to the program.
The program has three different acceptance points.
Cohort 1 is the most common point of entry and starts at
Signal Captains Career Course (SCCC). Current PW Of-
ficers performing as SGLs, identify top performing Offic-
ers within their respective class. Cohort 2 includes Offic- Project Warrior Member instructs SCCC students on MDMP and Mission
ers who are currently serving in their key developmental Command over a map of their Operational Environment.
Photo by Cpt. Jonathan Edmunds
(KD) assignment. These Officers should be identified by
13
Burroughs, the Senior Signal Trainer CGSC and said, “Warrior is like a shape their ability to perform as Sig-
at the National Training Center, cheat code in a video game. You get nal Officers.
“Project Warrior is like a cheat code all the answers to the hardest job in The Signal Regiment has,
in a video game. You get all the an- the Army before you come out here throughout the years, prided itself on
swers to the hardest job in the Army for YOUR rotation as a BDE S6. You world class support to the War Fight-
before you come out here for YOUR are almost guaranteed success.” er. When asked how the Project War-
rotation as a BDE S6. You are al- Once an Officer is accepted into rior program would benefit the Signal
most guaranteed success.” the program, they will receive the Regiment, the current 7th Signal
While the program may not offer Project Warrior fellowship on their Commanding General, Brig. Gen.
the most luxurious of assignment lo- ORB. Christopher Eubank, stated “The
cations, it places Officers on a defini- “The PW namesake doesn’t turn benefits to the Regiment are that
tive track, ultimately taking those les- heads, but the PW experiences and these Officers are coming back from
sons learned from their KD Assign- PW stamp on my ORB, allowed me these PW assignments with a depth
ments and CTCs to the Signal School to get my foot in the door with senior of knowledge that will allow them to
House. Once an Officer is accepted leaders,” Davis explained. support the warfighter better every
into the program, they will receive the “Commanders at all levels are look- day. They will be better leaders and
Project Warrior fellowship on their ing for their field grade Officers to un- teammates and ultimately they will be
ORB. Maj. Patrick Davis recently derstand and be experts in mainte- better communicators.”
completed the interview process at nance, CUOPS/FUOPS, orders pro- The Project Warrior program takes
cess and MDMP. You will re- the experience gained from multiple,
ceive a master’s degree in immersive training events that rein-
these areas as an OC/T, then force Army core competencies and
you will refine your knowledge capabilities and infuses that
as a SGL. Ultimately, the PW knowledge to the force through pro-
experience lead me to receive fessional military education. The Pro-
the coveted 1:1 market match ject Warrior program creates leaders
within the AIM market.” who understand current doctrine,
As Officers embark on their have seen it implemented, and can
course through Project Warri- visualize and describe its implemen-
or they are exposed to a multi- tation. Senior leaders within the Sig-
tude of different situations, ex- nal Regiment must promote and un-
periences, leadership styles, derstand the Project Warrior program
decision making techniques, in order to develop agile and adaptive
Observer Coach Trainer looks on as rotational unit estab- exercises and any number of leaders874 who can win the fight in a
lishes their Retrans Site.
Photo by Cpt. Robert Villareal other elements that help multi-domain battlefield.
14
Steven J. Rauch waves in the very high frequency (VHF) band could pen-
Signal Historian etrate earth’s ionosphere as well as any unknown barrier
possessed by the moon. These explorations were led by
During the past few years there has been much inter- Lieut. Col. John H. DeWitt Jr. and personnel of the US
est and excitement about the establishment of the new- Army Signal Corps Laboratory at Camp Evans near
est military service – the US Space Force. The concept Belmar, New Jersey immediately at the end of World
of domains of warfare – land, sea, air, cyberspace, infor- War II. To ensure some degree of secrecy they named
mation and space - has served as a way to categorize the project after the
and understand how warfare might be conducted in mythological Ro-
those environments. The debate about whether a do- man goddess of the
main is the realm of a single service or includes all ser- moon, Diana. In do-
vices capable of multi-domain operations is still being ing so, the Signal
sorted out regarding the capabilities needed to win con- Corps unintentional-
flicts in a particular domain. The space domain has exist- ly established the
ed for viable human activity for only 75 years and the precedence of nam-
first military service to operate in space was the US Ar- ing major space ex-
my. On January 10, 1946 the Signal Corps successfully ploration projects
sent a radar signal from the earth to the moon and back. after mythological
It was the first time in history that something created by gods, such as Mer-
man was intentionally projected beyond the earth, made cury, Gemini and
contact with a celestial body 238,000 miles away and re- Apollo. Maybe it
turned to its origin all in a period of 2.5 seconds. Space was a twist of fate
history was made and it was made by the US Army Sig- that Diana, the first
nal Corps. project to remotely
Project DIANA was the name for the investigations touch the moon,
conducted by the Signal Corps to explore the limits of ra- was also the twin
dio waves, specifically radar, and determine how those sister of the Greek Radar antenna used for Project Diana, the
first time a radio signal was sent beyond the
waves would or could operate in the vacuum of space. god Apollo, whose earth and reflected off the moon on January
According to Maj. Gen. Harry C. Ingles, the Chief Signal name is forever 10, 1946.
Officer, the objective was to demonstrate that radio linked to the pro- Signal History Office collection
15
gram that enabled man to physically nique known as pulse-ranging to de-
touch the moon. termine the height of the layer, which
Before World War II scientists had in 1924 was discovered to be 90-150
conducted experiments directing ra- kilometers above the ground. The re-
dio waves at the ionosphere to deter- sult of this inquiry led to ideas of
mine if they could be skipped off the bouncing radio waves off of objects,
barrier to project transmissions be- such as ships and airplanes, to deter-
yond the curvature of the earth. It mine the distance and direction of the
was believed that part of the upper resulting echo. The product of all this
atmosphere composed of ionized gas was radio detection and ranging -
was causing low to medium frequen- RADAR – which quickly proved to
cy radio signals to reflect around the have military application for detecting
globe. Scientists in Great Britain con- attack from the air or sea.
ducted experiments using a tech- The idea of using radio waves as
a way to touch something at great
distances opened up new realms of
scientific inquiry not limited to military
matters. Men with amateur interests,
such as Nashville radio station engi- Dr. Walter S. McAffee, Chief of the Signal Corps
Laboratory Mathematical Analysis Section who
neer John H. DeWitt Jr., built his own provided the computations to enabled the radar
equipment to try to bounce a radio to accurately target the moon.
Signal History Office collection
signal off of the moon. DeWitt howev-
er was forced to put his experiments 1945, DeWitt began to apply the re-
on hold when the US entered World sources of the Evans laboratory to
War II. DeWitt’s engineering and ra- modify radar equipment to measure
dio background enabled him to quali- ever greater distances. He returned
fy for an appointment as Signal of- to his pre-war inquiry that if radio
ficer and even more fortuitously, he waves could be bounced off ships,
was appointed director of the Evans aircraft, buildings, and the iono-
Signal Laboratory in 1943. Under the sphere, why couldn’t a signal be pro-
direction of DeWitt, the laboratory’s jected to bounce off objects beyond
major focus was improving radar de- the earth, such as the moon? If radio
sign by experimenting with various could be projected into space then it
Lt. Col. John H. DeWitt, Jr. the team leader antennas and power sources. might enable men to direct and con-
and inspiration for Project Diana
Signal History Office collection When the war ended in September trol equipment, such as rockets and
16
communications relay satellites, ide- same state they had departed. dimensional directions every day.
as that were limited by existing tech- Members of DeWitt’s group in- This required the work of laboratory
nology. Given the great leap in rocket cluded E.K. Stodola, Dr. Harold mathematicians such as Dr. Walter
propulsion by the German V2 rocket Webb, Herbert Kauffman, and Jacob S. McAffee and his Mathematical
program, as well as the practical ap- Mofenson who had worked on radar Analysis Section to compute the con-
plication of jet engines on aircraft at at the labs. One of the biggest chal- stantly changing spatial relationship
the end of the war, the day would lenges was to break the mental con- between the earth and the moon.
soon arrive when high power thrust cepts of radar being limited to hun- The constant movement also had to
velocities could project objects be- dreds of miles and instead reengi- be synchronized with the exact time
yond earth’s gravity. But none of that neer existing technology to reach the signal was to be sent. The varia-
could happen unless it was first de- hundreds of thousands of miles into bles of movement also produced the
termined if radio waves could pene- space. Another challenge was to har- Doppler Effect that impacted the fre-
trate the ionosphere and return in the ness a target that moved in different quency of the radio waves. Calcula-
tions thus were needed for the rela-
tive speeds of the earth and moon,
the Doppler Effect and location of the
transmitter in both time and place in
New Jersey.
The equipment for this experiment
was the standard radar set used by
the Signal Corps during World War II,
an SCR--271 that consisted of a
transmitter, receiver, antenna sys-
tem, and indicator. The transmitter
sent bursts of radio energy at specif-
ic intervals known as pulses. The re-
ceiver listened for any echo reflec-
tions of the pulse on distant surfaces.
An audio amplifier created the sound
of the pulse, usually a blip or ping of
some sort and an oscilloscope dis-
played the image. The time between
pulses and their echo measured the
distance to the object based on the
Overview of the Project Diana facility at Camp Evans near Belmar, New Jersey.
Signal History Office collection speed of light or 186,000 miles per
17
second. Modifications were made to
the SCR-271 to increase the normal
range. The 3 kilowatt transmitter was
modified to provide an output of 50
kilowatts and the frequency was
raised to 111.5 megacycles. A slower
pulse rate was needed to allow the
signal to make the 476,000 mile
round trip from between the earth
and moon before another signal was
sent. The pulse had to be from ¼ to
½ second in duration every five sec-
onds to ensure a strong reflection
signal was received. The antenna
was a large billboard or bed-spring
type 100 feet off the ground modified
from an array of 32 dipoles to 64 di-
poles. The effective radiation was in-
creased to 10 megawatts. There was
a limitation with the range of motion
of the antenna. It could only move
horizontally which limited experi-
Oscilloscope image showing the return image of the radio pulse during a later shot at the moon on
ments to 15 minutes at moonrise and January 22, 1946.
moon set. The most important ele- Signal History Office collection
ment, the receiver, had to be modi-
fied for extreme sensitivity since the were completed on January 10, that it took 2.5 seconds for the echo
strength of the echo signal would be 1946. That day the moon rose in to return, having traveled almost half
only 3-watts to a few tenths of a watt. Belmar, New Jersey at 11:48 am. a million miles to the moon and back.
A loudspeaker was added to provide DeWitt and his team activated the ra- DeWitt and his engineers were con-
an audible sound of the faint echoes. dar and sent the first radar wave sky- vinced they had hit the moon be-
Finally a 9-inch oscilloscope calibrat- ward. Almost immediately the first cause there was nothing else in that
ed in hundreds of thousands of miles echoes appeared on the oscilloscope direction that could have reflected the
rather than miles, was used to dis- and a low hum emitted from the wave. More testing of course had to
play the echo. speaker – it was the voice of the be made. DeWitt stated, “We knew
All of the preparations for testing moon! Timing of the wave indicated our months of thinking, planning, cal-
18
culations, and design were on the right
track, but to make doubly positive and
sure, as our Army Laboratories must
be, we aimed our radar beam at the
rising and setting satellite time and
time again, so that we knew without
question of a doubt that our pulses
were striking the moon and echoes
were rebounding back to earth.”
The first earth to moon transmission
had been established. Not only was it
the longest distance a radio beam had
travelled but it was the first to confirm
that it could be done through space.
This touching of the moon also validat-
ed the larger realm of scientific
knowledge because it proved the Co-
pernican theory that the moon was a
material body, thus dispelling any lin-
gering myths that the earth was a con-
cept to itself and objects in the sky
were merely a stage background for
the theater of mankind.
A few weeks later, the accomplish-
ment was announced to the world. The
opening of the gateway to the celestial
realm immediately affected science in
many ways. Radio waves could be
transmitted through the bands and lay-
ers of the atmosphere in both direc-
tions making it viable to maintain radio
contact with technology such as rock-
ets and missiles. Instead of limiting ex-
ploration to optical telescopes, the ob- New York Post headline January 25, 1946 announcing the success of Project Diana.
jects contained in space could be de- Signal History Office collection
19
tected using radio telescopes. More moon, or moon bounce communica- program. So to the brand new Space
immediately, the ability to expand tions. Project Diana thus enabled Force, please accept a warm “your
communications using satellites be- man to examine, explore and at times welcome” for your job from the US
came feasible, but until then, the physically occupy the space above Army Signal Corps who, once again,
moon would serve as the only satel- the earth to include physically landing made possible the birth of another in-
lite to reflect signals using earth-to- on the moon during the Apollo space stitution.

In later years ham radio operators who reported hearing transmissions via earth-to-moon transmissions received a souvenir QSL card from the Army
station.
Signal History Office collection
20
In the next

21