sistence to the Armed Forces, carried out by the Military Subsistence Supply Agency. The other is for clothing and textile supply. It is handled by the Military Clothing and Textile Supply Agency, located at the Philadelphia QM Depot.

DECENTRALIZATION. The new responsibilities of the QMC, resulting from the single-manager activities and other measures, call for maximum decentralization of operating functions to field agencies. In the fall of 1957 the Office of the Quartermaster General announced that it had developed a plan, approved by the Department of the Army, for decentralization of major supply management functions, of the administration of the Army food service program, and of related functions, to four field installations. The plan involved the transfer of seven OQMG divisions and 449 employes to the Columbus, Philadelphia, and Richmond QM Depots, and to the Chicago Administrative Center, with all moves planned for completion by the spring of 1958. The effect will be to shift the emphasis, in the cental office of the Quartermaster General, away from operation and toward the roles of policy development, administrative control, and following up on the performance of the field agencies.

PROCUREMENT OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. There are five procurement sources for QMC Regular Army officers: distinguished graduates of the ROTC, reserve officers on active duty, transfers from other branches, direct appointment of civilian specialists, and direct appointment of warrant officers or enlisted men. At the present time no Regular officers are commis

sioned in the Quartermaster Corps from the United States Military Academy. Until the new Air Force Academy begins producing officers-around 1960the current needs of the Air Force leave only enough Military Academy graduates each year for the combat arms and quasi-combat services, such as the Corps of Engineers and the Signal Corps. Graduates can therefore become Quartermaster officers only by transfer from some other arm or service.

For ROTC distinguished military students, acceptance is based on general college record plus scores obtained on the evaluation report of the PMS&T, the summer camp evaluation report, and a personal inventory test. The primary consideration is not whether the student received QM training during his ROTC course, but whether his interests and college curriculum fit him for QM activities. Equal opportunity is provided if training was received in a general military science unit or some other Army branch unit. A distinguished military graduate who desires a commission in the QMC can almost always obtain it, if he meets the general criteria for acceptance established by the Department of the Army.

A man not receiving a Regular commission under the above program may apply for it 18 months after entrance on active duty as a reserve officer. The Armed Forces Regular Officer Augmentation Act of 1956 provides additional means for reserve officers to apply for Regular commissions.

For further details, see "A Career of Service in the Quartermaster Corps." QMC Pamphlet No. 1.

1 Jul 1883-16 Jun 1890 26 Jun 1890-27 Jul 1896 19 Aug 1896-16 Feb 1897 16 Feb 1897-3 Feb 1898 3 Feb 1898-13 Apr 1903 12 Apr 1903-1 Jul 1907 1 Jul 1907-12 Sep 1916 13 Sep 1916-12 Jul 1918 22 Jul 1918-27 Aug 1922 28 Aug 1922-2 Jan 1926 3 Jan 1926-17 Jan 1930 3 Feb 1930-2 Feb 1934 3 Feb 1934-31 Mar 1936 1 Apr 1936-31 Mar 1940 1 Apr 1940-31 Jan 1946 1 Feb 1946-21 Mar 1949 21 Mar 1949-30 Sep 1951 9 Oct 1951-31 Jan 1954 5 Feb 1954-31 Mar 1957 12 Jun 1957

.Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Holabird .Brig. Gen. Richard N. Batchelder .Brig. Gen. Charles G. Sawtelle ..Brig. Gen. George H. Weeks Brig. Gen. Marshall I. Ludington .Brig. Gen. Charles F. Humphrey Maj. Gen. James B. Aleshire .Maj. Gen. Henry G. Sharpe ..Maj. Gen. Harry L. Rogers ..Maj. Gen. William H. Hart .Maj. Gen. B. Franklin Cheatham .Maj. Gen. John L. DeWitt .Maj. Gen. Louis H. Bash . Maj. Gen. Henry Gibbins Lieut. Gen. Edmund B. Gregory .Maj. Gen. Thomas B. Larkin . Maj. Gen. Herman Feldman Maj. Gen. George A. Horkan .Maj. Gen. Kester L. Hastings .Maj. Gen. Andrew T. McNamara

The basic task of the Signal Corps is to furnish the means and the men needed to provide the signal communications and electronic equipment which are essential to military command and control.

HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND. The

official birthday of the Corps is 21 June 1860. On that date Major Albert J. Myer, Assistant Surgeon, was appointed Signal Officer. He previously had obtained War Department approval of his flag signaling system (wigwag). He at once began to train officers in this system, which in the Civil War was adopted by both sides. A Confederate Signal Corps was created shortly after the war began. The U. S. Army Signal Corps was established by an act of Congress of 3 March 1863, and by October of 1864 numbered 170 officers and 1,400 men. Our Army was the first in the world to establish the position of Signal Officer, and the first to create separate and independent Signal Corps.

a

The record of the Corps in later wars is treated in chapter 13.

THE CORPS TODAY. The principal elements of the Signal Corps' mission are to develop and procure communication, electronic, meteorological, and photographic equipment, distribute it to the Army and maintain it; to install, operate, and maintain Army's communication networks; to train and furnish Signal Corps specialists and units;

and to perform photographic and meteorological duties. Officers and men are trained in all means of conveying information and intelligence-visual, from flags or lights to facsimile and television, and electrical, from simple wire or radio telegraph to the most intricate and rapid carrier and multiplex methods. Military signaling utilizes all the means offered by the radiation spectrum, including infrared and radar.

In addition to providing for the transmission, within our own forces, of all types of military orders, messages, and documents, Signal Corpsmen collect essential information about the enemy, using radar, photography, and other means ("combat surveillance"). They provide the equipment and signals essential to accurate gun-laying, to air navigation (for Army aircraft), to guided missile control, and to new applications of electronic computers and of the wire and radio nets serving the Army's clerical and logistical activities.

TRAINING FACILITIES. As the communications agent of the Army, with a considerable variety of other technical missions not all related to communications, the Signal Corps has always carried large training responsibilities, instructing not only its own specialists but communicators of other Arms and Services as well. In World War I the number of Signal Corps specialists categories ran to no more

than about a score, but in World War II they increased several fold. The proliferating of military electronic applications at present-television, missile guidance, and combat surveillance, to name but three-steadily increases the Corps' specialist requirements and training problems. In addition to its major installations at Ft. Monmouth, N. J., the Corps in World War II opened large training activities at Camp Crowder (Mo.), Camp Kohler (Cal.), and Camp Murphy (Fla.). All were closed down at the war's end, except the schools at Ft. Monmouth. On 15 December 1951, under the pressure of the Korean conflict, the Corps opened a training installation at Camp San Luis Obispo (Cal.), but closed it in November, 1953. However, in November 1948 it had founded the Southeastern Signal School, at Camp Gordon (Ga.), which it continues to operate.

SUPPLY ACTIVITIES. The Corps procures, stocks, and distributes to the Army all required communications, electronic, photographic, and meteorological equipment. This includes radio, radar, and television sets of many kinds, from large radio transmitters of great power and range to small handcarried sets. It includes highly efficient radio relay sets, and such versatile radios as the AN/GRC-26 (Army-Navy Ground Radio Communications set, popularly called the "Angry 26,") which proved so valuable in Korea. It includes various types of radars to detect aircraft, to detect mortar shells in flight so as to locate the exact firing point, and to detect trucks and personnel. It includes television, from large vehicular stations to hand-carried pick-up cameras, with field transmitters to send the scenes back to headquarters. Signal Corps telephone, telegraph, and teletype equipment has become marvelous in its compactness (despite its complexity), and in its ability to handle numerous circuits simultaneously. Meteorological equipment includes complete truck-mounted weather stations, and radars such as the RAWIN set AN/GMD-1 which is used to track drifting weather balloons, thereby determining wind speed and direction at various altitudes Photographic equip

ment includes complete processing labs (truck-mounted) and many types of special cameras. The Signal Corps also provides mine detectors employing radio principles, and radiac sets used to determine the intensity of radiation resulting from the use of atomic weapons. Supplementing all the above there is a wide variety of tools, repair and maintenance equipment, power generating equipment, specialized vehicles, and the like.

As of mid-1957 the Corps handled over 150,000 individual items of equipment. The value of such equipment currently in depots in the continental United States exceeded a billion dollars.

PROCUREMENT OF PERSONNEL. The qualifications for assignment to, or for obtaining a commission in, the Signal Corps are many and varied. The prerequisites are those for enlistment or commission in any branch.

Enlisted Men. An enlisted man may, under AR 601-215, enlist for whatever branch of service he chooses (including the Signal Corps), in order to fill a vacancy in the monthly quota. If he has had prior service, he may, upon reenlisting for a second term, select the Signal Corps. If he has not had prior service, he may, under AR 601-230, choose to enlist for a minimum of three years and attend a Signal Corps school. If he successfully completes the training course he receives a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) number. This MOS training qualifies him for Signal Corps technical assignments; for example, as an operator or repairman in communications, or as a specialist in such fields as research and development, procurement and distribution, intelligence, photography, meteorology, television, etc. Also, under AR 601-229, a man with previous service may, if he reenlists within 90 days, enter a Signal Corps school. On obtaining an MOS he will normally be assigned to a Signal Corps unit.

Officers. For details of the qualifications for a regular army or reserve commission, see AR 601-100 and AR 140-100.

For further details on signal communications and equipment, see chapter

18.

27 Jun 1860-13 Oct 1863 13 Oct 1863-26 Dec 1864 26 Dec 1864-15 Nov 1866 15 Dec 1880-16 Jan 1887 3 March 1887-9 Feb 1906 10 Feb 1906-13 Feb 1913 5 Mar 1913-13 Feb 1917 14 Feb 1917-31 Dec 1923 1 Jan 1924-8 Jan 1928 9 Jan 1928-30 Jun 1931 1 Jul 1931-31 Dec 1934 1 Jan 1935-30 Sep 1937 1 Oct 1937-30 Sep 1941 1 Oct 1941-30 Jun 1943 1 Jul 1943-31 Mar 1947 1 Apr 1947-2 May 1951 2 May 1951-30 Apr 1955 1 May 1955

.Maj. Albert J. Myer .Lt. Col. William J. L. Nicodemus .Brig. Gen. Albert J. Myer ..Brig. Gen. William B. Hazen .Brig. Gen. Adolphus W. Greely .Brig. Gen. James Allen ..Brig. Gen. George P. Scriven Maj. Gen. George O. Squier .Maj. Gen. Charles McK. Saltzman .Maj. Gen. George S. Gibbs .Maj. Gen. Irving J. Carr .Maj. Gen. James B. Allison Maj. Gen. Joseph O. Mauborgne .Maj. Gen. Dawson Olmstead

.Maj. Gen. Harry C. Ingles .Maj. Gen. Spencer B. Akin ...Maj. Gen. George I. Back .Lt. Gen. James D. O'Connell

for

Traditionally the function of transportation in the Army was under divided control. As of 1940, the Chief of Engineers was responsible both for building and for operating and maintaining military railroads, and for training railroad troop units. The Quartermaster General was responsible utility railroads, with some exceptions, and for the rail and water movement of troops and supplies, including the operation of the Army's ocean transports. Ports of embarkation were under the direct supervision of the War Department General Staff. The situation was further complicated by separate traffic organizations in some of the supply services and at War Department and other levels.

Such a dispersion of transportation responsibilities is not suited to modern major wars, with their worldwide scope and their enormous demands for the movement of supplies and equipment. It had produced undesirable results as far back as World War I. After World

War II broke out, the need for corrective measures became urgent. As a first step, a Transportation Division (later "Service") was created on 9 March 1942 in the Services of Supply, absorbing the Transportation Division of the Quartermaster Corps and certain General Staff transportation activities, and taking over responsibility for ports of embarkation and for holding and reconsignment points. On 31 July 1942 the Service was expanded into a Transportation Corps, to have its own officers, troop units, and training programs. The Corps took from the Quartermaster Corps the operation and maintenance of utility railroads, and from the Corps of Engineers its Military Railway Service, with supply and training functions. Except for the control of air traffic, transferred to the Air Force on 1 July 1942, and for the organization and manning of motor transport units, which remained with the Quartermaster General, a high degree of integration of Army transportation responsibilities was thus achieved.

Notwithstanding the need for building its organization and procedures in the midst of crisis, the Corps contributed materially to the victory over the Axis Powers. Along with its impressive record of wartime accomplishments, the Corps built up an esprit and morale of its own, geared to the tempo of modern transportation.

The return of peace saw further progress toward full integration of military transportation responsibilities. In 1946 certain Quartermaster truck and car companies and other troop units were transferred to the Corps. In 1952

it was given control of administrative motor pools, and of the logistic support of Army aviation, including helicopter transportation service. The "unification" policy of postwar years resulted in the transfer of the Army's ocean transport activities to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) of the Navy. This reduction of Transportation Corps responsibilities, however, was offset by enhanced responsibilities for land transport and traffic management for the Department of Defense.

RE

WATER TRANSPORTATION SPONSIBILITIES. Though entirely dependent on MSTS for deep sea shipping, the Chief of Transportation continues to be charged with vital port and water transport activities for the Army. Through his Army transportation terminal commands he provides the major "pipeline points" in the logistical support of Army and Air Force activities overseas. At the Army terminals, Corps personnel authorize movements for export shipments; supervise or conduct unloading, handling, loading, stevedoring, embarkation, debarkation, and other related services; and exercise control while personnel and materiel are within the terminal complexes. Upon the Chief of Transportation further falls the responsibility for the provision, assignment, reassignment, storage and issue, operation, maintenance, and utilization of all floating equipment in support of Army missions.

RAIL TRANSPORTATION RESPONSIBILITIES. The Army relies mostly on commercial facilities for rail movement. However, it maintains a sizeable quantity of equipment for utility railroad operations, for use on commercial lines in the United States, and for meeting the requirements of oversea commanders. In this area the Chief of Transportation directs his efforts toward economy in the operation and maintenance of the CONUS fleet; the provision of qualified officer personnel; the build-up of requisite stocks; and the maintenance of an effective military reserve to direct or execute the bulk haulage of men and materiel on oversea railways in support of combat operations.

MOTOR TRANSPORT

RESPONSI

BILITIES. The Chief of Transportation exercises technical supervision over administrative motor pool and line haul military highway operations, as well as over the allocation, inspection, maintenance, and repair of general transport administrative vehicles for which the Army has responsibility. Attention is directed toward efficient employment and management of vehicles at military installations, and toward the build-up and training of truck units for motor transport operations in the field. By reason of his basic stake in the defense use of public highways, the Chief of Transportation further serves as Department of Defense representative in integrating military requirements into civil highway programs of the United States, its territories, and possessions. The latter responsibility entails the provision of transportation engineering services; the injection of military requirements into the design and construction of public highways; the review and certification as to essentiality of access road requirements of the three Departments; the formulation and defense of budget estimates to meet these needs; and concern with overweight, oversize, and other special problems of military movements the public highways.

on

ARMY AVIATION RESPONSIBILITIES. Since 1952 the logistical support of Army aviation has bulked large in the overall effort of the Transportation Corps. In all facets of the program— research and procurement, supply and maintenance, specialist training, and the activation and employment of Transportation aviation units - the Chief of Transportation has been striving toward two objectives: to insure full support of the Army's needs in peacetime, and to meet the anticipated requirements of greater organic air capability and of swift dispersion, concentration, and supply in any future conflict involving the use of mass destruction weapons.

SINGLE MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES. Under the "single manager plan" the Secretary of the Army was designated in 1956 as single manager for the function of traffic management for all the Armed Services. This duty is carried out by the Chief of Trans