This year marks the 71st anniversary of the first Armed Forces Day celebration, held 20 May 1950. Prior to that, each of the branches of the military celebrated their own day. Since 1929, Army Day had been observed on April 6th, to mark the country’s entrance into World War I.
The theme of the first Armed Forces Day was "Teamed for Defense." It was chosen as a means of expressing the unification of all the military forces under a single department of the government. Although this was the theme for the day, there were several other purposes for holding Armed Forces Day. It was a type of "educational program for civilians," one in which there would be an increased awareness of the Armed Forces. It was designed to expand public understanding of what type of job is performed and the role of the military in civilian life. It was a day for the military to show "state-of- the-art" equipment to the civilian population they were protecting. And it was a day to honor and acknowledge the people of the Armed Forces of the United States.
That first year’s celebration was extensively marked by the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth with a week’s worth of activities, and crowds of 12,000 were present for the opening activities. Civilians visited Fort Monmouth to see such sights as parachute and helicopter demonstrations, troop reviews, as well as over 200 exhibits. The exhibits highlighted the full range of activities that were on Fort Monmouth at the time, including work being done at the Squire, Coles, Watson and Evans Signal Laboratories; the Armed Service Eelctro-Standards Agency; the Signal Corps Publications Agency; The Signal School; the Signal Corps Photographic Center; the Signal Corps Museum; Station K2USA; civilian components; and exhibits of training aids and equipment. Some of the more startling exhibits included the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories “Snow Village,” which produced snow in a closed environment, the Video-Telephone exhibit, a dynamic weather-radar display, and guided missile displays.
All these events were faithfully recorded in the newly-established “Monmouth Message” newspaper, which was first published on 9 May 1950, and commemorative programs and a photograph book documented the celebration.
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