The month of June marks two milestones: the 250th Army birthday and the 165th anniversary of the founding of the Signal Corps. The Signal Corps was established during the Civil War and played a small but vital role in the Army during that conflict. But it wasn't until the last conflict of the 19th century that the Signal Corps began to grow. Working through periods of extreme austerity, the Signal Corps, under the direction of far-sighted and innovative leaders, expanded in the period from the Spanish-American War (1898) through the close of World War I (1918), from a strength of 60 officers and men to over 200,000, and in many ways created the 20th century mission through its focus on technology.
The drivers for this tremendous change were, in the words of the Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General Adolphus W. Greely in 1898, the "insistent demands of the age for instant communication." One of the means for meeting the demands was an open embrace by Signal Corps leaders of the talents and innovations of the academic, industry, and civilian workforces.
The first challenge arrived with Spain's declaration of war on April 24, 1898. Despite the best efforts of BG Greely, the Signal Corps was then a small, far-flung group of eight officers and 50 men. There were no more than two men at any station, and only $800 was available for war expenses. Once an Act of Congress on May 18,1898, authorized the President to organize a Volunteer Signal Corps, the Regular Signal Corps sprung into action, recruiting experienced telegraph operators and electricians from around the country, and fielding the first Volunteer Company within 30 days, in time to make an impact on the Santiago De Cuba campaign.
Experienced men were essential as the role of the Signal Corps grew. In addition to vital duties such as the operation of permanent military telegraph lines and serving as Signalmen for the Havana and Manila Campaigns -- operating signal flags, telegraphs, and heliographs -- the Signal Corps also had the duties of laying telegraph cables underwater for harbor defenses, connecting telephone lines between forts in the Washington D.C. area and the War Department, installing electrical lines at Army posts for the fire-control systems required by new disappearing guns, military balloon operations for reconnoitering, telegraph censorship, and construction and operation of telephone and telegraph lines in the field, the first use of telephones in conflict. The Signal Corps would also pioneer the use of combat photography during this campaign.
At the end of the brief war, America had shown itself a capable player on the world stage, due in no small part to the efforts of the Signal Corps, but that would not mean a significant increase in the fortunes or staffing of the Signal Corps.
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