Albert James Myer was an Army doctor with a vision. In 1856, he suggested the Army use his “wigwag” visual communications system. The wigwag was picked up by the Army June 21, 1860. At its inception, Myer was the first and only signal corps officer.
“He fathered not only the signal corps but the U.S. weather service, the U.S. intelligence and aerial ballooning which was the first Army air capability,” said Col. (Ret.) Tom Catudal, Signal Corps Regimental Association Chapter president.
To commemorate his technology-advancing vision, Lt. Gen. Susan Lawrence, chief information officer, G-6, Assistant Chief of Staff Office, United States Army, took her first trip to the memorial with Catudal to lay a wreath at the Albert J. Myer signal corps memorial at Whipple Field on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, June 23.
“We’ve come all the away from 1860 and the wigwag system to being able to send trillions of bytes around the world in seconds,” said Lawrence.
Looking beyond the memorial, one can’t help but take note of the view as the Washington Monument and Capitol proudly stand amongst the various buildings spread throughout the National Capital Region. With an unobstructed view of the NCR, the true beauty of the region is displayed beyond the memorial.
The wreath was covered in daisies and accented by orange lilies on the top and bottom. Adorning the wreath were two strips of white ribbon reading, “Signal anniversary, celebration 151 years.”
Lawrence and Catudal decided to take the wreath off the stand to lay at the base of the memorial. The memorial reads, “In memory of Albert J. Myer. Brigadier General. 1829-1880. Creator of the signal corps and first chief signal officer U.S. Army. Founder of U.S. weather bureau. To honour him this post was named Fort Myer in 1881. Erected A.D. MCMXXXI.”
Throughout its existence, the signal corps has made much advancement in technology. In the first few years the corps had constructed around 4,000 miles of telegraph lines along the country’s western frontier, according to the signal corps history.
By 1870, the corps had established the first mandated national weather system, provided telephone use, combat photography and renewed balloon use in the Spanish-American War. In 1946, the organization successfully bounced radar signals off the moon. The corps then enlisted the help of the Air Force to launch its first communication satellite.
All this started with one dream by one man who went on to become the namesake of this base.
“We would not be here today without his commitment, dedication and strategic vision of needing a separate corps to just work information technologies and networks…” said Lawrence. “I’m just a little more dedicated today than I was yesterday when you think about it.”
