Strategic Communications Command

Worn from:
8 May 1964 - 31 October 1973.

Re-designated:
Communications Command United States Army.
Worn from:
31 October 1973 - 5 September 1984.

Re-designated:
Information Systems Command United States Army.
Worn from:
5 September 1984 - Current.

The colors orange and white are representative of the
Signal Corps. The globe indicates the worldwide nature
of the communications controlled by the command; the
lightning depicts its dynamic and strategic capabilities

The command’s shoulder sleeve insignia was originally
approved on June 19, 1964, for the Strategic Communications
Command by The Institute of Heraldry.

Description
On a shield 2 1/2 inches in height overall divided diagonally
from upper left to lower right with white above and orange below,
a globe with gridlines and outlines in orange above and white below
and superimposed thereon from upper left to lower right a yellow
lightning flash, all within a 1/8-inch yellow border.

Symbolism
The colors orange and white are representative of the Signal
Corps. The globe indicates the worldwide nature of the
communications controlled by the command; the lightning
depicts its dynamic and strategic capabilities.

Concentrating on the Vietnam communications experience at
division level and lower, this monograph is a companion volume
to Major General Thomas M. Rienzi's comprehensive
Communications-Electronics. Communications in Vietnam were so
interrelated and interwoven that familiarity with the overall
and supporting situation as portrayed by General Rienzi will
promote better understanding and appreciation of the divisional
communications story.

Communications is the primary mission of the Signal Corps and its
members. Division-Level Communications is a story not only of some
very fine Signal Corps units and individuals but also of many other
communicators from the Infantry, Armor, Artillery, and all other
branches of the Army. It is a combined arms story; on the battlefield,
communications is everybody's business.

The scope of this study includes the stateside alert and readying of
units for Vietnam duty and the reaction of the Army training base to
supply the volume of trained specialists needed to man the equipment
associated with a modern communications system. The transition from
peacetime status to battlefield effectiveness is always difficult,
normally made more so because of severe shortages of time, equipment,
and skilled men.

The study points out examples of errors and shortfalls without losing sight
of the things that went right. Vietnam unit after-action reports and senior
officer end-of-tour debriefing reports were notable in their paucity of
complaints about communications difficulties; things did go right in the
communications field most of the time. Communications, mobility, and firepower
formed the triad upon which Vietnam tactical operations were based.

Data for this monograph was drawn primarily from after action reports and
interviews, documented lessons learned, official reports, and recent
interviews and letters from numerous individuals who served with the seven
divisions and five separate brigades and regiments which were the heart of
divisional communications. Sincere appreciation goes to the many communicators
and commanders, active and retired, who shared.

March 1, 1964, the Army established the Office of the Chief of
Communications-Electronics and discontinued the Office of the
Chief Signal Officer. Simultaneously, USASCC (now U.S. Army STRATCOM)
became upgraded to major Army command status with full command and
control over worldwide strategic communications. The organizational
structure of STRATCOM quickly expanded with the establishment of
STRATCOM-Europe in July 1964, STRATCOM-Pacific in September 1964
(and STRATCOM-Pacific’s STRATCOM facilities in Hawaii, Vietnam, Okinawa,
Taiwan and Thailand in November 1964).

As the conflict in Southeast Asia committed more and more American
forces and services, the mission of STRATCOM in Vietnam grew proportionately.
Signal groups and battalions operated in the various Corps tactical zones
without the benefit of centralized command and control. To fill that void,
STRATCOM established the 1st Signal Brigade. Formed in 1966 in Vietnam,
the 1st Signal Brigade assumed command and control over all Army
communications-electronics resources in Southeast Asia. Scattered among
200 sites in Vietnam and Thailand, the brigade became the largest
combat signal unit ever formed.