Signal Battalion Airborne (Attached)
Worn as a Pocket Patch
The 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry) (Airborne)
provides worldwide contingency, force projection, signal
support to the XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters as the
Corps Assault Command Post, Tactical Command Posts, initial
JTF Headquarters, initial (ARFOR) Headquarters, and designated
Corps Major Subordinate Commands in support of Army, Joint and
Combined Operations during war and operations other than war.
The unit moved to Fort Sam Houston, TX, on 25 May 1915 where
it was consolidated with the 1st Provisional Company, Signal
Corps, as the 1st Telegraph Battalion. In October 1917, the
battalion was again designated as the 51st Telegraph Battalion.
The battalion was reactivated on 01 July 1940 at Fort Sheridan,
Illinois. After several exercises at Camp McCoy, WI; Camp Forrest,
TN; and Camp Robinson, AR, the battalion left New York on 27
December 1941 for Iceland, where it provided allied military
and all communications for nearly two years. From Iceland, the
battalion moved to England, where it prepared for the Normandy
invasion. The battalion supported the D-day assault forces on
the morning of 6 June 1944 by establishing communications from
the VII Corps Headquarters to the 4th Infantry Division, the
82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and the 9th Air Force.
After the breakout, the battalion supported to the 3rd Armored
Division as it raced across France, Belgium, and into Germany.
The battalion was again reactivated in responses to the Korean
War on 24 October 1951 and redesignated the 50th Signal Battalion
(Corps). Though it underwent a series of reorganizations during
the fifties, its mission was still to a part of the InterAmerican
Peace Force deployed to the Dominican Republic on 9 May 1965.
There it received yet another Meritorious Unit Commendation.
In March 1970, the battalion became a part of the 35th Signal
Group, which supported the XVIII Airborne Corps. The battalion
was reorganized and redesignated on 16 June 1983 as the 50th
Signal Battalion (Corps Command Operations) (Airborne). During
Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, the battalion established the
communications link between 82nd Airborne Division and the
commander of both the XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Forces in
Grenadian telegraph system as well as in maintaining
communications for the commander of the military support
element in Grenada. During Operations Just Cause in Panama,
the battalion provided communications to the 82nd Airborne
Division, JTF South, and the 7th Infantry Division.
The battalion was reorganized and redesignated on 01 February
1989 as the 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry)
(Airborne). The battalion deployed to Saudi Arabia in August
1990 in support of Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
This Operation Desert Storm and the Battalion's subsequent
redeployment April 1991.
The 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry) (Airborne)
deployed to Haiti in September 1994 in support of JFT-180. The
50th Signal Battalion was the first battalion to provide Mobile
Subscriber Equipment Communications aboard the USS MT Whitney.
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 50th Signal Battalion
(Corps) (Forced Entry) (Airborne) provides administrative,
logistical, staff support, and direct support for C&E and
COMSEC maintenance in support of the battalion during Army,
Joint, and Combined operations.
Alpha Company 50th Signal Battalion (Airborne) provides
worldwide contingency, force projection, signal support to
the XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters as the Corps Assault
Command Post, initial Army Forces (ARFOR) Headquarters,
initial Joint Task Force Headquarters, and designated Corps
MSCs in support of Army, Joint and Combined operations.
Bravo Company, 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry)
(Airborne) provides worldwide contingency force projection
and signal support to the XVIII Airborne Corps as the Corps
Assault Command Post, initial Army Forces (ARFOR) Headquarters,
initial Joint Task Force Headquarters, and designated Corps Major
Subordinate Commands (MSCs) in support of Army, Joint, and
Combined Operations during war and in support of military
operations other than war.
Charlie Company 50th Signal Battalion (Corps) (Forced Entry)
(Airborne) provides worldwide contingency force projection and
signal support to the XVIII Airborne Corps as the Corps Assault
Command Post, initial Army Forces (ARFOR) Headquarters, initial
Joint Task Force Headquarters, and designated Corps Major
Subordinate Commands (MSCs) in support of Army, Joint, and
Combined Operations during war and in support of military
operations.
Delta Company 50th Signal Battalion (Airborne) provides
worldwide contingency, force projection signal support to
the XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters as the Tactical Command
Post, Army Forces Headquarters, and Joint Task Force
Headquarters and to designated Corps MSCs in support of Army,
Joint, and Combined combat operations during war and in
operations other than war.
514th Signal Company, 50th Signal Battalion (Airborne) provides
self sustaining world-wide, rapid deployable force projection
with over the horizon and reachback signal support for the
XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters and Assault Command Post,
initial Joint Task Force Headquarters, Army Forces Headquarters
and designated Corps Major Subordinate Commands (MSCs) throughout
the entire spectrum of conflict or peacetime mission.
Campaignes
Originally constituted on 16 December 1899 in the Regular Army,
as Company H, Signal Corps, and organized in the Philippine Island,
the unit received campaign credit for the Philippine Insurrection.
Company H returned to Benicia Barracks, CA, on 15 March 1905,
where it remained for over ten years. During this time, the
company provided communications to the frontier areas of
California, Washington, Nebraska, Texas, and Arizona, primarily
via telegraph.
The battalion left New York bound for France aboard the KAROA on
15 August 1918 as a part of the American Expeditionary Forces.
During World War I, the battalion participated in the Champagne,
Oise-Aisne, and Meuse-Argonne Campaigns. After the war, the
battalion was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, TX, from 20
August 1919 until its inactivation on 24 September 1921.
During the war, the battalion received credit for participating
in the following campaigns, Normandy, Northern France, the
Rhileland, Ardennes Alsace, and Central Europe. The battalion
also received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the
European Theater.