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1st Signal Battalion |
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| Battalion History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 1st Signal Battalion headquarters, c. 1973 (Chuck Webster) |
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1st Signal
Battalion DUI |
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1st Signal Bn (Combat Area) (HHC, A, B, C & D Companies) was activated at Panzer Kaserne in Böblingen, Germany on 1 October 1961. |
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| (Source: Email from Bob Drapeau, B Co and "Jump" Pltn, Hq Co, 1963-65) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I was assigned to the 1st Signal Battalion at Panzer Kaserne, Boeblingen from April 1963 to September 1965. I was assigned to B Company as a Carrier Platoon and Radio Platoon Leader, and then moved to Headquarters Company as the "Jump" Platoon Leader and Company Commander.
HQ, B, C and D Companies were at Panzer Kaserne - Boeblingen.
A Company, 1st Signal Bn was in Karlsruhe and we picked up A Company, 26th Signal which was in Ludwigsburg - 6 Companies = 5 AASC and Jump
I had the shot from Army Main to the First French Army in Rastatt (I speak French) and the Army shot to VII Corps in the field. In wartime, 1st Signal provided five AASCs and a "jump" capability - In peacetime, the Battalion participated primarily in training activities. We had some limited garrison signal requirements. In peacetime, we did not have any skeleton AASCs in place - when we went to the field we normally went to the same places but we did not maintain any permanent sites there. The circuits from 7th Army Main to 1st French Army were routed through (as I recall) a couple of AASCs then to Rastatt. As I recall the 1st Signal unit at the Konigshof (Webmaster: Koenigstuhl?) overlooking Heidelberg - I believe it was C Company (with HQ Company co-located) had the shot to Rastatt. I don't remember if any relays were involved. I had a MRC-54 (3 GRC-50s) and a MCC-6 (2 ea AN/TCC 7) - plenty of spare equipment. I terminated the shot in the carrier rig and the French took the circuits to their comm center. We lived with the French on their kaserne and traded parts of our "C" rations for their wine. The shot to VII Corps was from Company B to VII Corps Main - a direct shot - no relays - we terminated it with a MRC-54 and a MCC-6 - the circuits again were routed through a couple of AASCs. The mission of the 1st Sig Bn in wartime was to provide area signal
centers in the rear of VII Corps. Our prime mission in garrison was training and maintenance - test shots were conducted on a regular basis - an aside - the Battalion never passed CMMI inspections on vehicles because the trucks were coded yellow because of age! In peacetime, there were some remote sites supported by the Battalion. I believe they were assigned to C and D Companies.
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If you have more
information on the history or organization of the 1st Signal Battalion,
please contact me . |
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| (Source: Email from Denton Aylor) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
These pictures came from Daniel McMunn, now retired 1st Sgt and in his 70's. These pictures are from the 1964/65 period. I was Dan's room mate for over a year before being promoted to Sgt.
in late 1965. He just sent these pictures to me. |
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| 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Ed Hawks) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Site about 15 miles west of Mannheim: I was only filling in there temporarily. Really neat site though. I
loved working there. As the crow files I am certain it was only about 15
miles west of Mannheim. It was one of those semi-permanent sites. The
people that worked there had a small orderly room, day room and mess
hall. I don't think there were more than 20 people there at any given
time. Based on my memory, Bing maps and these photos I would have to be Hardenburg ( ). Photo #11 is looking north from the tower and Photo #10 is looking east from the tower and that would be Bad Duerkheim in the picture. Matches up with the topo of the area also since Bad Duerkheim is right where the hills meet the plains.Our Battalion got tapped for a few people to support them during leaves and such. They had some crude buildings there with sleeping quarters and a day room. We had to bring our tent to sleep in. That Hardenberg site was what I would refer to as a semi permanent. It had buildings and sleeping quarters. The rigs you see were all backed up into a permanent structure. This is really a stretch for my memory but if you recall there was a system called AUTOVON. My memory was that this was the system in place if the AUTOVON system crashed. We still used the tactical phone switches but in a permanent capacity. When I went to 17th Sig in Hoechst just outside of Frankfurt one of our compaines operated a similiar facility just in back of the Abrahms building for V Corps. That is when Colin Powell was V Corps commander. They used to call it "The Patio" because the equipment literally sat on a patio out back. Site 01 (Kaiserslautern): 01 was the site we always went to at C Co. Best I can tell it was at Johaniskreuz (south of Kaiserslautern). Site 01 was the woods. No facilities. 1st Signal was a tactical company period. We always deployed to the woods. The tower was set up towards the center top of this image and although the resolution is not too great I still think I can see the permenant tower that was there at the time. The carrier and microwave vans were up there. We were down the hill about 1000 feet to the southwest. Patch, switch and mess hall. This was not a fixed site. Only used to support major excercises such as REFORGER and WINTEX. When I was at 17th Sig, they ran a sissy outfit. Most of my "deployments" were to parking lots with circus tents errected by contractors for us to sleep in. We rarely slept in an Army tent there. Site west of Darmstadt: It was near Neunkirchen and I tried to center the field site in the middle of this link. It was the hightest peak in the area. There had been some occasions when the 440th AN/TTC-38 had crashed and they needed us to go there. I don't remember then number of that site but will try to find out. When I find out the numbers of all these sites I will lable them appropriately in my Facebook photos. |
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| 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from John Anderson, A Company, 1st Signal Bn, 1973-75) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Location of the former EDCN site on Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen (Bing) |
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 EDCN site A3 on Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, Aug 1974 (Chuck Webster) |
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| South Dakota Site (EDCN Site A3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Chuck Webster) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I have some photos from 73-74 from South Dakota Site, Mannheim-Sandhofen - part of the Emergency Deployment Communication Network (EDCN) network. Chuck Webster, SCPO, US Coast Guard (Ret) - I was in the Army first, just to avoid any confusion! |
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 EDCN site A3 before construction of the antenna tower, 1973 |
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| MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION I am looking for information on the EDCN (Emergency Deployment Communications Network) Sites operated by 1st Signal Bn (1970s-80s). Please contact me if you would like to provide details. Site 07 Site 09 (a.k.a. Texas) - Kaiserslautern Site 101 |
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| Related Links: 1st Circus/1st Signal Battalion - great site dedicated to 1st Signal Bn and Kaiserslautern. |
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