32nd Signal Battalion
On order, the 32nd Signal Battalion rapidly deploys to provide signal support to V Corps or other headquarters in support of conventional or contingency operations.
The 32d Signal Battalion is made up of 5 companies. The Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) consists of the battalion staff and support elements including food and fuel. A, B and C companies are identical area signal companies with 2 node centers and numerous smaller switches providing support to unit commands under V Corps. D Company contains the Large Extension Node which supports a Corps command post.
On 20 March 1943, the Battalion was initially organized and activated as the 32d Signal Construction Company at Chicago, Illinois. It was then transferred without soldiers or equipment to the Signal Corps Unit Training center at Camp, Missouri where, on 25 March 1943, it was ordered into active military service as the 32d Signal Construction Battalion. Training for shipment overseas began immediately for the new battalion, which consisted of two construction companies (A and B) and a headquarters company. After training at Camp Crowder, and aiding in flood rehabilitation work in Missouri, the Battalion moved to Camp Shanks, New York prior to shipment to Europe on 27 February 1944. When the Battalion sailed out of the North River Harbor, it consisted of 23 officers, one warrant officer and 570 men.
In England, the Battalion began preparing, along with the rest of the allied forces, for the famous 6 June invasion of the Normandy beaches of France. On D-day plus two, 8 June 1944, Detachment A of the Battalion crossed the channel and began installing wire for communications lines. On 14 June the remainder of the Battalion crossed to France and began to work. Moving with the fighting forces across France, the Battalion entered German territory at Munster on 16 September 1944. After capture of the Lundendorf Bridge near Remagen, the Battalion installed two captured German submarine telephone cables across the Rhine river while under attack from small arms fire and aircraft. The cables provided dependable communications between the American forces on either side of the river at the breakthrough point.
Communications support continued until the German surrender on 9 May 1945. On 19 May 1945, the Battalion moved via motor convoy from, Germany, to Marseilles, France, where it re-organized as a Signal Light Construction Battalion and boarded ships to the still embattled Pacific theater of operation. on 1 August 1945, while still at sea, the ship's Captain announced the end of hostilities with Japan. The Battalion debarked at Hagas Ti Port, Okinawa, and set up camp on 1 September 1945. On 30 December 1945, the Battalion was reconstituted as a corps-type signal battalion. One month later, in January 1946, the Battalion was inactivated on Okinawa.
Nine years later, on 28 January 1955, the 32d Signal Battalion (Corps) was reactivated at Cambri Fritch Kaserne, Darmstadt, Germany under V Corps USAREUR
The old 32d Signal Battalion, a reserve unit, was inactivated and became the men and equipment of the 32d Signal Battalion (Corps). Since that time, the 32d Signal Battalion has provided critical communications support for every field exercise in which V Corps has been involved. When the Battalion was re-organized under the Delta Series TOE, in October 1961, the Battalion's cable construction capability was eliminated. In March 1964, after spending nine years in Darmstadt, USAREUR moved the Battalion to McNair Kaserne in Hoechst, Germany, just outside Frankfurt. The Battalion increased in size from 3 to 5 companies under USAREUR General Order 381 on 21 May 1961. On 26 June 1969, the 201st Signal Company was attached to the Battalion by V Corps General Order 139, bringing the number of assigned personnel over 1000. On 16 March 1981, the 32d Signal Battalion (Corps) was split into a Command Operations Battalion, designated the 17th Signal Battalion (Command), a Corps Radio Battalion, designated the 32d Signal Battalion (Radio) and a new Brigade Headquarters, the 22d under whose command structure the two Battalions now fall. The 32d Signal Battalion (Radio) had four companies which provided the command multichannel radio systems, radioteletype and FM in support of V Corps. In June 1986, the 32d Signal Battalion (Radio) was re-organized as a corps-area Battalion and re-designated the 32d Signal Battalion (Area). In addition to providing command multichannel and radioteletype support, the Battalion now also provided three Corps Area Signal Centers, complete with automatic switching to support V Corps' tactical area of operations.
From September through December 1990, the Battalion was re-organized as a Corps MSE Battalion, conducting a 100% swap-out of its equipment and re-activating D Company. The 32d Signal Battalion (MSE) consists of five companies, authorized over 600 personnel. The radioteletype and cable installation capability of the Battalion was eliminated, but the capabilities gained with Mobile Subscriber Equipment are enormous. The Battalion's primary mission is to provide six MSE node centers for the Corps Area Support Network, one large extension node, and up to 40 small extension switches to support Corps units. In January 1992, the 32d Signal Battalion moved back to Darmstadt to Kelley Barracks. From April to July 1999 the battalion deployed to Albania in support of Task Force Hawk and Operation Joint Forge during the Kosovo crisis. It continues to provide communications support for V Corps from the city where peacetime support began in 1955.
On 22 March 1993, the 32d Signal Battalion was presented the United States Army Superior Unit Award for meritorious achievement.
