501st Signal Battalion
"Voice of the Eagle"
The mission of the 501st Signal Battalion is to deploy in 36 hours, world-wide, to establish and sustain communications systems in support of the 101st airborne division (air assault) operations.
The 501st Signal Battalion, "The Voice of the Eagle", traces roots to World War I when it was constituted as the 626th Field Signal Battalion on 23 July 1918. On 24 June 1921, the Battalion was reconstituted as the 101st Signal Company. In August 1942, it was reorganized as the 101st Airborne Signal Company and activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. During World War II, the 101st Airborne Signal Company supported operations throughout Germany, Belgium, France, and Holland, to include providing initial communications for the Division Headquarters during the D-Day invasion.
The 101st Airborne Signal Company was activated, inactivated, organized and redesigned six times, emerging finally as the 501st Signal Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on 25 April 1957. In May 1965, the first elements of the 501st Signal Battalion began deployment to the Republic of Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Brigade. The remainder of the battalion deployed with the division in 1967 and returned with the Division Headquarters in 1972, having participated in a total of 12 campaigns, including offensive and counteroffensive.
In August 1990, the first elements of the battalion were deployed to Saudi Arabia. In September, the remainder of the battalion followed and immediately installed and maintained communications for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for Operations Desert Shield Desert Storm. The communications system began as base camp communications, then it evolved to form a Division Communication System which spanned over 1000 square miles and supported Air Assault, ground-and-air combat operations into Iraq. The battalion redeployed to Fort Campbell in April 1991.
In June 1992, the 501st Signal Battalion exchanged its equipment for a complete new digital communications system called Mobile Subscriber Equipment.
In August 1993, the Signal Battalion completed the fielding of SINCGARS radios. In September 1993, the 501st conducted an MSE node center sling load operation using CH-47 helicopters. This was the first time in Army history that a unit airlifted an entire node center.
By the end of the 1994, the current battalion organization was completed when Charlie Company added a Multi-channel Tactical Satellite Platoon.
Clad in desert camouflage uniforms and modern battle gear, soldiers today look nothing like they did in World War II. But the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is slowly reviving the spirit of its lineage with the reinstatement of unit distinctive helmet emblems similar to those worn 60 years ago in Europe. The patch the troops will begin wearing on their kevlar helmets was worn during World War II. The lightning flash in the center of the box was added to reflect the technological enhancements essential to military communication. The 501st Signal Battalion joined the 101st's three infantry brigades in the resurrection of its World War II unit helmet patch in a late-September ceremony at the division's main command post in Mosul.
