28th Signal Battalion
The 28th Signal Battalion is among the oldest continuously serving signal battalions in the Signal Corps.
In 1901, Fred G. Miller founded Company G, Second Regiment, United Boys Brigade of America, in Pittsburgh, PA. Two years later it became a signal company and September 12, 1908 it became Company A, Signal Corps, Pennsylvania National Guard, with Miller its first company commander.
Cpt. Miller's company was activated for federal service with the 7th Division, P.N.G. on June 29, 1916 in response to the border incursions by the Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa. Now called the First Field Battalion, Signal Troops, Cpt. Miller and his organization served until January 18, 1917 on the Mexican border near El Paso, TX.
When the First Field Battalion returned to Pennsylvania, it was deactivated, but not for long. On October 11, 1918 it was reactivated and redesignated as the 103rd Field Signal Battalion and comprised the main signal support organization for the 28th Infantry Division, P.N.G. Comprised of HQ and supply detachment, a radio company, a wire company, and an outpost company, the strength of the 103rd Signal Battalion was close to 500 personnel. After several months of training at Camp Hancock, GA, the battalion sailed for Europe aboard the British mail ship HMS Metgama, arriving in England May 31, 1918. Shortly afterward, it arrived in Calais, France, and prepared to participate in the campaigns of the A.E.F. on the Western Front. The 103rd Field Signal Battalion, with Major Fred Miller as battalion commander and Major Sidney A. Hagerling as the division signal officer, supported the 28th Division ably as it participated in the Second Battle of the Marne, the campaign against Fismes, the united Allied attacks on the Vesle River, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
With the First World War ending on November 11, 1918, the 103rd Field Signal Battalion spent several more months in France prior to its return to the United States, where it was again demobilized and deactivated on May 20, 1919 at Camp Dix, NJ.
After several years of reorganizational difficulties, LTC Sidney A. Haderling and Major Walter A. Hardie succeeded in forming a new organization, the 28th Signal Company, December 16, 1921, in Pittsburgh, PA. It was assigned to the 28th Division P.N.G. and, over the next 20 years, increased its strength and trained well, especially on the newest communication means - the radio.
On February 1941, the 28th Signal Company was inducted into federal service in anticipation of participation in World War II, which loomed heavily on the horizon. Participation was assured when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. For the next three years the 28th Signal Company trained for war. In July 1944, the training mission became a real-world mission as the Signal Company arrived in France at Normandy. During World War II, the 28th Signal Company supported the 28th Infantry Division as it moved from Normandy through Northern France, to Rhineland, the Ardennes and Central Europe. The battles of Schmidt, the Huertgen Forest, the Bulge, and the Colmar Pocket are well known to the men of the 28th Signal Company. After the war ended, the Signal Company returned to the United States and was deactivated at Camp Shelby, MS, October 27, 1945.
On October 10, 1946, the 28th Signal Company was reorganized and federally recognized. In response to the Korean Conflict, it was again called to federal service on September 5, 1950, and sent to Germany after several years of training. The Signal Company was released from federal service on June 15, 1954 and reverted back to state control.
The 28th Signal Company became the 28th Signal Battalion June 1, 1959 at Pittsburgh. A previous company commander and divisional signal officer, Major Robert Croenweth, became the first battalion commander and set a new battalion on a training course aimed at professionalism, technical expertise and mission accomplishment.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the 28th Signal Battalion proved its worth, whether at annual training or when called to State Active Duty in response to some type of crisis. In 1968, the battalion was called upon for the riots in Pittsburgh which followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1974, the battalion patrolled the streets of Pennsylvania and provided a communications net during the violent independent truckers strike. It has been called out for winter storms, floods and tornadoes.
In November 1993 the battalion was issued new equipment. Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) is the Army standard equipment for corps and below. The fielding took place during a three-week annual training period at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA. This was a massive undertaking which required approximately two years of planning and two years of fielding and training. The Army contracted GTE to assist with all phases of the total package fielding.
MSE provides digital voice, data and facsimile communications on an automatic discrete address, fixed directory basis using flood search techniques. Flood search is an adaptive technique that routes calls over optimum routes based on current traffic patterns within the network. MSE is encrypted, highly flexible, extremely mobile (mounted on HMMWVs) and easily transportable. It was designed for rapid and easy deployments. It supports both mobile and wire subscribers, thereby permitting the exchange of command, control and intelligence information in a dynamic, tactical environment.
Training year 1996 was an extremely busy and exciting year for the 28th Signal Battalion. Mobile subscriber communications support was provided to the 213th Area Support Group at the JRTC in Fort Polk, LA. Three annual training periods and the 28th Division Warfighter Exercise at Fort Leavenworth, KS, were supported by elements of the 28th Signal Battalion. This support consisted of both voice and data circuits, which proved to be very reliable and instrumental for the command and control of divisional elements. The Warfughter exercise was extremely successful. The 28th Division was the first division to use MSE at Ft. Leavenworth. Over 40 computers were installed and operational over three tactical local area networks. This was a result of coordination between the Signal Battalion and the 28th DISCOM LASSO section.
From 1997 to Training Year 2000, the battalion has supported numerous 28th Division exercises and deployments. CNR, MSE and automation support have all been brought to new levels. TY99 saw the battalion provide signal support to the 28th Infantry during operations "Desert Victory" and "Urgent Victory" in a V Corps Warfighter Exercise in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The support included automation support for 56 laptops, DNVTs, CNRs, commercial phones/faxes, secure commercial faxes, and VTC capabilities. The year culminated with a deployment to Fort Pickett, VA, where the battalion conducted intensive signal/survivability Lanes Training.
TY00 held similar opportunities for members of the 28th Signal Battalion. These included: deployments to Fort Hood, TX, for a combined active Army/National Guard 3rd Signal Brigade exercise, which provided TACSAT to Fort Drum, NY; a third deployment to Grafenwoehr, Germany, to conduct our own Warfighter exercise, while simultaneously participating in another V Corps Warfighter exercise; and the possibility of exchanging soldiers for training with the 3rd Signal Brigade.
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