By the beginning of 1970, the following programs had been implemented by DCA:
AUTODIN
AUTOVON (majority of program)
AUTOSEVOCOM (Automatic Secure Voice Network)
Phase I, DSCS (Defense Satellite Communications System)
numerous Transmission Systems projects

In 1947, the War Department redesignated the 9423rd TSU, War Department Signal Center, as the U.S. Army Command and Administrative Communications Agency in 1947, simplifying the title to U.S. Army Communications Agency 10 years later.

On April 1, 1962, ACA merged with the U.S. Army Signal Engineering Agency to form the U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command (USASCC). A staff agency of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer located in Washington, D.C., USASCC was charged with the engineering, installation, operation and maintenance of the Army’s portion of the Defense Communications Agency’s global communications network.

Even as the reorganization of the Department of Defense communications network got under way in the early 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 exposed serious flaws in communications between the U.S. State Department, American Embassies, and the Soviet Union. Post-crisis analysis of communication delays confirmed a need for a rapid upgrade of interdepartmental and international communication capabilities. President Kennedy ordered the establishment of the National Communications System interconnecting the State Department, the Department of Defense, and several other federal agencies. The Secretary of Defense became the executive agent for the NCS and the director of the Defense Communications Agency (later redesignated Defense Information Systems Agency) was appointed NCS manager.

The USASCC’s mission, as the Army proponent of the NSC, expanded in December 1962 to encompass
(1) the management of strategic transportable communications, fixed signal communications, the Military Affiliate Radio System, frequency interference resolution, and communications equipment research and development;
(2) worldwide test and evaluation, guidance on maintenance planning practices, and development of engineering criteria for fixed plant and associated equipment;
(3) acquisition management of automatic data processing equipment – except tactical – for Armywide application; and,
(4) supervision of transportation and traffic management of the Signal field command.

As USASCC’s mission grew, so too, did its physical appearance. Activation of the 11th Signal Group (later Brigade) and the 505th Signal Company May 1, 1963 at Fort Lewis, Wash., provided USASCC with tables of organization and equipment units which, when adequately trained and equipped, could support emergency operations; and emergency operations were not long in the making.

March 1, 1964, the Army established the Office of the Chief of Communications-Electronics and discontinued the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. Simultaneously, USASCC (now U.S. Army STRATCOM) became upgraded to major Army command status with full command and control over worldwide strategic communications. The organizational structure of STRATCOM quickly expanded with the establishment of STRATCOM-Europe in July 1964, STRATCOM-Pacific in September 1964 (and STRATCOM-Pacific’s STRATCOM facilities in Hawaii, Vietnam, Okinawa, Taiwan and Thailand in November 1964).

As the conflict in Southeast Asia committed more and more American forces and services, the mission of STRATCOM in Vietnam grew proportionately. Signal groups and battalions operated in the various Corps tactical zones without the benefit of centralized command and control. To fill that void, STRATCOM established the 1st Signal Brigade. Formed in 1966 in Vietnam, the 1st Signal Brigade assumed command and control over all Army communications-electronics resources in Southeast Asia. Scattered among 200 sites in Vietnam and Thailand, the brigade became the largest combat signal unit ever formed.

In 1967, STRATCOM headquarters moved from Washington, D.C., to Fort Huachuca, Ariz. In 1973, STRATCOM assumed responsibility for the communications systems at all Army posts, camps and stations, as well as depots and arsenals. This responsibility included all telephone systems, telecommunications centers, non-tactical radio systems, television distribution systems and public address systems.

As the nature of the war in Vietnam blurred the distinction between strategic and tactical communications, STRATCOM personnel and equipment became more and more supportive of tactical operations. As such, STRATCOM leaders moved to modify the command’s designation to better suit its changing mission by dropping “strategic” from its designation. In 1973, the Army redesignated STRATCOM as the U.S. Army Communications Command.

During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the rapid proliferation of computers and ADPE throughout the Army extended the mission of USACC into information systems management. Consequently, in May 1984, USACC was redesignated U.S. Army Information Systems Command. Under the Army’s new Information Mission Area concept, USAISC began to consolidate communications with automation and other IMA disciplines to include records management, visual information, printing and publication. Before the advent of IMA, automation resource control and acquisition management was the business of individual MACOMs. Now, the Army recognized a need to centralize efforts globally under the IS management authority of USAISC.

USAREUR implemented the immediately feasible portion of the joint report by transferring the 4th Signal Group to USASTRATCOM-EUR on 25 August. The integration of USASTRATCOMEUR headquarters and USAREUR's Communications-Electronics Division was to await the completion of the merger of USAREUR and Seventh Army headquarters.

FRELOC and HEADCON Communications
In Belgium.
The separation of SHAPE and USEUCOM headquarters made it necessary to provide USCINCEUR with communications support in Belgium. The provision of emergency communications at Casteau involved the procurement and installation of cryptologic and teletype equipment, ground stations for USCINCEUR's airborne command post (SILK PURSE) and his command and control radio net, broadband system access to the Defense Communications System (DCS), and leased circuits. USEUCOM estimated the total cost of the Phase I communications facility at Casteau -- scheduled to be operational by 15 March 1967 -- at $731,000, of which $531,000 would be one-time expenditures.

USCINCEUR tasked CINCUSAREUR to install the KG-13/HY-2 terminal and the KY-3 narrow-band terminal extensions at the new SHAPE location.

At Stuttgart
(1) Overall Requirements. The communications facilities planned for USEUCOM headquarters at Stuttgart included the relocation or installation of an automatic-dial telephone exchange -- with related equipment and services -- expanded from a 1,000- to a 1,200-line capacity; a permanently installed communications center; two AUTOVON access lines bypassing France; the Emergency Action Transmission System (EMATS) -- its direct link with the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- with related cryptologic gear; voice and secure voice equipment; a ground station for USCINCEUR's command and control radio net and SILK PURSE; temporary European Tropospheric-scatter System, Army (ET-A) circuitry; a 120-channel microwave system with interfaces to the broadband system; and the addition of two new consoles. These facilities were to be operational by 1 March 1967.

(2) USAREUR's Responsibilities. The USEUCOM communications-electronics support plan assigned the following tasks to USAREUR:

(a) Funding. In August the Department of Defense authorized 4,028,600 from Army FY-1967 funds for USEUCOM's communications at Stuttgart -- to include transportation, building, and installation. On 1 November the Department of the Army allocated to USAREUR $2,932,000 for the new USEUCOM command center but did not make available the funds needed for other communications projects.

(b) Military Construction. The military construction projects initiated by USAREUR included building modifications for the communications center, a telephone exchange building, and a facility for the Defense Communications Agency, Europe (DCA-ECR). Construction on the telephone exchange was to begin by 10 October, and the other two projects were to be in progress by 1 December. Since the timely completion of these Phase I projects was essential to the timely relocation of communications, USAREUR submitted requests for construction authority on 21 September. However, delays in obtaining approval produced slippages in USAREUR's construction projects.

(c) Installation. In late 1966 USAREUR installed at Stuttgart approximately 40 percent of the long line radio systems for which it was responsible. It established the temporary communications center in vans near the communications center building and expanded the telephone system by installing equipment and cable nets.

(d) Relocation of the 106th Signal Group. To provide sufficient signal personnel for the communications projects at Stuttgart, USAREUR phased the movement of personnel from the 106th Signal Group and the 257th Signal Company in such a manner that the advance elements were on station by 1 November and an additional company -- the 246th Signal Company -- was on station by the end of December.

At Worms and Zweibruecken.
In November the Secretary of Defense decided to move USACOMZEUR to Worms and the Supply and Maintenance Agency to Zweibruecken. To meet the initial communications requirements at Worms, USAREUR planned to convert the unmanned satellite switchboard to a manned configuration, add 500 lines to the telephone exchange, expand the cable distribution system, and provide an interim communications center. The target completion date for these projects was 1 March 1967. Similar requirements existed at Zweibruecken. At the end of 1966 detailed planning and engineering design were in progress.

Support of Wartime Headquarters Echelons.
As a result of the realignment of headquarters, USAREUR had to assist in locating a site and provide communications support for GREYHOUND -- the wartime ground alternate echelon of USEUCOM -- and for the relocated USAREUR wartime headquarters.

(1) GREYHOUND. USAREUR surveyed possible GREYHOUND sites on U.S. installations approximately equidistant on the Casteau-Stuttgart communications axis. The only USAREUR facilities that met both geographic and technical criteria were at Pirmasens, Idar-Oberstein, and Zweibruecken. USEUCOM, however, considered these facilities technically unsuitable and directed USAREUR and USAFE to determine jointly the merits of Air Force facilities at Bitburg, Hahn, and Spangdahlem. CINCUSAFE objected that these tactical airfields were unsuitable for GREYHOUND, since they would be prime targets for enemy attack. In December, therefore, USEUCOM officers surveyed the sites proposed by USAREUR and USAFE in order to recommend a suitable choice.

(2) USAREUR Main and Alternate Headquarters. To meet the requirements for wartime main and alternate headquarters, USAREUR developed the new concept of presurveying and selecting a number of possible sites which, like wartime QRA Pershing sites, would not be improved or occupied before the outbreak of hostilities. In September USAREUR surveyed and selected sites lying along the communications axis in the western areas of the Federal Republic of Germany. It prepositioned transportable communications equipment and personnel in existing U.S. facilities, where they were ready to deploy to a designated headquarters site at short notice. In November USAREUR closed its wartime headquarters in Maison Fort, France, and by December the new concept was in effect.

HEADCON Communications.
(1) Peacetime. USAREUR's initial study concluded that the existing and programed facilities of the USAREUR Operations Center were -- with two exceptions -- adequate to support the consolidated USAREUR and Seventh Army headquarters in all peacetime operations up to and including the announcement of a state of alert. For normal operations the consolidation required the rerouting of seven leased teletype circuits and the extension of USAREUR's tactical alert net to Seventh Army troop units.

(2) Wartime. Upon the announcement of an alert, designated personnel would separate from USAREUR, reestablish Seventh Army headquarters, and assume tactical control of Seventh Army units. In order to accomplish this action with a minimum of delay, USAREUR decided to establish an initial Seventh Army tactical operations center at Tompkins Barracks, Schwetzingen, about six miles from Heidelberg. This operations center -- subsequently designated Seventh Army Main Lead Element Command Post (MLE-CP) -- would assume tactical control of Seventh Army elements within two hours after an alert and would function until the establishment of the Seventh Army Main Command Post. By 14 November the MLE-CP communications were in place.

(3) Seventh Army Communications Command. As part of the HEADCON reorganization, USAREUR created the Seventh Army Communications Command -- Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) and supporting elements -- at Coleman Barracks, near Mannheim, from the resources of the 12th Signal Group.

Other Actions.
USAREUR also had to assist in locating sites and providing support for the European Data Gateway Station and the U.S. Army Command Issuing Office, Europe (USACIO-EUR), at Poitiers, France. In addition, USAREUR had to obtain the Italian Government's approval for locating the AUTODIN center -- programed for Maison Fort, Framce -- at Coltano, Italy, and to ask the Netherlands Government for approval to locate a tropospheric-scatter site in Rotterdam.

(1) European Data Gateway Station. In its efforts to locate a site for the European Data Gateway Station, USAREUR surveyed several sites and proposed to DCA-EUR a site at Pirmasens. Since DCA-EUR found the site technically acceptable, it scheduled the relocation of the station for the second quarter of 1967.

(2) USACIO-EUR. The relocation of USACIO-EUR was urgent because it was USAREUR's sole source of cryptologistic support. USAREUR proposed its establishment at De La Police Caserne, Worms, Germany, beginning on 10 December, but by 31 December the Department of the Army had not approved the relocation. In the interim USAREUR had proceeded with the minor construction of alterations needed to support the USACIO-EUR.

(3) AUTODIN/Coltano. The establishment of the AUTODIN center at Coltano presented no major difficulties since the funds and equipment already programed for Maison Fort were available. By late November USAREUR had secured DCA approval of the Coltano site, and during the following weeks negotiations for a formal agreement with the Italian Government were in progress.

(4) The Tropospheric-Scatter Site at Rotterdam. In November a survey team including USAREUR representatives visited the proposed tropospheric-scatter site at Rotterdam. However, pending the Secretary of Defense's approval of the project -- a part of DCA's FRELOC plan -- there was no further progress.

Command and Control

Army Command and Control Network.
USAREUR's command and control communications linked the Heidelberg headquarters to USEUCOM in peacetime and had to be capable of assuming USEUCOM's command and control functions in a wartime emergency. USAREUR therefore continued to develop a number of projects designed to enhance its command and control posture and -- through the Defense Communications System -- link it with U.S. Army forces worldwide. During 1966 a private contractor installed Army Command and Control Network (ARCCNET) switching equipment in the USAREUR Operations Center at Heidelberg. The equipment included the ARCCNET Emergency Action Console -- part of a system that would eventually link major Army headquarters throughout the world. USAREUR planned to install similar equipment at the Seventh Army Main Lead Element Command Post and at the new USACOMZEUR headquarters at Worms during the first quarter of 1967.

Interim Computer Facility.
In 1965 USAREUR had requested funds to begin building modifications for its interim computer facility. On 21 March 1966 the Department of the Army approved the request and released $13,900 for the design phase of the project. On 13 May USAREUR issued the construction directive to its Engineer Element which scheduled the project for completion in November 1967.

Automated Systems Design.
In 1966 USAREUR continued the systems design study -- begun in 1965 -- to identify areas of its command and control system most suitable for automation. As a preliminary step USAREUR had submitted the data automation requirement for its Command Center Support System, which the Department of the Army approved in March 1966. Subsequently, in April, USAREUR headquarters established the Support Systems Branch that prepared and submitted the computer system specifications.

Interim Defense Communications Satellite Project.
In 1965 USAREUR, the Satellite Command (SATCOM) and DCA had agreed on Landstuhl, Germany, as the test site for satellite communications ground terminal equipment. However, protracted negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany delayed host-nation approval of the project until early 1966. In March communications personnel of USASTRATCOM-EUR moved the transportable ground terminal equipment to Landstuhl, where they tested it during the remainder of the year.

FIELD ARMY

by Lt Col F.P. Stangl, USADC and Maj A.B. Evans, USAECOM

Content under revision

Where there was already an existing comm. site, usually because it was an existing tropo site, the parabolic dishes were just added to the lattice tower that was already there.

Old ACE HIGH tropo sites were massive billboards while the newer ET-A system was either twin diversity 12’ dishes or one single angle diversity dish like what was on the Bruggen lattice tower which is no longer there.

The newest DEB equipment retrofit that was also what was initially installed in phase IV were the FRC-170 100Mb+, radios transmitting 2 watts of TWT generated RF on 8GHz (?Three? E3’s + 1 or 2 Wayside E1’s + orderwire). The radios ran in different diversity configurations based on the length of the MW path. Besides all having redundant transmitters & receivers with the redundant running on hot-standby, there were some that included frequency, polarity and space diversity, all in one station. Some MW path lengths were 30 miles +.

The MUX’s included the FCC-99 Interim MUX (E3 to multiple E1 MUX), FCC-100 Data MUX & FCC-98 MUX (Glorified and hardened channel bank or E1 to 32 DS0’s) and, of course, the KG-84 Cryptos. All made by TRW.

Since it was in Europe, it used the European standard of T-carrier hierarchy.

Now I could be a little hazy about some of these details but this is what I remember. That was, after all, nearly 20 years ago.

The biggest one was the actual capacity of the radios. I can’t remember if they were three E3’s or two. Also the exact function and capacity of the FCC-100 data MUX. Not sure if it broke down an E3 into multiple and sometimes aggregated E1’s or it sat on the wayside T1 and aggregated the multiple DS0’s.

Another interesting note was that Kalkar AS was also an ETS or DISA European Telephone System switching center. This was the digital successor to the old AUTOVON switches which were still in operation, at the time. There was a Siemens KNS4100 digital telephone switch there at Kalkar which had one telephone troop assigned to maintain it. We Widebanders were also cross-training to maintain it as well.

At any rate, that’s a little more than you asked for but I spit it out because I am still nostalgic about it all.