This field manual, “Signal Soldier's Guide (FM 6-02.43),” is a pocket reference guide for signal Soldiers at all echelons. It is intended to help signal Soldiers understand and implement Army communications systems operations in a modular force construct. This manual addresses the roles and responsibilities of the signal Soldier and signal planning during the military decision making process. It also provides an overview of the Global Information Grid, LandWarNet and its transport systems, network operations and spectrum management. It also addresses the transformed signal structure from the maneuver battalion through theater level and the support provided between echelons.

The Army has decentralized most of its signal capabilities. Corps, divisions, brigade combat teams, and support brigades now have signal forces organic to the units who own, operate, train, and maintain their unique signal forces. Corps signal brigades and division signal battalions have inactivated leaving a large part of the Army force supported by pooled theater assets. Supporting the commander with reliable and vigorous communications is a direct result of detailed signal planning. Understanding the commander's intent is the most critical step for a signal leader. Signal Soldiers and planners are chartered to build networks that almost intuitively act on behalf of the commander's intent; networks where information is guaranteed based on policies aligned with the commander's critical information requirements and intent. To build this network, planners must successfully synchronize and integrate the assets to support the plan and the commander. Signal Soldiers have the great responsibility to facilitate the combined arms, joint, and multinational fight. This mission is critical to increasing the combat power in the modular force. The signal planner plays a critical role in enabling combat successes and prevailing in the information war.This field manual is a pocket reference guide for signal Soldiers at all echelons. It is intended to help signal Soldiers understand and implement Army communications systems operations in a modular force construct. This manual addresses the roles and responsibilities of the signal Soldier and signal planning during the military decision making process. It also provides an overview of the Global Information Grid, LandWarNet and its transport systems, network operations and spectrum management. It also addresses the transformed signal structure from the maneuver battalion through theater level and the support provided between echelons. Note. As of June 2007, the Joint Network Node-Network program has been incorporated into the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical program and designated as Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 1. When joint network node is used in this document, it refers to the equipment and not to the program. This publication applies to the Active Army, the Army National Guard (ARNG)/Army National Guard of the United States (ARNGUS), and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) unless otherwise stated. The proponent of this publication is the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). The preparing agency of this publication is the US Army Signal Center.

This field manual is a pocket reference guide for signal Soldiers at all echelons. It is intended to help signal Soldiers understand and implement Army communications systems operations in a modular force construct.

This professionally-formatted free-flowing ebook provides a complete guide to the famous Army Signal Corps, with reproductions of four major histories and documents from the Department of Defense.Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - Regiment * An Overview of Signal Corps History * A Brief History of the Signal Corps * Chief Signal Officers * Medal Of Honor Recipients * Chronology - This book traces the history of the U.S. Army Signal Corps from its beginnings on the eve of the American Civil War through its participation in the Persian Gulf conflict during the early 1990s. Over the course of its 135 years of existence, the Signal Corps has often been at the forefront of the revolutionary changes that have taken place in communications technology. It contributed significantly, for example, to the development of radar and the transistor. While accounts of the branch's service during the Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam have been published, little has been written about the rest of the Signal Corps' accomplishments. This book fills out the picture. It shows today's signal soldiers where their branch has been and points the way to where it is going. The reader, whether military or civilian, can follow the growth and development of one of the Army's most sophisticated technical branches. By telling the Signal Corps' story in a comprehensive manner, this volume makes a significant contribution to the history of the Army.Getting the Message Through - A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - CHAPTER I - THE BIRTH OF THE SIGNAL CORPS * Early Military Signaling * Albert J. Myer - Father of the Signal Corps * The Civil War - Organization and Training * Signal Equipment and Methods * Wartime Operations * The Confederate Signal Corps * The Signal Corps Survives Its Baptism of Fire * CHAPTER II - WEATHERING THE POSTWAR YEARS * The War Clouds Lift. * The Signal Corps Becomes the Weather Service. The Stormy Years * Military Signals Weather the Storm . A Change in the Weather * CHAPTER III - FROM THE TROPICS TO THE ARCTIC * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1891-1898 * The War With Spain * Postwar Operations * Organization and Training, 1899-1903 * New Frontiers: Alaska and the Dawn of the Electrical Age * The Roots of Change * CHAPTER IV - THE SIGNAL CORPS TAKES TO THE AIR * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1904-1907 * Upheavals at Home and Abroad * The Signal Corps Gets the Wright Stuff * Radio - The Wave of the Future * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1908-1914 * The Signal Corps Spreads Its Wings * Bordering on War * CHAPTER V - WORLD WAR I * Trouble in the Air * "Over Here": Mobilization and Training * "Over There": Organization and Training * "Over the Top": Signalmen in Battle * The Signal Corps Loses Its Wings * The Signal Corps Comes of Age * CHAPTER VI - BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1919-1928 * Research and Development * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1929-1939 * The Road to War * CHAPTER VII - WORLD WAR II: ESTABLISHING THE CIRCUITS OF VICTORY * The Search for Manpower and Brainpower * Marshall Reshapes the War Department * The Worldwide Network * Signal Security and Intelligence * Photography: Shooting the War * Equipment: Research, Development, and Supply * The Signal Corps' Contribution * CHAPTER VIII - WORLD WAR II: THEATERS OF WAR * Defending the Hemisphere, December 1941-June 1943 * Signal Support for the Pacific Theater, 1941-1943 * Passing the Test in North Africa and Italy * Signal Soldiers in Europe: D-Day and After * The Asiatic and Pacific Theaters, 1943-1945 * CHAPTER IX - THE COLD WAR, KOREA, AND THE COSMOS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1946-1950 * The Korean War * Signals in Space * From Signals to Communications-Electronics * Force Reductions, Readiness, and the Red Scare * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1960-1964 * From Cold War to Hot * CHAPTER X - THE VIETNAM CONFLICT * CHAPTER XI - SIGNALING AHEAD

Field Manual (FM) 6-02, Signal Support to Operations, is the premier Signal doctrine publication, and only field manual. FM 6-02 compiles Signal Corps doctrine into three chapters with supporting appendices that address network operations in support of mission command and unified land operations and the specific tactics and procedures associated with organic and nonorganic Signal forces. The fundamental idea of Signal Corps tactics is the employment and ordered arrangement of Signal forces in a supporting role to provide LandWarNet across the range of military operations. The detailed techniques regarding the ways and methods to accomplish the missions, functions or tasks of the Signal Corps indicated in this FM will be addressed in supporting Army techniques publications (ATPs). Army forces operate worldwide and require a secure and reliable communications capability that rapidly adapts to changing demands.