The 17th Signal Battalion of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

was a MSE (Mobile Subscriber Equipment) equipped signal battalion based in

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

, Germany (Larson Barracks). The battalion was one of three that made up the

22nd Signal Brigade The 22nd Corps Signal Brigade is a United States Army, US Army Signal Brigade located at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Washington. Subunits Current * Headquarters & Headquarters Company * 51st Expeditionary Signal Battalion * 504th Military Police ...

, based in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany. The battalion's mission statement was: "On order, 17th Signal Battalion rapidly deploys to provide signal support to V Corps in support of conventional or contingency operations." The battalion was deactivated on 17 August 2006.

Subunits

*HHC 17th Signal Battalion *Alpha Company MSE Area Support *Bravo Company MSE Area Support *Charlie Company MSE Area Support *Delta Company MSE Signal Support

History

The 17th Signal Battalion was activated in the

Army of the United States The Army of the United States was one of the four major service components of the United States Army. Today, the Army consists of the Regular Army, the Army National Guard of the United States, the Army National Guard while in the service of the ...

on 30 November 1942 at

Camp Crowder Fort Crowder was a U.S. Army post located in Newton County, Missouri, Newton and McDonald County, Missouri, McDonald counties in southwest Missouri, constructed and used during World War II. Establishment and purpose Camp Crowder was a military ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. From its activation until 20 October 1943, the battalion participated in the Second Army maneuvers. On 1 November 1943, the battalion was assigned to Headquarters,

U.S. First Army First Army is the largest OC/T organization in the U.S. Army, comprising two divisions, ten brigades, and more than 7,500 Soldiers. Its mission is to partner with the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve to enable leaders and deli ...

, stationed in

Patchway Patchway is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns ...

, England where its primary mission was to provide communications for First Army Headquarters. The battalion was then deployed and participated in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

campaigns of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, Northern France,

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

Ardennes-Alsace The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during the Second World War, taking place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 19 ...

, and Central Europe. Following World War II, the 17th Signal Battalion was inactivated at

Camp Bowie Camp Bowie is a Texas Military Department training center located in west-central Texas on the southern outskirts of Brownwood. History Camp Bowie, named in honor of the Texas patriot James Bowie, was a military training facility during World W ...

, Texas. The Battalion was reactivated on 5 July 1950 at

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, Germany, and again inactivated on 25 September 1965. On 16 March 1981, the battalion was reactivated under the

at McNair

Kaserne ''Kaserne'' is a loanword taken from the German word ' (plural: '), which means "barracks". It is the typical term used when naming the garrison location for American and Canadian forces stationed in Germany. American forces were also sometimes ho ...

, Höchst, Germany, and entrusted with the mission of providing command and control communications to the US V Corps Commanding General and subordinate units. The Battalion's Charlie Company was located on Gibbs Kaserne and supported the V Corps Emergency Action Center located on the Abrams Complex. This area came to be known as "The Patio". Delta Company was formed and replaced Charlie Company at Gibbs Kaserne when Charlie Company rejoined the rest of the battalion located at McNair Kaserne until the battalion was deployed to

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

and

Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. In December 1992, the entire battalion moved to their new home on Larson Barracks in

, Germany. In 1993, Bravo Company (Signal), 11th Air Defense Artillery from

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

merged into the Battalion to become the 57th Signal Company. In recent years the battalion has participated in Operations

Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, Deny Flight, Provide Hope and Joint Endeavor. In October 2002 the 17th Signal Battalion participated in Operation Internal Look and later deployed in support of Operations

Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

and

Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. The battalion was inactivated on 17 August 2006. The unit's final commander was LTC Glenn A. Kennedy, II. Upon deactivation, the 17th Signal Battalion consisted of a Headquarters Company, three MSE Area Support Companies (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie), and an MSE Signal Support Company (Delta).

Lineage

*Constituted 1 November 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 17th Signal Operations Battalion *Activated 30 November 1942 at

*Inactivated 18 February 1946 at

, Texas *Redesignated 5 July 1950 as the 17th Signal Operation Battalion and activated in Germany *Allotted 15 December 1950 to the Regular Army *Reorganized and redesignated 20 October 1953 as the 17th Signal Battalion *Inactivated 25 September 1965 in Germany *Activated 16 March 1981 in Germany *Inactivated 17 August 2006 in Germany

Honors

Campaign participation credit

*World War II: #

# Northern France #

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

*Southwest Asia: # Defense of Saudi Arabia # Liberation and Defense of Kuwait #

Cease-Fire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

# Operation Iraqi Freedom I # Operation Iraqi Freedom III

Decorations

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritor ...

*Army Superior Unit Award

References

External links

Stars and Stripes, '17th Signal Battalion Retires in Germany', 18 August 2006
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015253/http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=38492&archive=true , date=28 September 2007

017 017 may refer to: * DOL-017, GameCube console * '' Global Underground 017'', DJ mix album * Road FC 017, 2014 Mixed Martial Arts event * Swift 017.n, racing car * Tyrrell 017, Formula One racing car See also * 17 (disambiguation) Seventeen o ...