The Wikipedia entry for the 11th Signal Brigade does the unit a grave disservice by tracing its origins to 1964, when the 11th Signal Group was created as a Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment and assigned to the U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command. Instead, one needs to look back to 1943 and the activation of the 3103rd Signal Service Battalion, which was consolidated with 11th Signal Group upon that unit’s creation.
Why is this important to note? Because the 3103rd played a huge role in Operation Fortitude—the Allied plan to convince German High Command that the Allies invasion would take place at either the Pas-De-Calais or Norway and be carried out by the non-existent First United States Army Group. General Eisenhower himself stated that “"I cannot overemphasize the decisive value of this most successful threat, which paid enormous dividends—both at the time of the assault and during the operations of the two succeeding months.” With the war won thanks to the Allied invasion of France, the 3103rd was inactivated in October, 1945.
Reorganized as a Headquarters and Headquarters Company in 1965, the 11th Signal Group sent elements to Vietnam in 1965 to establish the headquarters of the Strategic Communications Command in Southeast Asia. That same year, the unit also participated in Operation Power Pack, a military intervention in the Dominican Republic.
Related ItemsIn 1979, the group was redesignated the 11th Signal Brigade. It deployed units in support of Operations Desert Shield and Storm, as well as in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Three of the unit’s four Meritorious Unit Commendations were earned in these latter actions.
The Signal Corps’ traditional colors, orange and white, are on display in the CSIB for the 11th Signal Brigade. (CSIB stands for “Combat Service Identification Badge.”) A globe represents the worldwide breadth of the unit’s mission. Above it is a thunderbird, a Native-American symbol of the mighty power controlling the skies and surveying everything under them; its black color set against a white background denotes the day-and-night vigilance and capabilities of the brigade. The thunderbird is also a reference to the brigade’s Southwestern roots (it was based in Arizona for nearly 50 years) from which the unit draws its Special Designation and nickname of "Desert Thunderbirds."
Lightning flashes represent modern communication, and stand in contrast to the flaming beacons—one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication—employed in the unit crest of the brigade, which displays the unit motto "Flexibility-Dependability."