View source for Social:Military communications

{{Short description|Messages within armed forces}}
[[File:3 men working on a portable phone switchboard.jpg|thumb|United States Army Signal Corps switchboard operators in the 1940s]]

'''Military communications''' or '''military signals''' involve all aspects of [[Biology:Communication|communication]]s, or conveyance of [[Information|information]], by armed forces. Examples from ''[[Social:Jane's Military Communications|Jane's Military Communications]]'' include text, audio, [[Social:Facsimile|facsimile]], [[Social:Tactical communications|tactical ground-based communications]], [[Social:Naval flag signalling|naval signalling]], terrestrial [[Physics:Microwave|microwave]], [[Physics:Tropospheric scatter|tropospheric scatter]], [[Astronomy:Communications satellite|satellite communications]] systems and equipment, surveillance and signal analysis, [[Communications security|security]], [[Direction finding|direction finding]] and [[Radio jamming|jamming]].<ref name="JMC">IHS Jane's  [http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence/systems/military-communications.aspx?pu=1&rd=janes_com Military Communications]. Retrieved 2012-01-23.</ref> The most urgent purposes are to communicate information to commanders and orders from them.

Military communications span from pre-history to the present. The earliest military communications were delivered by [[Social:Runner (soldier)|runners]]. Later, communications progressed to visual and audible signals, and then advanced into the electronic age. Today, there are many perspectives used to examine how troops around the world communicate. ''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249775794_The_Essence_of_Military_Group_Cohesion#:~:text=In%20July%202006%2CArmed%20Forces%20%26%20Society%20published%20an,sketches%20a%20standard%20model%20of%20military%20group%20cohesion. The Word of Command: Communication and Cohesion in the Military]'' by Anthony King states how Military sociologists have attempted to explain how military institutions develop and maintain high levels of social cohesion. Communication plays a crucial role in fostering social cohesion in the military, as it allows soldiers to build relationships, establish trust, and work together towards common objectives. 

==History==
[[File:Courrier.jpg|thumb|A Japanese [[Finance:Courier|courier]] pursued by Cossacks during the Russo-Japanese War, 1904]]

In past centuries communicating a message usually required someone to go to the destination, bringing the message. Thus, the term ''communication'' often implied the ability to transport people and supplies. A place under [[Social:Siege|siege]] was one that lost communication in both senses. The association between transport and messaging declined in recent centuries.

The first military communications involved the use of runners or the sending and receiving of simple signals (sometimes [[Cryptography|encoded]] to be unrecognizable). The first distinctive uses of military communications were called ''[[Engineering:Semaphore|semaphore]]''. Modern units specializing in these tactics are usually designated as ''[[Social:Signal corps|signal corps]]''. The Roman system of military communication (''cursus publicus'' or ''cursus vehicularis'') is an early example of this. Later, the terms ''signals'' and ''signaller'' became words referring to a highly-distinct military occupation dealing with general communications methods (similar to those in [[Social:Civilian|civil]] use) rather than with weapons.

Present-day military forces of an informational society conduct intense and complicated communicating activities on a daily basis, using modern telecommunications and [[Computing|computing]] methods. Only a small portion of these activities are directly related to combat actions. Modern concepts of [[Network-centric warfare|network-centric warfare]] (NCW) rely on [[Telecommunications network|network]]-oriented methods of communications and control to make existing forces more effective.

==Military communications equipment==
[[File:Wren Signalwomen at Sea For Signal Experience. 9 March 1943, Greenock. A15055.jpg|thumb|WRNS signalwomen training naval signalling, 1943]]

Drums, horns, flags, and riders on horseback were some of the early methods the military used to send messages over distances. The advent of distinctive signals led to the formation of the [[Social:Signal corps|signal corps]], a group specialized in the tactics of military communications. The signal corps evolved into a distinctive occupation where the signaller became a highly technical job dealing with all available communications methods including civil ones.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Signal-Corps ''Signal corps''] in ''Britannica''.</ref>[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-5675-24, Übung zum Unternehmen "Seelöwe".jpg|alt=Man in uniform with headphones and throat microphone|thumb|left|A Luftwaffe officer using a radio kit on a Panzer III, 1940]]

In the middle 20th century [[Social:Radio|radio]] equipment came to dominate the field. Many modern pieces of military communications equipment are built to both encrypt and decode [[Engineering:Transmission (telecommunications)|transmissions]] and survive rough treatment in hostile climates. They use different [[Physics:Frequency|frequencies]] to send signals to other radios and to satellites.

Military communications – or "comms" – are activities, equipment, techniques, and tactics used by the military in some of the most hostile areas of the earth and in challenging environments such as battlefields, on land (compare [[Physics:Radio in a box|radio in a box]]), underwater and also in air. Military comms include command, control and communications and intelligence and were known as the C3I model before computers were fully integrated. The U.S. Army expanded the model to C4I when it recognized the vital role played by automated computer equipment to send and receive large, bulky amounts of data.


In the modern world, most nations attempt to minimize the risk of war caused by miscommunication or inadequate communication.  As a result, military communication is intense and complicated, and often motivates the development of advanced technology for remote systems such as satellites and aircraft, both crewed and uncrewed, as well as computers. Computers and their varied applications have revolutionized military comms. Although military communication is designed for warfare, it also supports intelligence-gathering and communication between adversaries, and thus sometimes prevents war.

The six categories of military comms are:

* alert measurement systems
* [[Cryptography|cryptography]]
* military radio systems
* nuclear command and control
* [[Social:Signal corps|signal corps]]
* [[Network-centric warfare|network-centric warfare]] 
[[File:NARA 111-CCV-469-CC36908.jpg|thumb|A United States Army radioman communicating with a CH-54 Tarhe during the Vietnam War]]
The alert measurement systems are various states of alertness or readiness for the armed forces used around the world during a state of war, act of terrorism or a military attack against a state. They are known by different acronyms, such as DEFCON, or defense readiness condition, used by the U.S. Armed Forces.

[[Cryptography]] is the study of methods of converting messages to a form unreadable except to one who knows how to decrypt them.  This ancient military comms art gained new importance with the rise of radio systems whose signals traveled far and were easily intercepted.  Cryptographic software is also widely used in civilian commerce.

== Commercial refile ==
In United States military communications systems, commercial refile refers to sending a military message via a commercial communications network. The [[Social:Message|message]] may come from a military [[Telecommunications network|network]], such as a [[Tape relay|tape relay]] network, a point-to-point telegraph network, a [[Engineering:Wireless telegraphy|radio-telegraph]] network, or the Defense Switched Network.

Commercial refiling of a message will usually require a reformatting of the message, particularly the heading.

 
A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (signals). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army.

Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, and digital communications.

==See also==
* [[Social:Jane's Military Communications|Jane's Military Communications]]
* Command and control
* Signal Corps (disambiguation)
* Telecommunications
* [[Social:Communications protection|Communications protection]]
* [[Social:Electronic warfare|Electronic warfare]]
* Signals intelligence (SIGINT)
* [[Defence Information Infrastructure]]
* Kiev Military Institute of Control and Signals
*[[Engineering:Luftwaffe radio equipment of World War II|Luftwaffe radio equipment of World War II]]
* Bowman (British Army communications system)
* [[Social:Parakeet (communication system)|Parakeet]] (Australian Army communications system)
* [[Social:Military Wireless Museum in the Midlands|Military Wireless Museum in the Midlands]]
* Telegraph troops

===Forms of signalling===
* Military hand and arm signals
* [[Engineering:Morse code|Morse code]]
* [[Engineering:Flag semaphore|Flag semaphore]]
* Flag signals
* [[Social:Naval flag signalling|Naval flag signalling]]
* [[Social:Signal lamp|Signal lamp]]
* [[Engineering:Heliograph|Heliograph]]
* Radio communications
* [[Engineering:Wireless telegraphy|Wireless telegraphy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.civilwarsignals.org/ Signal Corps History]
*[http://www.armysignalocs.com/ Signal Corps Officer Candidate School History]




[[Category:Military communications| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Military communications}}