Constituted 15 February 1970 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Signal Brigade was originally envisioned as a Field Army Signal Brigade to correspond to the Army’s doctrine of fighting in Field Army echelons. But this doctrine was reevaluated and in 1980 changed to an Echelons Above Corps doctrine, with the Brigade providing communications support in the field to those echelons above the Corps level, and the unit was consequently placed under 5th Signal Command in October 1981.
Besides taking part in scores of exercises throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Brigade provided communications support for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and contingency operations such as Operations Provide Comfort and Provide Promise. Following the launch of the War on Terrorism, the Brigade’s HHC and other component units earned two Meritorious Unit Commendations, one for service in 2004 and another in 2009 – 2010. It was inactivated in 2014.
The 7th Signal Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia was authorized a month after the unit was activated and features a shield divided into blue and white hemispheres with two orange lightning flashes emitting from a seven-step pyramidal shape in the white area. Blue is an allusion to the troposphere, through which signals are transmitted, while the peaked design of the white area is intended to represent the breaking of electronic waves as they hit the troposphere and then fall or scatter back to earth. Seven steps allude to seven aspects of Signal technology—Antenna, Control, Frequency, Modulation, Selectivity, Volume, and Wavelength—as well as the Brigade’s numerical designation.
Related Items
7th Signal Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)
7th Signal Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)