  SIGNALS AND CODES. (Extracts from Signal Book, United States Army, 1916.) General Instructions for Army Signaling.1. Each signal station will have its call, consisting of one or two letters, as Washington, "W"; and each operator or signalist will also have his personal signal of one or two letters, as Jones, "Jo." These being once adopted will not be changed without due authority. 2. To lessen liability of error, numerals which occur in the body of a message should be spelled out. 3. In receiving a message the man at the telescope should call out each letter as received, and not wait for the completion of a word. 4. A record of the date and time of the receipt or transmission of every message must be kept. 5. The duplicate manuscript of messages received at, or the original sent from, a station should be carefully filed. 6. In receiving messages nothing should be taken for granted, and nothing considered as seen until it has been positively and clearly in view. Do not anticipate what will follow from signals already given. Watch the communicating station until the last signals are made, and be very certain that the signal for the end of the message has been given. 7. Every address must contain at least two words and should be sufficient to secure delivery. 8. All that the sender writes for transmission after the word "To" is counted. 9. Whenever more than one signature is attached to a message count all initials and names as a part of the message. 10. Dictionary words, initial letters, surnames of persons, names of cities, towns, villages, States, and Territories, or names of the Canadian Provinces will be counted each as one word: e. g., New York, District of Columbia, East St. Louis should each be counted as one word. The abbreviation of the names of cities, towns, villages, States, Territories, and provinces will be counted the same as if written in full. 11. Abbreviations of weights and measures in common use, figures, decimal points, bars of division, and in ordinal numbers the affixes "st," "d," "nd," "rd," and "th" will be each counted as one word. Letters and groups of letters, when such groups do not form dictionary words and are not combinations of dictionary words, will be counted at the rate of five letters or fraction of five letters to a word. When such groups are made up of combinations of dictionary words, each dictionary word so used will be counted. 12. The following are exceptions to paragraph 55, and are counted as shown:
13. No message will be considered sent until its receipt has been acknowledged by the receiving station. The International Morse or General Service Code.18. The International Morse Code is the General Service Code and is prescribed for use by the Army of the United States and between the Army and the Navy of the United States. It will be used on radio systems, submarine cables using siphon recorders, and with the heliograph, flash-lantern, and all visual signaling apparatus using the wigwag. Alphabet.
Numerals.
Punctuation.
Visual Signaling in General.21. Methods of visual signaling are divided as follows: (a) By flag, torch, hand lantern, or beam of searchlight (without shutter). (General Service Code). (b) By heliograph, flash lantern, or searchlight (with shutter). (General Service Code). (c) By Ardois. (General Service Code). (d) By hand flags or by stationary semaphore. (Two-arm semaphore Code.) (e) By preconcerted signals with Coston lights, rockets, bombs, Very pistols, small arms, guns, etc. (f) By flag signals by permanent hoists. (International Code.) 22. The following conventional signals, with exceptions noted, will be used in the first four classes.
Visual Signaling: By Flag (Wig-Wag), Torch, Hand Lantern, or Beam or Searchlight (Without Shutter).GENERAL SERVICE CODE. 23. For the flag used with the General Service Code there are three motions and one position. The position is with the flag held vertically, the signalman facing directly toward the station with which it is desired to communicate. The first motion (the dot) is to the right of the sender, and will embrace an arc of 90°, starting with the vertical and returning to it, and will be made in a plane at right angles to the line connecting the two stations. The second motion (the dash) is a similar motion to the left of the sender. The third motion (front) is downward directly in front of the sender and instantly returned upward to the first position. Front is used to indicate an interval. 24. The beam of the searchlight, though ordinarily used with the shutter like the heliograph, may be used for long-distance signaling, when no shutter is suitable or available, in a similar manner to the flag or torch, the first position being a vertical one. A movement of the beam 90° to the right of the sender indicates a dot, a similar movement to the left indicates a dash; the beam is lowered vertically for front. 25. To use the torch or hand lantern, a foot light must be employed as a point of reference to the motion. The lantern is most conveniently swung out upward to the right of the footlight for a dot, to the left for a dash, and raised vertically for front. NOTE.--To call a station, make the call letter until acknowledged, at intervals giving the call or signal of the calling station. If the call letter of a station is unknown, wave flag until acknowledged. In using the searchlight without shutter throw the beam in a vertical position and move it through an arc of 180° in a plane at right angles to the line connecting the two stations until acknowledged. To acknowledge a call, signal "Acknowledgment" followed by the call letter of the acknowledging station. Signaling with Heliograph, Flash Lantern, and Searchlight (With Shutter).GENERAL SERVICE CODE. 26. The first position is to turn a steady flash on the receiving station. The signals are made by short and long flashes. Use a short flash for dot and a long steady flash for dash. The elements of a letter should be slightly longer than in sound signals. 27. To call a station, make its call letter until acknowledged. 28. If the call letter of a station be unknown, signal A until acknowledged. Each station will then turn on a steady flash and adjust. When adjustment is satisfactory to the called station, it will cut off its flash and the calling station will proceed with its message. 29. If the receiver sees that the sender's mirror or light needs adjustment, he will turn on a steady flash until answered, by a steady flash. When the adjustment is satisfactory the receiver will cut off his flash and the sender will resume his message. 30. To break the sending station for other purposes, turn on a steady flash. SOUND SIGNALS. 56. Sound signals made by the whistle, foghorn, bugle, trumpet, and drum may well be used in a fog, mist, falling snow, or at night. They may be used with the dot and dash code. In applying the General Service Code to whistle, foghorn, bugle, or trumpet, one short blast indicates a dot and one long blast a dash. With the drum, one tap indicates a dot and two taps in rapid succession a dash. Although these signals can be used with a dot and dash code, they should be so used in connection with a preconcerted or conventional code. Signaling by Two-Arm Semaphore.HAND FLAGS. 43. Signaling by the two-arm semaphore is the most rapid method of sending spelled-out messages. It is, however, very liable to error if the motions are slurred over or run together in an attempt to make speed. Both arms should move rapidly and simultaneously, but there should be a perceptible pause at the end of each letter before making the movements for the next letter. Rapidity is secondary to accuracy. For alphabet see pages following. NOTE.--In making the interval the flags are crossed downward in front of the body (just above the knees); the double interval is the "chop-chop" signal made twice; the triple interval is "chop-chop" signal made three times. In calling a station face it squarely and make its call. If there is no immediate reply wave the flags over the head to attract attention, making the call at frequent intervals. When the sender makes "end of message" the receiver, if message is understood, extends the flags horizontally and waves them until the sender does the same, when both leave their stations. Care must be taken with hand flags to hold the staffs so as to form a prolongation of the arms. LETTER CODES. INFANTRY. 47. For use with General Service Code or semaphore hand flags.
CAVALRY. 48. For use with General Service Code or semaphore hand flags.
FIELD ARTILLERY. 49. For use with General Service Code or semaphore hand flags.
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