| Unit Name: | 50th Signal Battalion |
| Motto: | "Key to Command!" |
| Type: | Signal |
| Branch: | Regular Army |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Command Structure: | 35th Signal Brigade |
| Commander1: | LTC Merlin Kynaston |
| Commander1 Label: | Commander |
| Commander2: | CSM Joshua Miles |
| Commander2 Label: | Command Sergeant Major |
| Size: | Battalion |
| 50th SIG | |
| Parent: | 35th Signal Brigade |
| Subordinate: | HHC A Co B Co C Co 270th Signal Company |
The 50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced is a United States Army unit which is part of the 35th Signal Brigade located at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The Brigade's[1] mission is to provide worldwide contingency, force projection, forced-entry signal support to the XVIII Airborne Corps for power-projection operations during war and operations other than war.[2] [3]
In 2018, 50th Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced (50th ESB-E), 35th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade is serving as the ESB-E pilot unit. 50th ESB-E supports the XVIII Airborne Corps. Potentially this ESB-E will provide capabilities that are scalable, from small units (forcible-entry alongside paratrooper jumps), to larger, mature operations, as an expeditionary force keeps growing on the ground.[4]
The 50th has been supporting the needs of the Army on and off since 1899, making it one of the oldest active-duty signal units.[5] With missions ranging from underwater cabling to disaster relief home and abroad to convoy security, to peacekeeping, the 50th Signal Battalion has seen it all.
The unit has served with distinction in the Philippines, Japan, Iceland, France, Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, Somalia, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, Jamaica, and Honduras. The 50th stormed the beaches at Normandy and led from the front in Desert Storm. It was the first and only Airborne Signal Battalion when it joined the XVIII Airborne Corps in the 1950s, though the airborne tab was dropped as a part of force modularity in 2006.[6]