THE 37TH MOTORCOMMS COMPANY

“A good infantryman can win any battle, but a good communications network can win any war.”

Major Elias Bradley, 2164

For the bulk of the Coalition's existence, individual militias have relied on outdated forms of communication to coordinate their operations; with flares, bugles, and even carrier birds being common sights on local battlefields. This continued to be the case even throughout the more widespread efforts of the Huron Wars, in which advanced communications came primarily in the form of long-range radio transmissions straight from the command offices of the Conclave.

While most of the above methods still see use within the New Model Army, they are slowly but surely being phased out for more modern forms of communication, finally embracing local radio communications and motorized message delivery, bolstering its ability to relay orders quickly and precisely across the battlefield. This largely came around as a necessity during the War of Ashes, as the infant NMA suffered significant setbacks by the West Coalition due to continuous breakdowns in its ability to communicate. Significant losses against a technically inferior force proved to be an embarrassing display for the Army, which eagerly began to embrace the same methods that other, more powerful Unions had turned into mainstays. The sudden shift was also motivated by the Midwestern Union's dogged efforts to modernize as quickly as possible, seeing the advancement in communications as a necessary step in further bolstering the nation's legitimacy.

At the tail end of the War of the Ashes, the 1st Signal Corps was born. Subunits from the new Corps were deployed with great success against the forces of Hancock, and played a key role in coordinating the controlled fires that led to the NMA's success. The 37th Signal Platoon is one of the subunits derived from the Signal Corps, though it would not see its first combat deployment until war with the Eastern Coalition remnants was declared, during which it was deployed to Summerview to support the motorized infantry regiment that was laying siege to the city. While the 37th's efforts in Summerview proved vital to the NMA's efforts, the intense artillery exchanges that had started to level the battlefield proved to be too dangerous to the vulnerable radio operators and small ground vehicles that the unit fielded. As such, the 37th was quickly shipped back to Bulwark's Fort Sharpe, where it was bolstered with new supplies and recruits. Following the confederation of the old Coalition holdouts, the 37th has been deployed to the Sunrise Isles in order to reinforce the 25th's efforts on the island.

The 37th would later evolve further, as the Midwestern Union saw need in increasing its land-based infantry efforts. In the Spring of 2165, the Signal Corps (as well as its platoons) was reorganized, with most communications units being formally declared "Motorized Communications Companies," introducing heavy vehicles to theatres that have yet to have been supported by the Midwest's best.