Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Foley has made a special designation for 2010.

“2010 is the year of the Signal Corps,” said Foley, Fort Gordon commanding general and Chief of Signal at the Distinguished Member of the Regiment Banquet on Dec. 2 at the Gordon Club.

The Signal Corps will mark its 150th anniversary in June, and there will be several events planned to celebrate it, he said.

Foley kicked off the “year of the Signal Corps” in December by unveiling “A Brief History of the Signal Corps,” a nine-panel display highlighting the Signal Corps’ history on the first floor of Signal Towers.

Created by Christopher Duerk, visual communications designer in Washington, D.C., it was originally part of the office of the Chief Information Officer G6 at the Pentagon.

“We started this beginning in August 2006. It was completed in January 2009,” said Duerk. “The panels were progressively installed. They didn’t all go up at once.”

Command historian Steven Rauch helped supply many of the images Duerk used in the exhibit.

Rauch said Foley was looking for something to give a brief visual history of the Signal Corps to visitors to Fort Gordon.

“I thought ‘let’s not reinvent the wheel,’” said Rauch, who suggested Duerk’s panels.

Although it is titled “A Brief History of the Signal Corps,” there is a lot of information on the panels, making such an exhibit difficult to put together, according to Robert Anzuoni, the Signal Corps Museum director, who helped provide information for it.

“They were probably overwhelmed. The whole history of the Signal Corps from 1860, there is so much, and it’s so diverse,” he said. “Communications is the main mission, but the meteorological service, aviation, film and photography are all missions under it.”

Each one highlights a different aspect of the Signal Corps’ history. One features the birth of the Signal Corps through Maj. Albert Myer, who later became a brigadier general, and his wigwag flags.

The “stormy years” focuses on the Signal Corps’ role in establishing and operating the nation’s weather system in the 19th century. Another one features the Signal Corps’ role in radios and telecommunications during World War I and World War II.

Whereas the last panels focused on the office of the CIO-G6 in Washington, the Fort Gordon exhibit highlights the recent achievements of the Signal Corps and alludes to the future. Billy Cheney, special projects officer, updated the project. The final panel includes events such as the activation of the 7th Signal Command (Theater) in March 2009.