George Owen Squier

During the 1920s and ’30s, Major General George Owen Squier was one of the most famous men in America and abroad, as a scientist, soldier, military strategist, electrical communications expert and inventor, aeronautical pioneer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He rose from humble beginnings in Michigan to the position of Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army. He led the effort in World War I to equip the United States and its allies with American-made airplanes and engines, an effort which started slowly but at the time of the Armistice was rapidly coming to fruition. He also equipped American forces with modern communications, the first belligerent in the war to do so. As an inventor, he is not well known today compared to his contemporaries Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers, who respected his intellect and originality. Yet his inventions in communications technology are fundamental to today’s telephone system and were the technical basis for the company he founded, Muzak.

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Paul W. Clark has taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and at Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, South Africa. He lives in Kingman, Arizona.

Laurence A. Lyons, an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at the University of West Florida and the University of South Alabama, lives in Foley, Alabama.

Paul W. Clark and Laurence A. Lyons

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 292
Bibliographic Info: 38 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7635-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1557-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations and Acronyms xi
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Early Life and West Point 9
2. Soldier-Scientist 20
3. An Electrical Laboratory 34
4. Soldier-Entrepreneur 45
5. The Philippine Cables 60
6. Founding of the Signal School 71
7. Origins of Army Aviation 81
8. Radio Over Telephone Lines 100
9. Science and Syndicate 112
10. Secret Missions 123
11. The Biggest Thing of the War 138
12. New Weapons 161
13. Science Joins the Army 171
14. Voice-Commanded Squadrons 186
15. Retirement Years and Legacy 205
Appendix: Technical Information 217
Chapter Notes 225
Bibliography 261
Index 273