Building 6000 is named for Dr. Albert James Myer, the father of the Signal Corps. While assigned as an assistant surgeon in the Regular Army of the United States from 1854 -1860, Myer devised a military visual signaling system know as the “wigwag” signal that was adopted by the Army in 1860. A Signal Department was created, and Myer was appointed Signal Officer.
On March 3, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation that established the Signal Corps as a separate military branch, and Myer was appointed Chief Signal Officer with the rank of colonel. The Signal Corps of the Army was the first to be established by a national army in modern times.