Albert James Myer

Myer, Albert James (1828-80) army officer, born in Newburgh, New York. Myer was first chief signal officer (1866), and first head of the National Weather Service (1870). During the Civil War Myer established a signal system for the Union army and trained officers and enlisted men in its use. The U.S. military academies later adopted his system, using a manual he had written for its instruction. Myer's suggestion that the Signal Corps use telegraphy to monitor and predict the movement of destructive storms eventually led to the establishment of a national weather service as part of the War Department and under the direction of the chief signal officer. His staff served both as meteorological observers and intelligence agents, reporting on such occurrences as strikes and Indian uprisings, as well as droughts and frosts, picked up through their information network.

Fort Myer, Virginia, still an important Signal Corps post, was named in his honor in 1881.

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