World War I Code Talkers

WWI saw a dramatic evolution in the technical collection of intelligence. From the start, SIGINT – the interception of communication signals – played a major role in the war.  As the war went on, it was clear that secure communications could mean the difference between victory or defeat. This led to the rise of code interceptors, code makers and code breakers. When the US Army arrived on the battlefields of France, it had to quickly find ways to encrypt its communications. One solution was to use Native American languages to transmit information. Today, many are familiar with the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII, but few know that Native Americans served as Code Talkers in WWI. To discuss the WWI Code Talkers, the WWI History Podcast hosted Dr. William C. Meadows, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Missouri State University and author of The First Code Talkers: Native American Communicators in World War I. 

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