In the history of cryptography

History of cryptography

The history of cryptography begins thousands of years ago. Until recent decades, it has been the story of what might be called classic cryptography — that is, of methods of encryption that use pen and paper, or perhaps simple mechanical aids...

, Joseph Oswald Mauborgne (February 26, 1881–June 7, 1971) co-invented the one-time pad

One-time pad

In cryptography, the one-time pad is a type of encryption, which has been proven to be impossible to crack if used correctly. Each bit or character from the plaintext is encrypted by a modular addition with a bit or character from a secret random key of the same length as the plaintext, resulting...

 with Gilbert Vernam

Gilbert Vernam

Gilbert Sandford Vernam was an AT&T Bell Labs engineer who, in 1917, invented the stream cipher and later co-invented the one-time pad cipher. Vernam proposed a teleprinter cipher in which a previously-prepared key, kept on paper tape, is combined character by character with the plaintext message...

 of Bell Labs

Bell Labs

Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...

. In 1914 he published the first recorded solution of the Playfair cipher

Playfair cipher

The Playfair cipher or Playfair square is a manual symmetric encryption technique and was the first literal digraph substitution cipher. The scheme was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone, but bears the name of Lord Playfair who promoted the use of the cipher.The technique encrypts pairs of...

. Mauborgne became a Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, and from October 1937 to his retirement in 1941 was the Army's 12th Chief Signal Officer, in command of the Signal Corps.

Biography

Mauborgne was born to Eugene and Catherine Elizabeth McLaughlin Mauborgne. After graduating in 1901 from the College of Saint Xavier

Xavier High School (New York City)

Xavier High School is a independent Jesuit university-preparatory high school for young men located at 30 West 16th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1847, as the College of St. Francis Xavier by Father John Larkin, S.J...

 in New York, he studied fine arts until commissioned a 2d Lieutenant, Infantry, in the regular Army in 1903. Stationed in the Philippines several times at several infantry posts, Mauborgne attended the Army Signal School at Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...

, Kansas, in 1909-1910, graduating from the Signal Officers Course, followed by a tour of duty in Washington D.C. in the office of Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General George P. Scriven.

While stationed at Fort Riley

Fort Riley

Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...

, Kansas, in 1912, he installed a radio transmitter in an airplane and had 1st Lt. Henry H. Arnold

Henry H. Arnold

Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...

 send him the first successful air to ground radio transmission on November 2. Two years later, while in command of the radio station at Fort Mills

Fort Mills

Fort Mills was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays. This was one of the locations at which, under the National Defense Act of 1935, coastal artillery training was conducted.-References:*McGovern,...

 on Corregidor

Corregidor

Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...

, Mauborgne went up himself with 2nd Lt. Herbert A. "Bert" Dargue

Herbert Dargue

Herbert Arthur "Bert" Dargue was a career officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of major general in the Army Air Forces. He was a pioneer military aviator and one of the first ten recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross.Dargue entered the United States Military Academy on June...

 in a Burgess Model I

Burgess Model I

|-References:* Hennessey, Juliette A. . The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917, Air Force Historical Study No. 98. Air Force History Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.-See also:...

 seaplane to conduct a series of experimental flight tests of an airbporne radio, and made the first two-way radio telegraphy between an airplane and a station on the ground on December 16, 1914. After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, in the 1920s and 1930s, Mauborgne pursued communication advancements in numerous research-and-development assignments, including a stint as chief of the Signal Corps Engineering and Research Division and as commander of the Signal Corps laboratory in the Bureau of Standards. During the early 1930s, Mauborgne was Signal Officer for the 9th Corps Area

Corps area

A Corps area was a geographically-based organizational structure of the United States Army used to accomplish domestic administrative, training and tactical tasks from 1920 to 1942. Each corps area included divisions of the Regular Army, Organized Reserve and National Guard of the United States...

 and later Director of the Signal Corps Aircraft Factory, Wright Field

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...

, Ohio. He attended the Army War College during its 1931-32 academic session.

As Chief of Signal, Mauborgne supported technological development and oversaw the mass production of the SCR-268 and SCR-270 Army radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

s. Just a few months after he retired (September 30, 1941), two Signal Corps soldiers — using an SCR-270 radar at Oahu, Hawaii in the early morning of December 7, 1941 — spotted Japanese aircraft on their way in to attack Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

.

In addition to his professional study, Mauborgne attended the Chicago Art Institute in 1922-1923. Returning to Washington D.C. in 1923 he continued his art studies at the Corcoran Art Galley between 1923 and 26. Portraits and etchings produced by Mauborgne were exhibited in galleries in Washington, San Francisco, and Dayton, Ohio; acquired by the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

, and sold to private collections.

Mauborgne reached the mandatory retirement age in October 1941 and retired near Fort Monmouth

Fort Monmouth

Fort Monmouth was an installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The post covers nearly of land, from the Shrewsbury...

, New Jersey. Among his interests were music and violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

-making, for which he won an international competition in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 in 1949. During his early career, Mauborgne was a recognized marksman, on the "Distinguished Shooters" list of the Civilian Marksmanship Club.

Mauborgne married Katherine Hale Poore in December 1907, and had two sons, one of whom was also a career Army officer. Mauborgne moved to Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, in ill health in 1970 and died on June 7, 1971. He was buried in Andersonville National Cemetery.

General Mauborgne is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame

Military Intelligence Hall of Fame

The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame established by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to Military Intelligence...

.

General Mauborgne is also known as "The Cubic General".

Army Distinguished Service Medal citation

General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 81 (1919)

Action Date: World War I

Service: Army

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Organization: Chief, Engineering and Research Division

Division: Signal Corps

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Lieutenant Colonel (Signal Corps) Joseph O. Mauborgne, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As head of the Engineering and Research Division of the Signal Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Mauborgne rendered conspicuous in connection with coordinating the design and supply of new technical apparatus for the Signal Corps. He was largely responsible for the high type of radio equipment developed for our Army and rendered unusual service in connection with cipher telegraphy.

External links

• Joseph O. Mauborgne Civilian Marksmanship Club biography
• Signal Corps Regimental History: Major General Joseph O. Mauborgne U.S. Army biography