Unit 122 has the longest history of any unit of the 167th Signal Photographic Company. A few weeks before Christmas in 1943, the company was called upon to furnish a photo unit for the Second Army maneuver area, around Lebanon, Tennessee. So an unorthodox unit was put together and under the title of unit number 2, was shipped to Tennessee from Camp Crowder, Missouri. On 22 December 43, Lt Paul Calvert, Lt Kenneth Young and nine men comprised the unit. Sgt Stafford Garrett, Tec 4 Frank Hoiles, Pvt J Heslop, Pvt William Harrison, Pvt Harold King, Tec 5 Robert Gilmore, Pvt Stanley Baker, and Pvt Edmund Kramer were the still, movie and lab men.

  A lab was built and the unit did the photographic work for the maneuver headquarters until the company arrived approximately two months later. The unit remained with the company for maneuver training until the 1st of April 1944, then left for detached service with the 14th Armored Division at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, with the unit pared down to Lt Paul Calvert, Tec 4 Robert Gilmore, Pfc Gideon Ebers, Pfc William Harrison and Pvt Goodman. After a month with the armored outfit the unit returned to the company at Camp Crowder to prepare for overseas movement. The unit, as well as the rest of the company, boarded a troop train for the POE, Camp Shanks, NY, and after the usual pre-embarkation processing the company left for England on the Cunard liner Mauritania, arriving at Liverpool on 1 August 1944.

  After a pleasant month in England the company traveled south to Southampton and boarded a ship for France. At Versailles, France, unit 122, along with five other units, took off, assigned to the secret Ninth US Army Headquarters, located at that time at Rennes, France.