Innis had previously served seven and a half years in the Navy Reserve, beginning shortly after high school. Innis' was recruited by the U.S. Army Signal Corp's Alaska Communications System (ACS) and was stationed on an Army operated cable ship in Alaska."The Alaska Communications System" by B. McCalleySignal Corps Regiment Lineage in Alaska "General McArthur's Surrender Order to the Japanese" by Janice Reynolds CookArmy Communicator Innis oversaw the laying of thousands of miles of the first military submarine telephone communication cables across the ocean using secret military charts aboard the wooden-hulled self-propelled barge, the cable ship Col. Basil O. Lenoir. "History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications: U.S. Armed Forces Cables by Bill GloverCable Laying and Repair Ships Innis' top secret job required him to enter a room "like Oz" and close curtains around him while he read the secret charts of where U.S. military communications cables would be laid at sea.
