National Security Agency - The Black Vault

2000s
2000s
contribution in the war against terrorism. (See
Document B at end of chapter.)
Afghanistan and Iraq
America’s decision to carry the fight to Osama bin
Laden and the Taliban on their territory was fraught
with risk. American forces had to fight a new kind
of war that depended on speed, technology, and
accurate real-time intelligence; more than ever
NSA was part of this fight. Even prior to the War on
Terror, the Agency had begun to retool and revamp
its operations to deal with the challenges of a new
world driven by the need for continuous access to
critical information and state-of-the-art technology.
As America’s armed forces engaged the enemy
in places like Afghanistan, the silent sentinels of
NSA once again found themselves on the front
lines of the conflict. The winning combination of
Secure communications used by deployed forces in Iraq.
Official USMC Photo
by Cpl Eric C Ely, 2D
Marine Division
innovative partnerships with local allies, as well
as bravery, skill, and effective communications
intelligence (both SIGINT and COMSEC) ousted
the Taliban from power and dealt a stunning blow
to bin Laden and the al Qaeda network.
During this effort, NSA and its Expeditionary
SIGINT personnel ensured that diverse customers
received the different types of products they
needed. Whether the information was sent to the
highest levels of military and civilian leadership or
to the troops downrange, it was intelligence critical
to achieving objectives and saving lives.
Likewise, NSA’s Information Assurance personnel
secured coalition networks and ensured secure
communications for the warfighter. A corps of
language analysts, cryptologists, technicians, and
engineers and others supported the military of the
United States and its allies in missions throughout
the battlespace.
NSA’s strong commitment to serve the needs
of U.S. military forces continued after the fall of
Baghdad and after the defeat of the main Taliban
forces. Indeed, as President Obama stated publicly,
NSA was a key actor in the Special Forces-
Intelligence Community team that finally brought
bin Laden to justice in May 2011.
NSA’s support of U.S. foreign policy goals was
clearly evident in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
SIGINT was a critical intelligence discipline
relied on by U.S. and coalition forces in theater
during the operation. NSA’s investments in its
global SIGINT architecture, connected with a
distribution of NSA functions to Cryptologic
Centers in Hawaii, Colorado, Texas, and Georgia,
helped integrate SIGINT real-time support for
battlefield commanders and gave strategic context
for national-level policymakers. These innovations,
articulated by Lieutenant General Keith B.
Alexander, USA, who succeeded General Hayden
as Director in 2005, also helped prompt changes
in the overall strategy and priorities of the U.S.
Intelligence Community.
Lieutenant General Alexander
General Alexander’s ideas about how best
to support the warfighter were influenced
by his own combat experience in Operation
Desert Storm, as well as previous tours as
Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army,
Commanding General of the Army Intelligence
and Security Command, and Director of
Intelligence at U.S. Central Command. In addition
to his B.S. degree from the U.S. Military Academy,
General Alexander holds Master’s degrees in
management, systems technology, physics,
and national security from several prestigious
academic institutions. General Alexander’s
educational and professional background
enabled him to deal with the immense
cryptologic challenges of the first decade of the
21st century.
General Alexander’s innovative approaches
to solving the challenges of the modern
cryptologic mission resulted in his selection as
the first Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command
(USCC), and his promotion to the rank of fourstar
general. He retains his position as Director,
NSA/Chief, CSS.
U.S. Cyber Command
General Alexander assumed command of USCC
amid intense and growing national concern
about developments in the cyber world. Given
our society’s dependence on digital networks
and the growing number of threats to data
and networks, cybersecurity was fast coming
to dominate official and private agendas. This
private and public attention only intensified as
terrorist groups grew in their knowledge and use
of digital technology, and as nations appeared to
be behind some of the most worrisome cyber
trends and incidents.
These concerns prompted several new tasks for
NSA and drew extensively upon the Agency’s
expertise with all elements of cybersecurity.
When the U.S. military reorganized its
components for cyber operations in 2005, it
based its new unit for “network warfare” at
NSA and made the Director that component’s
Commander. NSA also contributed to then-
President George W. Bush’s government-wide
Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative,
which was revised and expanded by President
100 60 Years of Defending Our Nation National Security Agency National Security Agency 60 Years of Defending Our Nation 101