National Security Agency - The Black Vault

1960s
1960s
It would be wrong to say that NSA and its
partners saved the world from destruction;
however, it is clear that during one of the most
perilous moments in the history of mankind,
the leader of the free world was provided
information that led him to make prudent
decisions that kept the peace, not just for
America, but for the world.
Communications Intelligence
From their experiences during the crisis, NSA
leaders knew that communications intelligence
(COMINT) needed to be distributed faster
and more widely. Over the next decade, they
developed and implemented procedural and
technical improvements to enhance support to
intelligence consumers.
In NSA’s earliest days, COMINT reports greatly
resembled those of the prewar and wartime eras.
Most were straight translations of decrypted
intercepts. Often, reports consisted of nothing
more than a 3x5 card with a typed verbatim text
sent through an interagency mail system.
By 1962, at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis,
a few NSA offices had converted to electrical
distribution, releasing reports via a machine that
resembled a teletype. The Cuban Office, at least,
also issued summary reports, compilations of
many reports consolidated for ease of reading.
The experience of the missile crisis made
it clear to all offices that the future was in
rapid dissemination of reports. Over the next
decade, although some bulkier products were
still released only in hard copy, systems were
installed and expanded for more timely and
widespread release of reports. The new style
reports were known as “Electrigrams” or
“EGRAMs” for short.
Gradually, NSA began to release analysis of its
intercept. Some other intelligence agencies
continued to insist that the COMINT system
should issue only translations of intercept,
leaving analysis to them. Over time, as COMINT
production became more sophisticated and
new sources opened up, it became evident that
NSA analysts were best equipped to manage and
analyze their own product.
Tides and Hurricanes
Winston Churchill once cautioned that one should
“never believe that any war will be smooth and
easy or that anyone who embarks on the strange
voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he
will encounter...” To this day, individuals debate
whether the Vietnam War was a noble cause
or a horrible mistake. But from a cryptologic
perspective, the war that raged in Indochina from
the early sixties until the mid-seventies was a time
of supreme service and sacrifice.
In the end, as was the case with much of
America’s involvement in the conflict, the results
of NSA’s cryptologic efforts to try to solve the
riddle of Indochina were decidedly mixed.
As early as 1961, the Director of NSA ordered
reviews of existing activities and contingency
plans for Vietnam and neighboring countries.
NSA responded to military requests for COMINT
support by recommending limited, mobile
collection in Vietnam, with an emphasis on
Direction Finding (DF), including some training
of the South Vietnamese in DF techniques.
The Army Security Agency (ASA), at the request
of a high-level intelligence board, became the
lead agency for SIGINT support in Vietnam.
The first ASA troops arrived at Tan Son Nhut Air
Base in May 1961 and began operations. NSA
initially sent technical personnel to Vietnam for
temporary duty and first assigned a permanent
Courtesy of John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
USS Oxford, a Navy COMINT collection vessel during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
NSA provided vital information to President Kennedy during the perilous days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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