National Security Agency - The Black Vault

1970s
1970s
(Community On-line Information System),
that gave intelligence customers direct access
to stored SIGINT data. This immediate access
was revolutionary – customers could now get
intelligence quickly. In 1972 another database,
SOLIS (SIGINT On-line Information System),
began storing actual SIGINT product, making
it more widely available and permitting faster
searches. Both systems pointed to a time when a
comprehensive intelligence information sharing
network would no longer be a dream, but a
practical reality.
People
The cultural and demographic changes of the
1970s were reflected in different ways within
the Agency workforce.
As the Vietnam War ended, NSA, along with the
other members of the defense and intelligence
communities, took big cuts in its budget and
staffing levels. In addition to a smaller workforce,
promotions were frozen. Compounding the
problem, the average grade level of NSA
employees was above that of other government
agencies. This meant that over time personnel
costs consumed an increasingly larger share of
the Agency’s budget.
The demographics of the workforce also posed
challenges to management. VADM Inman
concluded that the Agency had able leadership,
as most senior people were still from the World
War II generation. He believed that what he
called the “Korean War generation” was well
prepared to take over, but what about the
leaders coming after them?
With this challenge in mind, Inman created
an executive career panel, giving it the task
of identifying the “water walkers” in mid-level
management. Once he received the list, Inman
surprised everyone by demanding that all
personnel on the list be assigned a different job
within the next year. This began a practice of
increased career diversification for those tapped
for higher office. Inman was proud to find later
that almost all the people on the list went on
to senior positions, including two who became
Deputy Directors.
Based largely on the success of Inman’s initiative,
NSA henceforth carefully orchestrated the
selection and professional education of the
Agency’s future senior and mid-level managers.
Equal Opportunity Challenges
From its inception, minorities and women were
under-represented in management at NSA.
Making accommodations for disabilities was
not yet common, but The Federal Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, and subsequent legislation,
gave agencies guidance on how to provide
reasonable accommodations. Discrimination
against individuals with an alternate lifestyle
was still the rule at NSA. These constraints on
Agency personnel were inconsistent with the
changing civil rights/equal opportunity climate
in the United States and deprived the Agency of
potential talent.
Mrs. Minnie M. Kenny
Having grown up in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, Minnie Kenny was amazed by
the discrimination she found when she came
to Washington for employment, and since
joining NSA’s predecessor in 1952, worked
tirelessly throughout her career to further the
cause of minorities in the Agency.
She quickly developed a reputation for
excellence in several skill areas and was
invited to work at an elite “think tank” at
NSA, studying the future of cryptanalysis and
language problems.
When the status of the Office of Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) was in doubt,
Mrs. Kenny convinced the NSA Director that
the EEO should answer directly to him, thereby
giving the EEO the status needed to be
effective. Its successor organization, the Equal
Employment Opportunity and Diversity (EEOD)
Directorate still reports to the Director today.
Mrs. Minnie Kenny, through her superior
job performance and commitment to the
advancement of minorities in the Agency,
became an inspiration to all. n
Minorities
During World War II, the first African Americans
in cryptology worked in segregated offices.
Unfortunately, race policy at NSA was similar to
other government organizations in the DC area.
By the 1960s, however, the Agency’s Office of
the Inspector General (IG) launched a thorough
investigation of personnel at all levels, into the
wide disparities among categories of employees.
VADM Inman and Ms. Ann Caracristi, who would go on to be the first woman to serve as
Deputy Director, listen to Hall of Honor cryptologist Frank B. Rowlett describe the SIGABA machine.
Based on the results of the investigation that
clearly showed a pattern of discrimination,
the IG made strong recommendations to the
Director for the establishment of an Equal
Mrs. Minnie Kenny
60 60 Years of Defending Our Nation National Security Agency
National Security Agency 60 Years of Defending Our Nation 61