National Security Agency - The Black Vault

1970s
1970s
Employment Opportunity (EEO) office and for
a positive program to educate the workforce
on EEO issues. The Director accepted both
recommendations and initiated them in the
late 1970s. Since then, hiring and recruitment
practices have significantly improved minority
representation in the workforce
Gender Challenges
Also during the 1970s, NSA found itself grappling
with charges of gender discrimination.
Renetta Predmore had been noted as a promising
employee, likely to advance in grade at NSA.
However, she ran into the classic “glass ceiling.”
Predmore found credible evidence that she was
the victim of gender discrimination in a promotion
cycle, and she appealed the decision internally.
When her appeal was rejected, she sued. On June
1, 1976, the United States District Court for the
District of Maryland issued a decision in a landmark
case that directly changed internal policies at NSA.
The federal court decision in her favor changed the
way promotions and eventually other important job
decisions, such as field assignments, were handled.
This June 1976 decision directed that all boards or
panels convened in the promotion process have a
female member with an equal vote. Going forward,
all promotion boards and career development and
advancement boards were enhanced with minority
and female representation.
Thanks to the changed climate for women that
Ms. Predmore’s suit brought about, those women
already on board, as well as the new hires, were
afforded opportunities that previously might
have been denied them. The system changed for
them, as one NSA senior manager put it, “because
[Ms. Predmore] had the moxie, the guts to take
on the Agency.”
Sexual Orientation
In addition to race and gender issues, NSA
also confronted prejudices related to sexual
orientation. In the late 1970s, prompted by a
potential court case, VADM Inman approved
the hiring of a homosexual who openly
revealed his sexual preference. Inman imposed
some conditions designed to minimize the
possibility of blackmail or other security
risks feared by the Intelligence Community.
The person, a linguist, had to “out” himself
in person to his entire family and obey local
laws on homosexuality. He also had to take an
annual polygraph examination.
The prejudice at NSA about sexual orientation
took longer to fall than those of gender and
race, but significant progress on all three was
made over the ensuing decades. NSA recognized
that mission can be accomplished only through
bringing together a diversity of views, skill sets,
race, ethnicity, and gender to best serve the
national security interests of our country. n
National Security Agency
Historic Documents
Document A – Department of Defense Directive Implementing National
Security Council Intelligence Directive 6
Document B – Transcript of Lt Gen Lew Allen’s testimony before Congress
Document C – Front page of USSID guidelines
Document D – Memorandum describing U.S. response to dealing with
“the Soviet microwave intercept problem”
62 60 Years of Defending Our Nation National Security Agency
National Security Agency 60 Years of Defending Our Nation 63