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American Cryptology during the Cold War - The Black Vault

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almost inconceivable situation persisted until 1942, when diplomatic traffic was, by<br />

mutual agreement, left to <strong>the</strong> Army, while <strong>the</strong> Navy concentrated on Japanese naval<br />

materia1. 2<br />

<strong>The</strong> disaster at Pearl Harbor<br />

resulted in a thoroughgoing Army<br />

internal investigation. Secretary of<br />

<strong>War</strong> Henry Stimson picked Yale<br />

lawyer Alfred McCormack to lead <strong>the</strong><br />

way. McCormack discovered a<br />

scandalously incompetent Army G2<br />

and a nonexistent SIGINT analysis and<br />

dissemination system. He set up a<br />

separate system called Special Branch,<br />

Military Intelligence Division, and was<br />

picked as <strong>the</strong> first deputy. (Colonel<br />

Carter W. Clarke became <strong>the</strong> first<br />

commander.) At <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>the</strong><br />

Army and Navy arrived at a joint<br />

modus operandi regarding <strong>the</strong> division<br />

ofoverall SIGINT responsibilities. Each<br />

service was to work what we now call<br />

"counterpart" targets. Since <strong>the</strong>re was<br />

little in <strong>the</strong> way of Japanese Army<br />

traffic to work, <strong>the</strong> Army took on <strong>the</strong><br />

task ofdiplomatic intercept. <strong>The</strong> third<br />

partner was <strong>the</strong> FBI, which shared<br />

Alfred McCormack<br />

with <strong>the</strong> Navy <strong>the</strong> task of working<br />

Western Hemisphere agent and clandestine traffic. <strong>The</strong>se three were tobe <strong>the</strong> only<br />

participants in SIGINT for <strong>the</strong> duration of <strong>the</strong> war. Roosevelt's directive of July 1942<br />

specifically excluded <strong>the</strong> FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Office of<br />

Censorship, and <strong>the</strong> OSS (Office ofStrategic Services) from SIGINT production .3<br />

At <strong>the</strong> same time a standing committee of Army, Navy, and FBI COMINT officials was<br />

established. It met only a few times and had little lasting impact on organizational<br />

matters. Meetings were frequently marred by vituperative arguments, especially between<br />

Navy and FBI, which were supposed to be sharing Western Hemisphere clandestine<br />

traffic. It was not cryptology's finest hour. Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> COMINT activities of <strong>the</strong> FCC<br />

and Censorship Bureau continued virtually unabated. 4 Only <strong>the</strong> OSS seems to have been<br />

temporarily frozen out of<strong>the</strong> COMINT community. Resurrected after <strong>the</strong> war as <strong>the</strong> CIA, it<br />

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