Piercing the Fog - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Piercing the Fog
Maj. Gen. Howard C. Davidson
operation. At the air headquarters the squadron had seventy-nine men. Intercept
operators fed messages captured in the clear or in low-grade code or cipher to
the analysis section, which in turn translated or decoded for the intelligence
evaluation section. From there, the evaluators sent information to Fifth Air
Force headquarters, to the AA command, or to the air defense fighter control-
lers. Messages of higher grade cipher were transferred to Brisbane for
decryption and analysis. Other sections of the squadron repaired equipment,
encrypted and transmitted messages, or performed various support functions.
Detachments from the squadron served Thirteenth Air Force or various
advanced air headquarters in New Guinea or the Philippine Islands.24
In addition to the decryption work in the Philippines, the 1st Radio
Squadron’s direction-finding teams ran an around-the-clock listening service
that covered the Japanese Army and Navy air forces’ operations. Overhearing
enemy transmissions, translators noted the content. Direction-finding teams
simultaneously reported locations of probable enemy airfields or the bearing of
approaching aircraft beyond radar range so that operations planners could
schedule air strikes or direct fighters to intercept. Similarly, in Europe after D-
day, the 3d Radio Squadron worked as an adjunct of the Ninth Air Force,
feeding reports of radio intercepts to the A-2. Detachments of the squadron did
the same for the IX and XIX TACs’ A-2s and for the intelligence officers of
subordinate air units. This arrangement of squadrons deployed worldwide
formed, in effect, a signals intelligence service that remained at the disposal of
the air force commanders. All radio squadrons could and did pass encrypted
information at the air commanders’ behest, and they scrutinized the various air
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