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The Puzzle Palace (1982)
-- [PP] James Bamford: THE PUZZLE PALACE, Penguin Books, 1982.
1. Birth
4.nov.1952: Truman Memorandum - birth of the NSA
2. Prelude
biographies:
Herbert. B. Yardley, cryptographe amateur, head of MI-8 (1917)
1929: Closing of the Black Chamber
1931: Yardley publie un livre: The American Black Chamber.
William F. Friedman, head of SIS (Signal Intelligence Service).
2nd World War – Pearl Harbor
1948: National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) No 9.
1949: Creation of AFSA (Armed Forces Security Agency)
1950: Korean War
3. Anatomy
Fort Maede (SIGINT City)
Biographies (Ralph Canine, General Marshall Carter, Louis Tordella)
NSA - organisations:
- Office of Signals Intelligence Operations
- Communications Security (COMSEC)
- Office of Research and Engineering
- Telecommunications and Computer Services (cf. Computers)
4. Penetration
NSA security procedures
1961: Book by David Kahn: The Codebreakers
1954: NSA's first spy scandal (Joseph Petersen - informant for the Dutch embassy)
1960: biggest spy scandal (Martin and Mitchell - informants for the USSR)
1960-63: Jack Dunlap, courier for classified documents - informant for the USSR
1963: Victor Norris Hamilton, cryptanalist - informant for the USSR
5. Platforms
main intercept organisation (satellites, submarines...):
the Central Security Service [CSS], created in 1972, made up of three service cryptologic agencies (SCAs):
- Army Intelligence / Army Security Agency (ASA)
- Naval Security Group
- Air Force Security Service
1931: construction of an experimental intercept station at Fort Hunt, Virginia (for peacetime training)
1938: the SIS (Signal Intelligence Service) is operating six listening posts (USA, Hawaii, Philippines)
After WW2, chief SIGINT platform is Japan (spying on China, Korea, the Soviet Union)
Other important base: Turkey (monitoring of russian missile tests).
"By September of 1965 the ASA alone had 26'233 people scattered trhough the world in ninety-nine separate unites. The high point was reached in 1969, during the height of the war in Vietnam."(p.210)
Antenna fields:
- Edzell, Scotland (Naval Security Group - established 1960)
- Vint Hill Farms, Virginia (Army Security Agency - established 1942)
- Two Rock Ranch, California (ASA)
- Pacific Regional Office, Hawaii (+ Taiwan, Japan, Okinawa)
- Sugar Grove, West Virginia (built during the 50's boom)
The four main COMSAT earth terminals (p.222)
Undersea cables (six transatlantic lines) - p.225
Microwave interception :
- Kent Island Research Facility (microwave testing, propagation effects...)
Overhead (the EC-130 incident)
September 2 1958: Crash of a "ferret" (an american EC-130 ELINT aircraft, on assignment for the NSA) over Soviet Armenia. The fate of the seventeen members of the crew remains unknown...
1955: the U-2 (developed by Lockheed) becomes operational.
1960: first successful recovery of the Discoverer capsule.
1961: the CIA and the Air Force create the National Reconnaissance Office [NRO]
SPY SATELLITES (Samos, Midas, DSP-949, DSP-647, Rhyolite...)
SIGINT SATELLITE GROUND TERMINALS (planning started 1966)
- Pine Gap, Alice Springs, Australia
- Menwith Hill, Harrogate, England (NSA-GCHQ)
- Buckley Air National Guard Base, Aurora, Colorado (NSA-NRO operation)
NSA spy ships (program started 1960)
June 5 1967: during the 6-day war, the spy-ship Liberty is attacked by israeli bombers (32 victims). Israel claims it has been "mistaken" for an egyptian troop transporter.
January 5 1968: the spy-ship Pueblo, whose first mission is to "sample electronic environment of east coast North Korea", is attacked and captured by the North-Corean navy.
Shortly after this incidents, the american spy-ship operations are terminated.
6. Targets
Operation Shamrock (1945-1972)
7. Fissures
June 13 1971: the Pentagon Papers are published by the New York Times.
Watergate (1972-1974)
Investigations by the Senate Intelligence Commitee.
8. Partners
9. Competition
10. Abyss
Afterword