The NSA Declassification Program.pdf (PDFy mirror)

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THE NSA
DECLASSIFICATION PROGRAM (U)
u.s.
Doors Open Legally on Past Cryptologic Activities (U)
Help Wanted uments. Many requests were not easily dealt with
Position: Immediate openings for pefllODS to review for since they were not specific-a request would be
declllllllification purposes U.S. cryptologic records ofthe past re~eived for "all of the Japanese Comint produced
60+ years. Qualifications: Persons with past cryptologic during World War n," the requestor not realizing that
E"lperience, preferahly WW IT vintage, who possellS long and
there were literally thousands of records in this broad
excellent memories and are willing to plow through approxi
mately 10-20 million records. Must have strong hands for category. The request would have to be narrowed in
opening hoxes and good eyesight for hours of reading. scope to determine exactly what was wanted. Then a
Contract: Oneyear, with optionfor renewal. Fringebenefits: search to locate the information had to be made. All
Excellent-shorter work week, friendly atmosphere.
in all, this was a very time-consuming task.
(U) While this is not an actual job ad (U) As a consequence of the executive
vertisement for the declassification group which was order and the FOIA requests, several actions were
formed in 1975, it describes the type of people needed taken. Since NSA could not complywith the executive
in order to comply with downgrading-declassification order to declassify 30-year-old records by the end of
action oC'Mec'UtIve Order 11652 of 1972 and its 1975, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld granted NSA an
sU"CCessor, E.O. 12065 of 1978. Under the 1972 exec- extension to December 1980. A systematic means of
Ubve order, go,ernment doetunents that were thufy locating, inventorying, and indexing the cryptologic
years old or older would be automatically declassified records had to be developed before any reviewing could
after DecembEU" 1975 unless: (1) The department head take place. Storage facilities were needed and a
personally reviewed the document(s) and certified that retrieval system had to be developed. Thus came into
declassification and release would adversely affect the being the NSA Archives and Archival Holding Area
national security of the United States, or (2) the but that is another story. Once the records were
declassification and release of the document(s) would located, they had to be inventoried and indexed, then
jeopardize a person's life. a time schedule had to be set for completion of the
(UJ After Executive Order 11652, came review and declassification.
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of November {'S-ee~ The job of preparing a plan for the
1974, which was intende1 to make it easier for the declassification and review of NSA's records fell to
I
public to gain access to government records. On top of land William Gerhard of D4. A list of
this came the book, The UUra Secret, by F. W. cryptologiccategories was developed: histories, signals
;1
Winterbotham, which whetted the public's appetite intelligence raw materials, signals intelligence reports,
for infor~ation on World War IT cryptography and signals intelligence operational documents revealing
cryptanalysis. Soon NSA began to receive requests for intelligence sources and methods, research and devel
information pertaining to Sigint activities of the opment reports which reveal intelligence sources and
military departments, particularly World War n doc- methods, research and development reports pertaining
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he opinions expressed in thisarticle are those ofthe author(s) and do not representthe official opinion 0
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to cryptography, documents revealing communi
cations security information, and.equipment used for I
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cryptography, cryptanalysis, and signals collection.
This plan took into account the UK/USA Sigint qualified people to review and declassify the records.
Agreement of 1946, still in effect, which requires joint Since no full-time billets were authorized, the people
protection of Sigint issued by either government; thus to do the reviewing would have to be part-time
NSA could not, in -many instances, unilaterally de employees. Where was the expertise on World War II
classify many ofthe World War II cryptologic records. cryptologic activities? Most of it was gone \Vitg th:ose (b)(1)
A number of these records revealed sources and who had retired. A decision wa~IIllldetoli!!ksomeof (b)(3)-P.L.86-36
methods of Sigint operations currently in use, which the Agency's senioreIIlPloyees, n?vvretired, to come
still need to be protected. The U.K. and U.S. agreed back asre--eIllployed ann~itants to undertake this
to declassify for release the Sigint derived from enemy task. These retirees gad/the qualifications necessary
communicationsdurin World War II. to review pastcryptologic records-experience gained
in cryptography and cryptanalysis from their military
service during World War II and/or an active role in
the management of cryptologic activities at AFSN
NSA or with the SCAs. Fortunately for the Agency,
many of the retirees were willing to be a part of the
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Deelassifiers opening a T of old crxnto...lpgi.C.. records to be reviewed for....\...deelassifica-
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tion actfio:D::. Gloria
Chiles'.L (loan-in from
P), Gilbert Spirlet, David Youmans,\Walter Day,
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declassification program and took pride in the fact (U) A sizeable dent has been made in
that a subject once unmentionableoutside NSA's walls reviewing and declassifying World War II cryptologic
would be given the attention and recognition it had so records; Work has been completed on Japanese army
long been denied publicly. The role that Sigint played and air force communications as well as the Japanese
in the Battle of the Atlanticl would be just one of the and German diplomatic summaries. These records ~-
;=
many cryptologic accomplishments declassified and have been turned over to the National Archives, and
made available to historians and scholars. NSA has made some of the records available, upon
(U) The NSA declassification and review request, to historians and scholars. A few of the
group began its work in 1975. William Gerhard, a full specific items offered to, and accepted by, the National f=
!
time employee, headed the group and Sam Hall and Archives are:
Frank Steinmetz, both re-employed annuitants, were
the first declassifiers. They beganto reviewthe records The Role of Communications Intelligence in Sub
of INSCOMM's predecessor, Signal Security Agency, marine Warfare in the Pacific, January 1943
for possible declassification. October 1943 (8 volumes, 2,442 pages).
\'C=OOQ+ From the categories established in the
declassification plan approved by SecretaryofDefense, History of U.S. Strategic Air Force Europe vs.
four priorities wer.e set: German Air Force, June 1945 (386 pages).
Translations of Japanese Army Messages, June
Priority 1 ~i 8igmt his~U.S. December 1980
Si . t of World Warij::::) 1943 to November 1944 (4,113 pages).
German and apaneii-em-riitary
and diplomatic communications.
"MAGIC" Background of Pearl Harbor, 14 Feb
Priority 2 World War I-U.S. SiginUrom December 1981 ruary 1941 to December 1941 (4 volumes, 3,064
G;"wCOiD.'iiiUriicat1ons.
pages).
Pre-World Warll-no
. catego~l!!ffi¢.s.~~A Marshall Letter to Eisenhower on the Use of
b~l!~Y~.Y~n.f!l~.S.WD~
Ultra Intelligence, Author, G. C. Marshall, 15
~~~~ed,for.th.e.period-beUlJeen
March 1944 (4 pages).
WW I and WWll.
~....",'" _. ;~_.~..""....~ I
Priority 3 .Kouan conflict. Under December 1983
consider!!!.on: U.S. Sjgint ( (U) A complete set of the declassified
histories and U.S. Sigint '7
cryptologic history documents released to the National
p~froril.NorthKorean! \
Archives is available in the NSA Circulation Library
Chinese military ~:
communications. (T1212).
Priority 4 Vie.tl!~~~~~~:.~~er December 1990
(U) Some ofthese cryptologic records have
consideration: U.S. Sjgint
hiBtoi'iennd U.S. Sigint been the basis for books and articles on the role
products from Vietnamese cryptography and cryptanalysis played in World War
communist military ll. Among these are:
communications.
The Battle of the Atlantic, by Terry Hughes and
~ Since the greatest interest, from the John Costello, The Dial Press/James Wade, New
public's standpoint, centered around World War IT York, 1977.
records, work began on declassification of the Sigint
derived by the U.S. from- Japanese and German The Trail of the Fox, by David Irving, E. P.
military and diplomatic communications. Declassifi Dutton, New York, 1977.
cation review of the Sigint history of events leading
up to Pearl Harbor and the Sigint aspects of the "The Influence of Ultra in World War ll," by Dr.
Battle of the Atlantic was also undertaken at that Harold C. Deutsch, appeared in Parameters, the
time. Journal of the U.S. Army War College.
Hitler's Spies, by David Kahn, MacMillan Pub
(U) I See "Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic," by Beesly,
Knowles, Rohwer, Cryptoiogic Spectrum, Volume 8, Winter 1978. lishing Co., Inc., New York, 1978.
C~NPIBENTIAI 7
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Re-employed annuitants Captain Harold Joslin, USN (Ret. IWilliam (b)(3)-P.L.86-36
Gerhard, Dave Youmans, and Walter Day discussing some cryptologic records of the
past.
(Figure is UNCLASSIFIED)1'If"OU6
(U) From a staff of two part-timers in ffilOUQ.l. One of the present declassifiers is
1975, the declassification group has grown tenfold. Dave Youmans, a re-employed annuitant, who declas
The current group is composed mainly of re-employed sified a series of navy reports based on ENIGMA
annuitants, but also includes some part-time NSA decrypts which told the story of the Battle of the
employees, and full-time employees on limited detail Atlantic. Dave was also one of several who worked on
from P and S. The work of this group is divided into declassifying the MAGIC Summaries. Under the con
three categories: reviewof military communications, trol of G-2, Military Intelligence Service established
_c..Q~uU:\1pications, ana'~of
review of diplomati-:: the "MAGIC Summary" as a daily means of reporting
3O:year permanent records and cryptologic hiStories. decrypts of diplomatic communications during World
--a
IiifMmaI"interviews with "few of"the declassifiers War II. These summaries were published throughout
revealed some of their current accomplishments as the World War II period and were distributed by the
well as their past cryptologic experiences. War Department to top officials of the U.S. Govern-
8 FOR OFFICIAL USE ON'll'
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ment. Dave and others have evidence that.tnere was served in OP·2Q-G as well as AFSA and NSA. During
a European version of the MAGIC SUIllmaries; they the mid-1950s, he served a tour'in Japan. Working in
have traced every lead available to· find these sum declassification since 1978, he is now inventorying and
maries, but have found only a few. Dave began his indexingadditional World Warn records, after having
career as a German linguistwith Army counterintel completed the·reproduction from microfilm to hard
ligence during the war; afterwards, he left to work in copy of the Japanese army water transport traffic of
private industry untilhe saw a notice in 1951 in a World War n, which is being reviewed for eventual
Chicago newspaper which turned out to be a job with submission to the National Archives.
AFSA. He wor.ked in GENS 5, served in NSAEUR, (U) The goal of these cryptologic veterans
_____I is to ensure that as much information as can be
land later/se.../(tbv)e(3d)CaPs.L8t6h-e36..D....e...p....u....t..y....,..1 1 declassified is released to the National Archives. At
decil'l.138ifiet~1 I the same time, they must guard against releasing any
I(P6UO) I/i Another information which would be injurious to NSA's per
has worked on research requests and re-
formance of its mission. Each box of records that
quests from military and defense schools for.informa
n. confronts them presents a special challenge. As they
tion on World War I and She and fellow re
meet this responsibility, day by day, they gradually
employed annuitant, Wally Winkler, reviewed ADd.
uncover what can safely be revealed about U.S.
declassified the records oftiieAmerican Etpedjtjonary
-FOlW in.F.ra.r.u:e..d"ilring WQ.d<L!:.ar I ~80me PQ bQYei cryptologic operations and accomplishments of the
past sixty years.
of records). Helen began her career as a civilian
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cryptanalyst in 1943 at ASA working on the Japanese I
(U) Ibeganbel'eareeilitilh (b)(3)-P. 86-36
army and water transport communications. Before
NSA in 1960 on R Staft'. Since then sbehas had
retiring, she worked in the TAREX program in D33
assignments with the Office 01 Research and
and T12. Wally, a true history enthusiast, served as
Engineering, USCSB Se.eretariat, and tbe Office
the G-2 Liaison Officer to ASA, AFSA, and NSA
of COMSEC D9ctrine and Threat Assessment.
before he became the DIA Liaison Officer to NSA. I
lis currently assigned to the D4
(POVO) Walter Day was a cryptanalyst in History and Publications Staft'.
n
naval intelligence during World War and afterwards
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