NSA Secrets Declassified: The Quest for Cryptologic Centralization and the Establishment of NSA: 1940 - 1952, COMINT in the Military, Korean War, Struggle for Control

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this important NSA publication is a study of the creation of the NSA. It is a masterfully researched and documented account of the evolution of a national SIGINT effort following World War II, beginning with the fragile trends toward unification of the military services as they sought to cope with a greatly changed environment following the war, and continuing through the unsatisfactory experience under the Armed Forces Security Agency. Mr. Burns also makes an especially important contribution by helping us to understand the role of the civilian agencies in forcing the creation of NSA and the bureaucratic infighting by which they were able to achieve that end. At first glance, one might think that this organizational history would be far from "best seller" material. In fact, the opposite is the case. It is essential reading for the serious SIGINT professional, both civilian and military. Mr. Burns has identified most of the major themes which have contributed to the development of the institutions which characterize our profession: the struggle between centralized and decentralized control of SIGINT, interservice and interagency rivalries, budget problems, tactical versus national strategic requirements, the difficulties of mechanization of processes, and the rise of a strong bureaucracy. These factors, which we recognize as still powerful and in large measure still shaping operational and institutional development, are the same ones that brought about the birth of NSA.

Forewords * Acknowledgments * Introduction: The Struggle to Control a Unique Resource * Chapter I: Early Army-Navy COMINT Relations, 1930-1945 * Chapter II: The Military Services and the Joint Operating Plan, 1946-1949 * Chapter III: The Emerging National Intelligence Structure and the United States Communications Intelligence Board, 1946-1949 * Chapter IV: Creation of the Armed Forces Security Agency, 1949-1952 * Chapter V: AFSA, the CONSIDO Plan, and the Korean War, 1949-1952 * Chapter VI: The Brownell Committee and the Establishment of NSA, 4 November 1952 * Chapter VII: Summary: The Struggle for Control Continues * Abbreviations * Notes * Notes on Sources