Cryptologic Quarterly NSA’s Friedman Conference Center PLUS: Vint Hill Farms Station • STONEHOUSE of East Africa The Evolution of Signals Security • Mysteries of Linguistics 2019-01 • Vol. 38 Center for Cryptologic History Cryptologic Quarterly Contacts. Please feel free to address questions or comments to Editor, CQ, at [email protected]. Disclaimer. All opinions expressed in Cryptologic PUBLISHER: Center for Cryptologic History Quarterly are those of the authors. Th ey do not neces- CHIEF: John A. Tokar sarily refl ect the offi cial views of the National Security EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Pamela F. Murray Agency/Central Security Service. MANAGING EDITOR: Laura Redcay Copies of Cryptologic Quarterly can be obtained by ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Jennie Reinhardt sending an email to [email protected]. Editorial Policy. Cryptologic Quarterly is the pro- fessional journal for the National Security Agency/ Central Security Service. Its mission is to advance knowledge of all aspects of cryptology by serving as a forum for issues related to cryptologic theory, doc- trine, operations, management, and history. Th e pri- mary audience for Cryptologic Quarterly is NSA/CSS professionals, but CQ is also distributed to personnel in other United States intelligence organizations as well as cleared personnel in other federal agencies and departments. Cryptologic Quarterly is published by the Center for Cryptologic History, NSA/CSS. Th e publication is de- signed as a working aid and is not subject to receipt, control, or accountability. Cover: “Father of American cryptology” William Friedman’s retirement ceremony in the Arlington Hall Post Theater, Arlington, VA, 1955. Lieutenant General Ralph Canine is at left, Solomon Kullback is seated left, Friedman is second from right, and Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles is at far right. National Security Agency Archives. See story page 53. Cryptologic Quarterly, 2019-01 Contents 2019-01 • Volume 38 History and Transparency: Two Years at a Glance! by John A. Tokar ......................................................................................1 Family Album—Vint Hill Farms Station by Betsy Rohaly Smoot ..............................................................................9 Th e Evolution of Signals Security as a Counterintelligence Discipline by David G. Boak .....................................................................................17 Th e STONEHOUSE of East Africa by Mark Nixon .........................................................................................29 A Layman’s Guide to the Mysteries of Linguistics by Jack Gurin ...........................................................................................39 A Space Worthy of its Namesakes: Th e Friedman Conference Center by Sarah Parsons .......................................................................................53 Cryptologic Quarterly, 2019-01 History and Transparency: Two Years at a Glance! John A. Tokar At the start of each year, I deliberate the style istic of our chosen profession at the NSA/CSS Cen- and format of the calendar or portfolio I choose ter for Cryptologic History (CCH). Moreover, one to accompany me each day in both my work and of the many challenges of any leader or manager is private lives. Unlike many other professions, at the a seemingly never-ending demand from one’s supe- National Security Agency/Central Security Service riors for information: reports, metrics, and some- (NSA/CSS) we do not have the option of using times merely lists. Lists of people; lists of resources; our smartphones for this purpose. Some years I lists of dates and meetings; lists of suspenses; and will just continue using the same version of calen- lists of accomplishments. The latter are sometimes dar as the last. Early in my US Army career, I car- required to track individual accomplishments, for ried a pocket-sized calendar that was commercially example in support of an award nomination, per- available from an office store. I preferred its size formance appraisal, or promotion packet. Other and layout to the many government-issued vari- times the request is for organizational information, eties available. Later, I would forego a templated, listed in weekly, quarterly, and annual tallies. preprinted calendar altogether, and just carry one Shortly after my arrival at CCH, one of our of the omnipresent, lime-green, hard-sided tablets historians cleverly began a year-at-a-glance nar- issued by the Federal Supply Service. It fit neatly in rative of the many ways that CCH conducts its the cargo-pocket of my uniform pants, and it was mission to “provide objective, meaningful histori- virtually indestructible. That style of tablet suited cal support to the NSA/CSS leadership and work- me for decades, and I would either write calendar force to enhance decision making, cryptologic dates on the lined pages inside, or sometimes print knowledge, and esprit de corps.” Many of those small, 5" × 8" calendars and stick them inside for actions and activities also serve to “preserve and reference. This year, I am back to a larger, commer- advance an understanding of cryptologic history cially available planner. I particularly like the “year- for the United States Intelligence Community at-a-glance” feature inside the front cover. (IC), the Department of Defense, other govern- Why all this talk about calendars? For one, we ment agencies, academia, and the general pub- use them to track time, a fairly important character- lic.” More than a simple list or calendar of events, 1 Cryptologic Quarterly, 2019-01 this running tally has proven very valuable to us, discussion about their significance. The sympo- as the entire team contributes to its maturation sium attracts hundreds of attendees and dozens throughout the year. It serves to remind us of of presenters from NSA, the IC, academia, and where we have been, what we have done, and the the general public from around the globe. It is impact that we are having as a federal government the largest event of its kind, welcoming all top- history program in general and on NSA/CSS in ics relevant to the history of cryptology, signals particular. Moreover, it serves as a useful tool to intelligence, cybersecurity, computer technology, plot course changes and to allocate our resources information assurance, and other related national against future requirements. security themes. This issue of NSA’s professional journal Cryp- Schorreck Lecture. CCH also educates and tologic Quarterly, timed to precede our biennial informs the NSA/CSS workforce through brief- Symposium on Cryptologic History, strives to ings and panel presentations, often aligned with present “two years at a glance” from CCH’s per- significant anniversaries in cryptologic history. spective. My hope is that it will provide the NSA/ The Henry F. Schorreck Memorial Lecture series CSS workforce, the rest of government, academia, has been sponsored by CCH for the past twelve and the general public with a deeper understand- years. Schorreck, former NSA historian, was a ing of what we do as a federal government history pioneer in the discipline of cryptologic history. program. In 2017, I wrote an article that explored Last year, we were fortunate enough to host Dr. how CCH provides meaningful historical sup- Mitchell Lerner, Ohio State University profes- port to the NSA/CSS leadership and workforce sor of history and director of the Korean Stud- to enhance decision making, cryptologic knowl- ies Institute, to mark the 50th anniversary of the edge, and esprit de corps (“What CCH Can Do capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea. While for You: Make History Relevant!” Cryptologic the primary focus of his lecture was based upon Quarterly 2017-03: 1-7). In this article, I’d like to his book The Pueblo Incident: A Spy Ship and the focus on transparency by providing a two-years- Failure of American Foreign Policy, his expertise at-a-glance view of CCH’s outreach efforts from with the modern day Democratic People’s Repub- 2017 through 2019. lic of Korea was the topic of many of the ques- tions he fielded, truly emphasizing the potential 2019 Symposium on Cryptologic History. impact of applied history to current operations. This fall, we again will partner with the National This year, we were extremely honored to host Cryptologic Museum Foundation for our 17th Mr. Tony Comer, Departmental Historian at the Symposium on Cryptologic History, which will Government Communications Headquarters be held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied (GCHQ), NSA’s counterpart in the United King- Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The dom, which marked its centennial in 2019. Tony’s theme for 2019 is “From Discovery to Discourse.” talks both inside and outside the fence were well The symposium is an occasion for historians (and attended. This year’s Schorreck Lecture not only fans of cryptologic history) to gather for reflec- served to educate attendees about GCHQ’s cen- tion and debate on relevant and important topics tury of achievement, but more importantly it from the cryptologic past. Since 1990, our sym- reinforced the nature of the special relationship posium has served as an opportunity to present that exists between the cryptologic communities historical discoveries found in unclassified and of the United States and the United Kingdom. declassified IC records and engage in scholarly 2 Cryptologic Quarterly, 2019-01 The GCHQ headquarters building, Cheltenham, UK. For the 2019 Schorreck lecture, CCH hosted GCHQ historian Tony Comer. GCHQ