NSA Newsletter, April 1999
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.The commencement exercises for the Honoring Those Who Serve-Armed Forces Week Community College of the Air Force-a special guest speaker has been invited to address the graduat "The 21st century, notthe 20th cen Service Color Guard will hoist the ing class. tury, will prove to be the brightest era Colors. A joint military formation fea for NSA/CSS and our people. As we turing each of the Services will be rep In remembrance of the Agency's fall stand on the frontier ofmany oppor resented at the ceremony. The Director en heroes, the Army and Air Force tunities, we must all remember: it is will hold a joint wreath-laying ceremo the Marine, not the reporter, who ny at the National Vigilance Park. gives us freedom of speech; it is the Thanks to the assistance offered by Sailor, not the poet, who gives us free the National Cryptologic Museum, and dom of expression; it is the Airman, other groups, displays will be set up not the campus demonstrator, who throughout the NSA/CSS campus to gives us the freedom to commemorate draw attention to the contributions of events, such as Armed Forces Week; military coworkers to the defense of and it is the Soldier, who at the dark the Nation. est hour, stands by the flag and says The Armed Services feature a num 'this we'll defend,' who gives us the ber of professional-caliber musical promise ofthe future." groups, and NSA has invited several to -Lt Gen Minihan participate in this year's celebration. Armed Forces Week (A1-''"'W) is not 5KRun simply a time to recognize the service The annual CWF/AFW 5K Run provided by the men and women of will take place Thursday, May 13. The the military, but rather a celebration nm will start in the OPS 2A court of the unique American relationship NSA/CSS will host the morning's fes yard and finish near Post 54. Several between the citizens of the United tivities. prizes will be awarded in several cate States and the Armed Forces. On each succeeding morning during gories. The winners' names and times The National Security Agency/Cen the week, a flag-raising ceremony will will be posted on the AFW Home tral Security Service (NSA/CSS) will start the day. The ceremonies will be Page. commemorate AFW, May 10-14, in cohosted by the local commander fea Additionally, in the finest tradition recognition of those who faithfully tured that day and a representative of competition, the first complete team serve in the United States Army, from the Senior Agency Leadership that crosses the finish line as a unit Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Team. win receive the Service Plaque. Coast Guard. Those who serve in the Reserves and the National Guard will Activities Armed Forces Ball also be recognized. The fonowing activities are planned The AFW Ball will conclude the During AFW, employees celebrate for AFW: week's festivities with dining, dancing, with members of the Armed Forces .A special guest speaker, and entertainment. This event is open who are willing volunteers. They follow Dr. Alexander S. Cochran, professor to all NSA/CSS employees, assignees, the dream upon which the country emeritus of military history for the and others, whether military or civil was built, and they stand ready to Air University, will discuss "SIGINT ian. defend it at any cost. Operations in World War II." For specific times and locations of • The Marine Corps Battle Color all AFW events, refer to the AFW Opening Ceremonies Detachment, featuring its world HomePage located at http://www.s. AB in years past, the week will begin renowned silent drill team, will daz nsa!ds/afweek99/. with an opening flag-raising ceremony. zle spectators. At 8:00 a.m., Monday, May 10, at the • The annual CWF-sponsored 5K OPS 2A flagpole, the NSA/CSS JOint Run will take place. 2 NSA Newsletter April 1999 Deputy Director's Message I I Change and ChaLlenge i 4 We are now in a period when one Director passes command of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service to another Director. Change occurs when something ends and something new or different begins. The period between theses two points is transition. Usuany it means moving from the familiar to the unknown. Even when change is positive, the process affects most of us. The good news is with change there are new opportunities as wen as challenges. With Lt Gen Minihan having retired and with the advent of a new Director, I know many of you are wondering what changes are ahead and what will happen to the strate gies and plans we have put in place. Over the past several years, we have embarked on a journey charting our course for future success in the Information Age with our strategic plan, the National Cryptologic Strategy (NCS-21). NCS-21 will provide us the direction to succeed in the 21st century. Implemented through the Unified Cryptologic Architecture (UCA), NCS-21 provides the framework for a common cryptologic structure. We have begun implementation of the National Information Assurance Strategy to ensure that information, information systems, and information-based processes are adequately protect i ed. We have spoken publicly to Congress, the Director of Central Intelligence, the ! Department of Defense, and the Advisory Boards and they an believe we are on the right track. They support us as we follow through with our strategy. Be assured we are going to face some tough choices and we will have to make some hard decisions to position NSA for the future. Time and time again, we have been challenged by world change and technology, but it is always our people-their creativity, brainpower, and commitment that have come through with a way forward. Our history has taught us that there isn't anything that we can't do when we take up the chanenge together. This is not a spectator sport- it is team work. We look to the promise that each of you holds for taking us forward when our cha~ lenges and our opportunities have never been greater. We are already responding to the challenges and rebuilding our information technology backbone (ITB), developing a busi ness plan, using corporate metrics and measurements, and strengthening our relationships with our customers and partners at home and around the world. Our heritage is rich with examples of customer-driven quality. Our focus is continuous improvement. Our people are our competitive advantage. I pledge to you my personal com mitment to ensure a smooth transition to the new Director and continuity for an the work i force as part of "Team NSA," that no team will work harder to accomplish our goals of ! Information Superiority for America-One Team, One Mission. For it is upon the founda tion of our bright past that I have confidence in our brilliant future. April 1999 -------- NSA NeWSletter 3 A Terrible Beauty is Born-Cryptology's Role in the 1916 Easter Uprising sages, the British were able to track by Bob Hanyok Center for Cryptologic History willing to strike at England from the comings and goings of Irish every quarter, and hoping that an nationalists, especially those visiting unsettled Ireland would divert British Germany and the United States. The rom April 24 to 29 1916, the troops from the Western Front, tried U.S. immigrant and expatriate Irish t=4 watershed event in Irish history to exploit this division by subsidizing community remained an important Foccurred-the Easter Uprising in Irish nationalists during the war. source of support and recruits. Dublin. This event swung popular Irish opinion away from the moder Role of Cryptology Sir Roger Casement ate Home Rule Party to the more It is often not realized that cryp The British focused on the activi radical nationalists of Sinn Fein and tology played a major role in the ties of Sir Roger Casement, perhaps paved the way for eventual Irish events leading up to the uprising the most important of the national independence. and contributed to its immediate ists. Born in Ireland in 1864, he had The uprising happened in the and apparent failure. Ironically, in served in the British consular service middle of World War I. England reviewing the cryptologic background and was knighted in 1911. He and Germany were locked in combat to the uprising, some characters became famous when, as British con. in France. Ireland (part of the Unit appear, who later became major play sul to the Belgian Congo, he wrote ed Kingdom) was a restive nation ers in the famous "Zimmermann a report exposing to the world the with a strong nationalist sentiment, Telegram Nfair" of February 1917. brutal depredations the Belgian colo anxious for independence. Germany, They were: Arthur Zimmermann, nial officials had inflicted on the German foreign minister; Count local African tribes. Johann Bernstorff, the German Nter retirement, he devoted his ambassador to the United States; life to the Irish independence move and the ubiquitous Sir William ment and became a major figure in "Blinker" Hall, head of the British the Irish nationalist councils. In cryptanalytic effort known as Room 1914, he traveled to Berlin to secure 40. German help for the Irish struggle The story actually began earlier, in against Great Britain. In 1915, Room 1914. British agents reported that 40 learned that the Germans might Irish nationalists were traveling to try to smuggle Casement into Ireland Germany and the United States to using a U-boat. A plan was set to obtain funds, arms, and support. snare him, but the Germans can When Hall's Room 40 group began celed after suspecting that Irish to decode German diplomatic mes preparations for an uprising were sages, they discovered that much was premature and lacking a solid basis already afoot between Germany and for success.