Read Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency Online
Authors: James Bamford
Tags: #United States, #20th Century, #History
149 Melody: Gene Poteat,
"Elint and Stealth,"
The Intelligencer (December
1999), pp.
10—13.
The Intelligencer
is published by the Association of Former
Intelligence Officers.
150 a giant sixty-foot satellite
dish: ibid.
150 Field Station, Berlin: U.S.
Army Intelligence and Security Command, "INSCOM and Its Heritage: An
Organizational History of the Command and Its Units" (1985), pp. 95-97.
151 "It was acting as a
great big antenna": John Diamond, "Ex-Spies' Memories Full of Past
Intrigue,"
Chicago Tribune
(September 13, 1999).
151 Bremerhaven: U.S. Naval
Security Group Activity, Bremerhaven, "Command Histories," 1968-1973.
The facility was established in 1950 and disestablished on December 31, 1972.
Most of the intercept operators were then transferred to listening posts at
Edzell, Scotland, and Augsburg, West Germany.
151 "You're trying to
pull": interview with Aubrey Brown, January 2000.
152 "One would have had to
experience": Jeff Tracy, "The Merry Men of Toden-dorf,"
NCVA
Cryptolog
(Winter 1992), p. 22. The facility was first activated in the
late 1950s and decommissioned in the late 1970s.
152 "a target-rich
environment": e-mail from Richard E. Kerr, Jr., January 26,
2000. 152 "At night": F.
Harrison Wallace, Jr., "The History of Eckstein Border Site
1958—1993." Web posting
at
roadmap.shtml?946895392450>
(January 2, 2000).
152 "There was no running
water on the mountain": ibid.
153 "The finest hour for
Eckstein": ibid.
153 Creek Rose, Creek Stone, and
Creek Flea: The details in this paragraph are drawn from U.S. Air Force,
Secret, Headquarters, 7499th Support Group, "Command History, January 1,
1967, to June 30, 1967" (U.S. Air Force Historical Research Center,
Maxwell AFB, Alabama).
154 "provided precise
measurements": ibid.
154 able to detect East German
missile equipment being moved: ibid.
154 "We couldn't
listen": Interview with former Karamursel intercept operator.
155 "Our mission": Jack
Wood, Internet posting at
21, 1999).
155 "Malfunction!!!":
"Was Gagarin's Flight a Near Disaster?"
Space Views Update,
March
16, 1996.
155 a place called Kamiseya: See
generally "Kami Seya Special,"
NCKi Cryptolog
(Fall 1997).
156 Misawa Air Base: U.S. Army
Intelligence and Security Command, "INSCOM and Its Heritage: An
Organizational History of the Command and Its Units" (1985), pp. 105-106.
157 "Security was hermetic
on that post": For information about Torii Station, I have drawn on an
e-mail from David Parks, February 8, 2000.
157 "It was reflected in the
stuff we copied every day": interview with former intercept operator at
Okinawa.
159 "Along the way, our
ground stations would listen in": Robert Wheatley, Internet posting,
160 "locate intercept
stations": NSA, Dr. Howard Campaigne Oral History, p. 66.
160 rugged, windswept desert of
Eritrea: U.S. Army,
A History of Kagnew Station and American Forces in
Eritrea
(undated).
161 "The Operations Center
... went on strike": Arthur Adolphsen, "Kagnew Recollections,"
Internet posting,
1999).
162 "The priority tasks from
the NSA": This and other details on Aden come from Jock Kane, "GCHQ:
The Negative Asset," pp. 162—72. This manuscript was seized by the British
government under the Official Secrets Act in 1984, and the book was never
published. The author obtained a copy of the manuscript before the seizure.
162 Ascension Island: Andrew
Marshall, "Remote Island Home of Spies and Turtles Opens Its Doors to
Tourists,"
The Independent
(London), February 5, 1998.
162 "I looked and
looked": Phillip Yasson, "Midway Island 1960,"
NCK4 Cryptolog
(Winter 2000), pp. 10, 15.
164 "There was a
chateau": This and the early background of Diego Garcia are taken from
Simon Winchester,
The Sun Never Sets: Travels to the Remaining Outposts of
the British Empire
(New York: Prentice Hall, 1985), pp. 27-58.
164 "They were to be given
no protection": ibid.
165 "A Soviet trawler
maintained station": This and other details of Jibstay are drawn from
Monty Rich, "NSGA Diego Garcia: The Prelude,"
NCVA Cryp-tolog
(Spring
2000), p. 1.
165 "All we had was
seahuts": Gregor McAdam quoted in Internet posting at
http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/warstories.html on August 11, 1999.
165 Classic Wizard: U.S. Naval
Communications Station Diego Garcia, "Command Histories, 1973—1977."
The Naval Security Group was officially activated on May 1, 1974, and the
Classic Wizard facility was completed on April 20, 1976.
165 White Cloud: Other ground
stations for the White Cloud satellite system were built at Adak, Alaska;
Blossom Point, Maryland; Guam; Edzell, Scotland; and Winter Harbor, Maine.
Winter Harbor also served as the training facility for the program.
166 "On those few
occasions": Stephen J. Forsberg quoted in http://www.zianet.
com/tedmorris/dg/warstories.html on August 11, 1999.
166 a small private sailboat:
Winchester,
The Sun Never Sets,
pp. 55—58. 166 By 1989 the Naval
Security Group: James Yandle, "Naval Security Station Visit,"
NCK4
Cryptolog
(Fall 1989), pp. 5, 7.
166 presence on Cyprus: Brendan
O'Malley and Ian Craig,
The Cyprus Conspiracy
(London: I. B. Tauris
& Co., 1999), pp. 79-84.
167 at Akrotiri: Mike Theodoulou,
"News of the World,"
Times
(London), January 16, 1999.
167 Mission of the USS
Halfbeak;
Cassidy comments: Interview with George Cas-sidy, August 2000.
175 Details on the
Kursk
and
the USS
Memphis:
Steven Lee Myers and Christopher Drew, "U.S. Spy
Sub Said to Record Torpedo Blast Aboard Kursk,"
New York Times
(August
29, 2000), p. 1.
174 50,000 five-figure groups:
Andy Thomas, "British Signals Intelligence after the Second World
War,"
Intelligence and National Security
(October 1988), p. 104.
174 Earl Richardson: William C.
Grayson,
Chicksands: A Millennium of History
(Crofton, Md.: Shefford
Press, 1999), p. 221. Chicksands was closed in 1995 and is now the home of the
Defence Intelligence and Security Center, a defense agency responsible for
providing training throughout the spectrum of the military intelligence and
security community.
174 "Much of the caution was
perverse": ibid.
176 "We would go into
bays": This and the following quotations come from the author's interview
with George A. Cassidy, January 2000.
176 "the weather conditions
were so bad": Interview with Aubrey Brown, January 2000.
177 the CIA dumped some $12
million: Philip Agee,
Inside the Company
(New York: Stonehill, 1975), p.
521.
177 "put the guys":
Brown interview.
178 "Every time we got
it": Interview with George A. Cassidy, January 2000. 178 "I was
called to Washington in the mid-fifties": Oral History of Captain Phil
H. Bucklew, USN (Ret.) (March
1982) (U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis).
178 "I was probably the
father of it at NSA": interview with Frank Raven, July 23, 1981.
179 "They complained very
bitterly": ibid.
179 "The
Valdez
was
my dream ship": ibid.
180 "The bigger ships":
interview with Lieutenant General Marshall S. Carter, July 17-18, 1980.
180 "Revelation of some
sensitive": NSA, Top Secret/Umbra report, "A Review of the Technical
Research Ship Program 1961-1969" (undated), pp. 126-27.
181 Every day at 8:00 A.M., 2:30
P.M.: William Galvez,
Che in Africa
(Hoboken, N.J.: Ocean Press, 1999),
p. 224.
181 "It seems
excessive": ibid.
182 "Those of us aboard
Liberty":
Details of the
Liberty's
Congo cruise come from Robert Casale,
"Drama on the Congo,"
U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association
(Paducah,
Ky.: Turner Publishing Co., 1996), p. 77.
Page
185 "Now, frankly":
interview with Frank Raven, July 23, 1981.
186 "We ... had a
choice":
New York Times,
August 21, 1982.
187 a contingency plan: Details
on the selection of the
Liberty for
the Middle East mission come from
NSA, Top Secret/Umbra, "Attack on a Sigint Collector, the USS
Liberty"
(1981), pp. 5-13.
188 MAKE IMMEDIATE PREPARATIONS:
James M. Ennes, Jr.,
Assault on the Liberty
(New York: Random House,
1979), p. 19.
188 "It was a message from
the Joint Chiefs": ibid., p. 15.
188 "I mean, my God":
Raven interview, August 11, 1981.
189 Bryce Lockwood: interview
with Bryce Lockwood, February 2000.
190 "who was
communicating": Raven interview, August 11, 1981.
190 "You can sit in Crete
and watch": ibid.
191 "We have an FBIS
report": Details on Rostow come from Hugh Sidey, "The Presidency:
Over the Hot Line—the Middle East,"
Life,
June 16, 1967.
192 "Early this
morning": Department of State, Secret Flash message from Bar-bour, U.S.
Embassy, Tel Aviv, to Secretary of State and White House, June 5, 1967 (LBJL).
193 the hot line was activated:
Department of Defense, press release, August 30, 1963; A. Golikov, "Direct
Line, Moscow-White House,"
Ogonyok
(Russian magazine), August 25,
1963, p. 1; Robert Cahn, " 'Hot Line'—Never a Busy Signal,"
Christian
Science Monitor,
June 10, 1965.
193 "Premier Kosygin is on
the hot line": Robert S. McNamara,
In Retrospect' The Tragedy and
Lessons of Vietnam
(New York: Vintage Books, 1995), pp. 278-279.
194 Johnson told Kosygin that the
United States did not intend: "Hot Line Diplomacy,"
Time,
June
16, 1967.
195 "We were in disbelief
and mystified": Unless otherwise noted, all details about the flight of
the EC-121 Willy Victor come from e-mail, Marvin E. Nowicki to author, March
4, 2000. Nowicki was the chief Hebrew/Bussian linguist aboard the EC-121.
197 Some twenty Soviet warships:
NSA, Top Secret/Umbra, "Attack on a Sigint Collector, the USS
Liberty"
(1981), p. 19.
197 Then he asked if any
consideration was being given: NSA, Secret/Spoke/Limited Distribution,
"USS
Liberty:
Chronology of Events" (undated), p. 3.
197 "For God's sake":
Raven interview, August 11, 1981.
198 the message never reached
her: For details on the message delays, I rely on NSA, Top Secret/Umbra report,
"Attack on a Sigint Collector, the USS
Lib-
erty" (1981), pp.
21-23.
199 "Uniform of the
Day": USS
Liberty,
Plan of the Day for June 8, 1967.
199 John Scott noticed: U.S. Navy,
Court of Inquiry transcript, Testimony of Ensign John Scott (June 10, 1967), p.
59.
199 "Fabulous morning":
Ennes,
Assault on the Liberty,
p. 49.
199 the naval observer: Israeli
Defense Force, Confidential, Court of Inquiry Report, Decision of Examining
Judge, Lieutenant Colonel Yishaya Yerushalmi (July 21, 1967).
199 "What we could
see": "Attack on the
Liberty,"
Thames Television
(London), 1987.
200 "How would it affect our
mission": Ennes,
Assault on the Liberty,
pp. 43—44. 200
reconnaissance was repeated at approximately thirty-minute intervals: NSA,
Top Secret/Umbra, "Attack on
a Sigint Collector, the USS
Liberty"
(1981), p. 25.
200 "It had a big Star of
David on it"-, interview with Richard L. Weaver, February 2000.
200 the minaret at El Arish could
be seen: NSA, Top Secret/Umbra, "Attack on a Sigint Collector, the USS
Liberty"
(1981), p. 25.
200 Commander McGonagle ...
radar: U.S. Navy, Court of Inquiry transcript, testimony of Commander McGonagle
(June 10, 1967), p. 31.
201 One Israeli general: Robert
J. Donovan and the staff of the
Los Angeles Times, Israel's Fight for
Survival
(New York: New American Library, 1967), p. 71.
201 A convoy: My account of the
Israeli attack on the UN convoy is drawn from the
Toronto Globe and Mail,
June
16, 1967.
202 "I saw a line of
prisoners": The account of the massacre comes from Youssef M. Ibrahim,
"Egypt Says Israelis Killed P.O.W.'s in '67 War,"
New York Times,
September
21, 1995; "Israeli Killing of POWs in '67: Alleged Deaths of Hundreds Said
Known to Leaders,"
Newsday
(August 17, 1995).