Lesson Learned

During a recent “winter golf” get together, the conversation incorporated, like always, a few “war stories.” Most all of us “golfers” have had some interesting experiences through the years and sessions like winter golf gives us a chance to remember some of them — with an audience that appreciates them more, because of similar experiences. 

Recently, the discussion somehow turned to the encounters several of us had over the years with NSA (the National Security Agency.)
Several of the guys didn’t know when and how NSA came into being. It’s kind of an interesting story….
After the end of World War II, the United States pretty much dismantled its signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cryptanalysis capabilities. Really, “dismantle” is a kind of strong word — the initiative was just downsized and not a lot of effort was put into it. Soon afterwards, the Soviet Union activated a new communications grid and encryption methodology. They started transmitting signals by cable — that cut off most radio interceptions and what little that was transmitted over the air was indecipherable. This move seemed to shock the United States and in response, the Secretary of Defense ordered the creation of a Top Secret organization known as the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA,)

The new agency, as might be expected, suffered from institutional dysfunction and wasn’t particularly effective against the Soviets. But the Korean War came along and really gave the AFSN a boost. The agency was assigned to intercept high-level Korean broadcasts. It’s hard to believe, but North Korea was broadcasting the details of its most sensitive military operations in plaintext, with no encryption at all. When the North Koreans finally got wise to America’s interception capability, AFSA made short work of North Korea’s new ciphers. It was a “lesson learned” for the U.S. as to the importance of SIGINT and cryptanalysis. AFSA would eventually be reorganized as the National Security Agency (NSA.)
Now you know “the rest of the story.”
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