United States Army Security Agency
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|---|---|---|---|
| State level | Federation | ||
| Position of the authority | Signals intelligence | ||
| Consist | September 15, 1945 - 1977 | ||
| Headquarters | Arlington Hall Station, Virginia | ||
The United States Army Security Agency ( ASA ) was an ELINT -Geheimdienst the US Army between 1945 and 1977. Their motto was Vigilant Always (Always vigilant) .
The agency was the successor to several US Army intelligence operations during World War II. The specialty of the ASA was the interception and analysis of enemy messages as well as cryptology . The ASA was also responsible for army communication. He carried out actions during both the Korean War and the Vietnam War . The final dissolution took place in 1977 (reorganized in INSCOM ), after parts had already been transferred to the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA).
The staff consisted mainly of US soldiers who had performed above average in intelligence tests. Due to this fact, the ASA was charged with monitoring and assessing the military communications of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China and their allies. This top security work was of enormous importance to the US during the Cold War . Knowing the most sensitive data of the service, members of the ASA were subject to travel restrictions both during and after their active service time. To this day, the activities of the ASA are largely classified .
Foundation of the ASA and division of labor with the AFSA
The Army Security Agency (ASA) was founded on September 15, 1945 at Arlington Hall Station, Virginia. The purpose of the establishment was to reorganize the Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) under the umbrella of the new secret service . In addition to the exercise of control functions, a network of headquarters has been set up in key locations in Europe and the Far East.
As early as 1949, the establishment of the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA) resulted in a division of forces. The AFSA, as the forerunner of the NSA, merged the three military cryptological services of the USA and in the process also took over the cryptological service of the ASA (formerly SIS, SSA). Through this process, most of the civilian workers at ASA Headquarters were transferred to AFSA.
ASA during the Korean War
Due to the acute need for intelligence support for the troops in the Korean War, the ASA was again massively supported and enlarged to support the fighting army on a large scale. For the first time, units and battalions were directly subordinated to the secret service.
Before the war began, around 200 messages could be intercepted and decoded. During the operation in Korea, ASA employees discovered that the noise alarms, which were installed near enemy bunkers, could also record telephone calls. This made it possible to intercept Chinese and North Korean communication. This procedure became known as the Ground Return Intercept .
After the missions of the ASA no longer consisted exclusively of information gathering and decoding, the organization was again subordinated to the Army Chief of Staff as a unit for field operations in 1955 as part of the restructuring of the US Army .
ASA during the Vietnam War
The operation in Vietnam began on May 13, 1961 with the dispatch of a contingent to the air force base Tan Son Nhut (near Saigon ) in southern Vietnam. The aim of the deployment was to have an advisory role for the already active weapons aid team and to support the training of the South Vietnamese Army.
During the first few years the staff of the 3rd Radio Research Unit (RRU) was assigned, whose main task was the localization of broadcasting stations of the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. In the early stages of the mission, on December 22, 1961, the direction finding specialist James T. Davis was killed in an ambush outside Saigon while operating a direction finding station mounted on a jeep. James T. Davis was the first US soldier to lose his life in the Vietnam War.
After the ASA headquarters had recognized the dangerousness of the direction finding of ground vehicles and the related jungle use, it was decided to carry out the direction finding from low and slow flying aircraft. For this purpose, the direction finding platforms of the jeeps were installed in small, single-engine aircraft. Within a very short time the units were known as TWA (Teeny Weeny Airlines) .
By 1965 there was a massive expansion of the ASA armed forces in Vietnam. The previous 3rd RRU was replaced by the 509th Radio Research Group (RRG). Three battalions as well as the support units of all army departments were directly subordinate to this. At the height of the war, the ASA had up to 6,000 men deployed in Vietnam. At that time the agency had a total strength of 30,000 and in 1964 the status of a main field command.
Final phase
After the end of the Vietnam War, pressure increased to achieve greater profitability by merging intelligence services. In 1975, the Army Chief of Staff approved the recommendations calling for a complete reorganization of the services. The aim was to found a multi-dimensional military intelligence service for the army, which can carry out both purely intelligence activities and tactical maneuvers. As a result, the tactical units of the ASA were again subordinated to the local commanders and the area of responsibility for training, research and development was outsourced. A new Army Secret Service was to emerge from the core area of the agency. On January 1, 1977, the Army Security Agency and Military Intelligence merged to form the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM).
Web links
- Origins of the Army Security Agency ( April 30, 2004 memento in the Internet Archive )
- US History - Korean War
- Veterans network