United States Army Security Agency

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Army Security Agency

The United States Army Security Agency (ASA) was, from 1945 through 1976, the United States Army's signal intelligence branch. Its motto was "Vigilant Always." The Agency was the successor to a number of Army signal intelligence operations dating back to World War I. As well as intelligence gathering, it also had responsibility for the security of Army communications and for electronic countermeasures operations. In 1976, the USASA was merged with the US Army Military Intelligence component in a process which formed the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM).

Composed primarily of soldiers with the very highest scores on Army intelligence tests, the ASA was tasked with monitoring and interpreting military communications of the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and their allies and client states around the world. ASA was directly subordinate to the National Security Agency and all field stations had NSA tech reps on site.

All gathered information had time-sensitive value depending on its importance and classification. Information was passed through intelligence channels within hours of intercept for the lowest-priority items, but in as little as 10 minutes for the most highly critical information.

ASA personnel were stationed at locations around the globe, wherever the United States had a military presence -- publicly acknowledged or otherwise. In some cases such as Eritrea, it was the primary military presence. Although not officially serving under the ASA name, cover designation being Radio Research, ASA personnel were among the earliest U.S. military advisors in Vietnam.

The first battlefield fatality of the Vietnam War was Specialist 4 James T. Davis (from Livingston, Tennessee) who was killed on December 22, 1961 on a road near the old French Garrison of Cau Xang. He had been assigned to the 3rd Radio Research Unit at Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, along with 92 other members of his unit. Davis Station in Saigon was named after him. President Lyndon Johnson later termed Davis "the first American to fall in the defense of our freedom in Vietnam". ^[1]

All ASA personnel processed in country through Davis Station. ASA personnel were attached to Army infantry and armored cavalry units throughout the Vietnam War. Some select teams were also attached to MACV/SOG and Special Forces units.

ASA military occupational specialties (MOS's) included linguists ("Monterey Marys"), morse code intercept operators ("Ditty Boppers" or sometimes "Hogs" for their 05H designation), non-morse (teletype and voice) intercept operators, communications security specialists, direction-finding equipment operators ("Duffy's" for their 05D designation), cryptographers (crippies), communications traffic analysts, and electronic maintenance technicians^[2] and a 42 man Special Operations Detachment to conduct clandestine combat operations, among others. ASA had its own separate training facilities, MP corps, communication centers and chain of command.

These occupations, which required top secret clearance, were essential to U.S. Cold War efforts. ASA units operated in shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ASA troops were not allowed to discuss their operations with outsiders — in fact, they could not talk among themselves about their duties unless they were in a secure location. Even today, decades after they served, some of the missions still cannot be discussed. Owing to the sensitivity of the information with which they worked, ASA soldiers were subject to travel restrictions during and long after their time in service. The activities of the U.S. Army Security Agency have only recently been partially declassified. This turn of events has been accompanied by the appearance of a small number of ASA memoirs and novels (see the list below).

ASA Human Resources (1945-1965)

The ASA, during the majority of the years of its existence, from 1945 to 1965, was largely a “Cold War” operation within a conscripted Army (the draft ended in 1973). It is a simple fact that, during the draft era, about 20% of all enlisted service members were in the bottom third of the Army's aptitude scoring range and the overwhelming majority fell slightly below the mid-point of the range. As has been noted, the ASA enlisted troops were recruited from the top 10% of the aptitude scoring range until 1965, which ultimately proved to be a very serious problem for the civilian National Security Agency that largely exercised control over the ASA until that time. To complicate matters, while today’s armed forces retain nearly 50% of service members, during the draft only 12% of the troops re-enlisted. The vast majority of the ASA enlisted staff were given very simplistic training and performed secret, but routine, basic tasks far below their potential. Of all the Army organizations that recruited from the top 10% (OCS Programs, Warrant Officer Programs, Special Forces Programs, etc.), only the ASA failed to gain the benefits inherent in having such staff, just as the average member of the enlisted staff gained little or no benefit from the ASA experience. Never in Army history, since the end of WW II, has there been such a waste of outstanding human resources. However, as we are dealing with what was a highly classified organization, the full story will never be written.

The Army, itself, exhibited very little to no concern for the ASA until 1965, as it was a "joint venture" essentially under the control of a civilian organization. However, there was a general concern in the Department of Defense that enlisted technicians of all kinds should be given recognition and adequate pay in order to retain them. Accordingly, in 1954, Regulation 615-15 created the grades of Specialist E-5, E-6, and E-7 in order to get around the general Table of Organization and Equipment restrictions on the number of individuals (normally regular NCO's), who could be placed in these grades. In 1958, DA 344303 also created Specialist grades E-8 and E-9. Sadly, there were never more than a handful of Specialist E-7’s in the ASA and no individual in the ASA was ever promoted to the grades of Specialist E-8 and E-9 before these grades were eliminated in 1965. The ASA managed to completely frustrate the intentions of the Department of Defense and the massive turnover of highly intelligent ASA staff proved to be an administrative nightmare. Without the draft, it would also have been an operational disaster. The entire organization was, understandably, eliminated as soon as possible after the creation of the all-volunteer, professional Army.

It should be noted that all ASA enlisted staff, until 1965, had an actual M.O.S. which was classified and they were carried in the Army’s general records under the fictional M.O.S. of "General Duties". The sad truth was that, while their various specialties were recognized within the ASA, their expertise was often not known and given any consideration outside of the ASA and the NSA. The officers within the ASA were designated as Signal Corp officers and this, of course, was also generally a complete fiction.

It is certainly true that, until 1965, the ASA contained some of the brightest enlisted soldiers in the Army. Few stayed very long, although a very few did wind up as professionals in the National Security Agency and a small number, associated with the hardware side of the operation, transferred to the Signal Corps (where they had often come from in the first place). ASA bases, frequently shoved up against the Soviets and Red Chinese, from northern Europe to the Near East, southern Asia, and northern Japan and Korea, were often rather crude, isolated outposts. In short, the ASA was notoriously the worst job assignment area in the Army and the organization would certainly not have been sustainable in today’s all-volunteer Army. The ASA "4R" practice of No Rank, No Recognition, No Respect, and No Record, did not work even in a conscripted Army, let alone in an all-volunteer Army.

Edited response: As a member of the ASA from 1955-58, I can say that my assignment to an "isolated outpost" in Lübeck, Germany, was one of the highlights of my life and that of everyone who had the good fortune to land there. An account is provided in my book below, Lübeck: A Wonderful Moment in Time. Also the time spent at a kaserne at Rothwesten, on the border near Kassel, was high living for an army trooper. There were a few places along the border that necessitated "tent" living, but on the whole most of us were put up in pretty fancy digs, especially our mansion in Lübeck that recently sold for several million dollars. I also know from first hand experience that whenever we ventured onto a "regular army" base we were treated with fear and grudging respect. Frankly, they didn't know what to make of us, as they didn't know what we were doing.

Of course there were a few places that were the "worst job assignment in the Army," but, in general, the ASA took really good care of its own. These men were a unique collection of smart, often brilliant, talented, and dedicated soldiers. We did the job asked of us. We are proud of our service and the Lübeckers still meet every 2 years for a week-long celebration. End of edit.

In today’s Army, modern technology has largely replaced the specific tasks performed by most ASA troops. The modern Army M.O.S. 98 series involving SIGINT, requires the same high security clearance levels as the old ASA standards, but the personal qualification standards are far below those of the lowest level of pre-1965 ASA standards. However, the modern troopers in the M.O.S. 98 series actually perform the full range of now computer-driven SIGINT functions that the average ASA trooper never came close to performing. Nevertheless, if a modern SIGINT Officer was confronted with an old ASA type Spec 4 from the Agency's mid-life point of 1960, with a college degree and an I.Q. of 120 to 130, he or she would probably be quite shocked. Still, the officer would no doubt be delighted to get such a trooper for $27 a week, as was the NSA and their Rent-a-Trooper operation.

The educational level of a "Monterey Mary" (an ASA linguist) in the late 1950s is typified in a memoir by a graduate of ALS class R-12-80, the school’s 80th 12-month class in Russian. He had an M.A. in one of the humanities, and had been working on a Ph.D. As he neared the end of his draft deferment eligibility at age 26, he decided to avoid the draft and enlisted in the ASA. Today, of course, if someone with graduate degree and test scores in the top ten percent volunteered for the Army at a starting pay rate of $1000 a year, the recruiting NCO would probably faint from shock. ^[3]

Edited Response: I was another USASA trooper stationed at that “isolated outpost” in Lübeck, Germany. I was there until the station closed in 1965. A better assignment would have been difficult to find at the time. I also spent time at the 17th USASA Field Station in Rothwesten, Germany as part of Company B 319th USASA Battalion. As a member of a “fly-away team” I did spend a few months living in tents along the Elbe River near Gartow, Germany. In those days the Elbe River was the separation (border) between West Germany and East Germany. However, for the most part we had excellent accommodations living on “the economy.” What a grand time we had during the cold war. The Lübeckers are a great group of former ASA troops that share a common bond few people can really comprehend! Like they say- you have to have been there!

NOTE: From 1965 to 1973, the WW II hero, Major General Charles Denholm, supervised the integration of the ASA with the rest of Army Military Intelligence and the organization underwent a dramatic change, including a vast increase in size and scope and a completely changed relationship with the NSA during the final period of its existence. By this point in time it was not, of course, the traditional "ASA".