Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1974

V

Intelligence and Communications

Intelligence

Reduction in Army management headquarters affected Army intelligence activities worldwide. The Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (OACSI) lost 42 spaces in the 20 May 1974 reorganization, 12 by elimination and 30 by transfer to field operating activities. The U.S. Army Intelligence Command (USAINTC) was discontinued 30 June 1974, and the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency (USAINTA), a field operating agency of OACSI, was established by consolidating CONUS military intelligence units. The headquarters of the new agency has less than half the personnel of the former command's headquarters-86 as compared to 174.

Additional personnel savings were achieved by merging the four major subordinate commands of the Army Intelligence Command, the 902d, 109th, 112th, and 115th Military Intelligence Groups, into two groups, the 902d and the 525th. The 902d Military Intelligence Group, with headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, received responsibility for counterintelligence activities in states east of the Mississippi River and in Puerto Rico and the Canal Zone. The 525th Military Intelligence Group, with headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco, took over counterintelligence activities west of the Mississippi River and in Alaska and Hawaii.

The Army reorganized its military intelligence activities in other ways. The Intelligence Records Repository and the Army Personnel Security Group were joined to form the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Support Detachment, an activity of USAINTA. Operational elements of the old 902d Military Intelligence Group, including technical services and counterintelligence operations, were combined as the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Operations Detachment, another USAINTA unit. The Imagery Interpretation Center and the Special Research Detachment, production activities formerly assigned to USAINTC, came under the operational control of the Director of Foreign Intelligence, OACSI. The Counterintelligence Analysis Detachment, formerly an Army staff support agency, was redesignated a field operating activity and assigned to USAINTA. The Director of Intelligence Operations, OACSI, continued to exercise operational control of the activity.

In the fiscal year 1974 Defense Appropriation Bill, Congress directed that U.S. Army Reserve Wartime Information Security Program units be phased out. The Department of the Army there-

[42]

fore inactivated on 30 June 1974 the U.S. Army Element, Special Analysis Division, and the U.S. Army Element, National Postal and Travelers Censorship Organization, deleting in the process 189 Army Reserve spaces.

In March 1973 the Army started a project called Army Systems for Standard Intelligence Support Terminals (ASSIST). The objective was to modernize and standardize automatic data processing hardware and software used in intelligence work. In August 1973 the Secretary of Defense approved the project, and by September the Army had analyzed the requirements for the ASSIST test-bed system. Five AN /GYQ-21 (V) mini-computers were committed to the project in January 1974. In June 1974 specifications for the automatic data processing systems and subsystems were completed, and the first Project ASSIST mini-computer was installed at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, existing hardware and software were converted to the new system, standardization was begun, and computer applications were developed. When completed, Project ASSIST will provide for standardized intelligence files and for the exchange of information among Army and national intelligence centers.

A Department of Defense ad hoc committee established in September 1973 completed work on a draft directive for standardization in the field of technical surveillance countermeasures (TSCM). The directive, expected to be published in early fiscal year 1975, will establish policies and procedures, common to all services, for requesting, conducting, and reporting TSCM surveys, for selecting and training TSCM personnel, and for coordinating the development, testing, and procurement of TSCM equipment. The goal is to set up a centrally managed program for technical surveillance countermeasures.

On 26 September 1973, the Department of Defense formed the Personnel Security Working Group to evaluate the feasibility of centralizing responsibility for determining security eligibility and issuing security clearances for military service and civilian employment. In the quest for centralization, the group was also to consider the scope of investigations, organization, processing procedures, and maintenance of records. The group expects to present its findings by mid-September 1974.

To decrease classified holdings, the Army during the past year reduced the number of original classification authorities by more than one-third. The following statistics reflect the results of this program, which should ease the problem of overclassification and decrease requirements for review, declassification, and archival storage

[43]

On 11 June 1974, Army Intelligence people completed a review of approximately 5.5 million personnel security dossiers held at the United States Army Investigative Records Repository, Fort Holabird, Maryland. Approximately 3.2 million (58 percent) were earmarked for eventual destruction. However, a fire at the Military Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri, which destroyed approximately 90 percent of the individual personnel records of former Army members who were discharged between 1 November 1912 and 31 December 1959, caused a change in plans. The Archivist of the United States invoked a moratorium on the destruction of intelligence files. During the moratorium, the records at Fort Holabird will be used to reconstitute some of the records destroyed in the St. Louis fire.

Concurrent with the review of dossiers at Fort Holabird, the computer holdings of the Defense Central Index of Investigations of the Defense Investigative Service were posted to correspond with the Army's active holdings.

The Army continued work on its portion of the records declassification program. At the beginning of the year the National Archives held, in addition to microfilm, approximately 6,500 feet of Army World War II records that had not been reviewed for declassification, of which some 3,400 feet were intelligence files. Mobilization designees and other Military Intelligence Reserve officers performing their annual training at the National Archives completed a page-by-page review of over 2,100 feet of these intelligence records and declassified 98 percent of them. The remainder contained information on classified intelligence sources or sensitive intelligence methods. The Adjutant General's declassification specialists, also assisted by Reserve officers on annual training, completed the review of the other World War II records. Some 3,000 linear feet of records were declassified, mostly through a page-by-page review; however, about thirty documents had to remain classified. The review and declassification of World War II microfilm was also done by Reserve officers. Starting in March 1974, the Reservists met two Saturdays each month and reviewed and declassified over 150 rolls of microfilm containing approximately 300,000 images.

With the declassification of World War II records in the holdings of the National Archives virtually completed, except for intelligence records, The Adjutant General's declassification specialists

[44]

began to review thirty-year-old documents in the custody of the Department of the Army. To locate these documents, the Army directed that all depositories, libraries, museums, and offices report the extent of thirty-year-old records in their custody.

Later records were also reviewed in fiscal year 1974. For the 1945-54 period, records occupying about 15,000 feet of the 51,000 feet on hand in depositories of the General Services Administration were declassified.

In executing the Freedom of Information Act, 5 United States Code 552, which expanded public access to federal government records, the Army devoted considerable effort to meet the needs of the public, the communications media, and congressional oversight groups. In addition seminars and training conferences were held to insure that Army people understood their obligations under the act.

Work was completed on a new Army regulation, to be published in early fiscal year 1975, which revises the restrictions on acquiring and storing information concerning persons and organizations not affiliated with the Department of Defense. The new regulation prohibits without exception the gathering of information about a person or organization solely because of lawful opposition to government policy and also bans physical and electronic surveillance of federal, state, and local officials. Unless approved by the Department of Defense, investigations and surveillance for other reasons are generally restricted, except for cases involving Army people and property.

Communications

Money allocated to the Army's Consolidated Telecommunications Program for fiscal year 1974 totaled $782.2 million and was broken down as follows:

CONSOLIDATED TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM

The $51.8 million increase over fiscal year 1973 primarily reflects additional procurement ($33.4 million) for tactical communications in support of improved Army readiness and additional operational and maintenance outlays ($14.8 million) for civilian pay raises, inflation, and increased responsibilities resulting from recent reorganizations.

[45]

The Army completed eight studies of areas within the United States where telecommunications centers of the services might be consolidated. Four of the studies, involving the areas around Atlanta, Georgia, Baltimore, Maryland, Fort Lee, Virginia, and Monterey California, were approved by the joint Chiefs of Staff. The approved consolidation will save eighty-four personnel spaces and $690,000 in yearly operations and maintenance costs. Army plans for the consolidation of telecommunications centers in the Pentagon were also approved, with anticipated savings of 115 spaces and $2 million per year in operations and maintenance outlays.

The electromagnetic spectrum is vital to the nation's well-being but is subject to considerable misuse because of its easy accessibility. The Army took several actions during the past year to promote more effective and responsible use of this natural resource. These included publication of the Army Spectrum Management Master Plan in March 1974, the assignment of responsibilities under the Department of Defense Electromagnetic Compatibility Program, and preparation of a manual that will describe effective means for achieving electromagnetic compatibility.

In July 1973 the Army began the Integrated Tactical Communications Systems study to develop a new tactical communications plan. Concerned with the midrange period (1976-86) and scheduled for completion in fiscal year 1976, the study will take into account doctrine, new and emerging weapons systems, and the effects of rapidly advancing technology.

Meanwhile, the Army has in the engineering development phase a project to improve tactical communications by providing digital data transmission. This improvement will enable the army in the field to transmit high-speed data and wideband voice traffic over existing multichannel communications equipment.

Distribution of pulse code modulation, multichannel transmission equipment to the Reserve Components, which began in fiscal year 1973, continued. The equipment was medium capacity (24channel) and second generation. Distribution of high-capacity, multichannel trunking was made to U.S. Army, Europe, and large analogue tactical automatic circuit switches, procured in 1970, are scheduled for distribution early in fiscal year 1975.

The Single Channel Tactical Radio Communications Working Group was established on 23 July 1973. Composed of Army staff members and representatives from major Army commands, the working group set about to do what its title implied, that is, to develop a single channel tactical radio communications program together with an appropriate management structure. The working

[46]

group was also to recommend priorities for equipment developments for the 1980-90 time frame. Completing its report in January 1974, the working group recommended three basic subsystems to meet future tactical communications requirements-a single channel ground and airborne subsystem, a single channel satellite subsystem, and a single channel mobile access subsystem. Time to field the subsystems is expected to take twenty years, and cost is estimated to be $1 billion. On 21 February 1974, the Chief of Staff approved the working group's report.

The Army's primary responsibility in the joint Tactical Communications (TRI-TAC) Program is to develop the AN/TTC-39 switch. In December 1973, the Army completed a prototype of the circuit and message switch and the following April awarded a contract for sixteen engineering development models. In other TRITAC actions during the year, a study contract on the tactical digital facsimile was completed and a contract for validation models was awarded, the Army joint operational requirement for the digital group multiplexer was approved, and joint operational requirements for the tactical digital tropospheric scatter equipment project were prepared. Also, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the joint operational requirement for the shortwave band radio.

In another joint program, Tactical Satellite Communications, the Department of Defense on 31 January 1974 approved an Army plan for acquiring several tactical satellite communications items-multichannel terminals for use in command and control links from theater army to brigade, single channel terminals to replace selected single channel radio communications nets, and satellite control terminals. Prototypes for the multichannel terminals are being built by RCA (Radio Corporation of America), with delivery of the first terminal anticipated in November 1974. The contract for the control terminal was awarded in December 1973. Contracting for single channel terminal prototypes, scheduled for October 1973, was delayed for several months to incorporate technology gained by the Air Force in its segment of the program. Later, in June 1974, the Army awarded a contract for a manpack terminal. Contracting for a vehicular terminal is scheduled for January 1975.

In nontactical communications, the Army Telecommunications Automation Program (ATCAP) got under way with the approval on 9 October 1973 to install automated multimedia exchange systems at 27 Army telecommunications centers, 23 at home and 4 overseas. Thus far five locations, which will be under the direction of the U.S. Army Communications Command, have been selected: Huntsville, Alabama; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Oakland, Cali-

[47]

fornia; Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; and Headquarters, Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service, Newport News, Virginia. Sperry Rand's UNIVAC Division will supply the systems, which the Army will have the option to purchase after twelve months of leased operation. The system at Oakland, though completed, remains to be tested and accepted; equipment for the Huntsville site should be installed early in fiscal year 1975.

After an earlier failure, two Phase II satellites were launched on 13 December 1973 in support of the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS). Orbiting over the Atlantic and western Pacific oceans, these satellites provide relay communications for thirty-four ground terminals. At Fort Detrick, Maryland, the AN/MSC-60 satellite ground terminal became operational in March 1974, and in April 1974 a contract was awarded to Philco-Ford for nineteen additional AN/MSC-60 terminals for the DSCS program for 1974-80 and for other Defense requirements. Deliveries of the terminals are scheduled to start in November 1975 and to be completed by July 1977. Meanwhile, the modification of twenty-nine DSCS Phase I ground terminals continued. Intended to increase the reliability and capacity of the terminals to meet Phase II criteria, these modifications are expected to be completed in September 1974.

In other developments in nontactical communications, the Army, with responsibility for engineering and for procuring and installing equipment, continued improvements to the cable and radio direct communications link between Washington and Moscow. The new, improved system is scheduled to become operational on 1 October 1974. Also scheduled for completion during the coming fiscal year is Scope Picture, a project that will expand American Forces Network television coverage to U.S. families stationed in Germany. Management responsibility for this project was transferred from the Army Communications Systems Agency to the U.S. Army Communications Command, Europe. Fort Bliss, Texas, was selected to test the Wired Garrison concept, which provides for expanded use of cable television systems at Army posts and which is expected to reduce the need for multiple cables, meet the needs for improved command operations, and give post residents broader educational opportunities and better health care.

Work continued on the Technical Control Improvement Program, a two-phased effort to standardize and automate. technical control facilities throughout the military services, and on the European Wideband Communications System, a project to improve transmission facilities.

[48]

The Joint Communications Support Element (JOSE), located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, was established by the joint Chiefs of Staff in 1972. Staffed by Army and Air Force personnel, with a strength of 363, the JCSE provides communications support to unified commands for contingency operations, natural disasters, and exercises. In February and March 1974, the joint Chiefs of Staff approved the modernization of JOSE-controlled Joint Airborne Communications Centers and Command Posts. For these facilities switches, radios, satellite-terminals, and communications transmission systems will be improved with new equipment at a cost of approximately $7.4 million, to be shared by the Army and the Air Force.

Army efforts to improve communications security have been under way for several years: In early 1973, a battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division successfully tested a system for changing call signs and frequencies. In mid-1973, large-scale testing of the system, which is now known as the Communications-Electronics Operation Instruction (CEOI), began. First the 101st Airborne Division started to make daily changes; later the 82d Airborne Division adopted the same system. At present the CEOI is limited to single channel net radios. Call signs have a letter-number-letter configuration that is not predictable. Although changes are usually made every 24 hours, the period may be shortened or extended. A centralized production facility prepares the CEOI material, and bulk deliveries are made directly to users through special channels. The system, which will replace the Signal Operations Instruction Generation Procedure, was approved on 24 April 1974, and Army tactical units are adopting it as rapidly as the centralized production facility can compile and distribute the necessary materials.

During fiscal year 1974, a number of communications technical standards were developed under the Defense Standardization Program (DSP). Included were Military Standards 188-141 and 188144, which apply to high-frequency radio links and tropospheric scatter radio links for use in tactical and long-haul communications. Standards were also approved and distributed for teletype equipment terminals and for the design of punch cards and magnetic tapes. Communications standards are currently under development for common and separate tactical and long-haul communications areas.

The Department of Defense tentatively established that digital transmission systems will be designed to use continuously variable slop delta (CVSD) analog to digital conversion techniques, that channel transmission rates will be 16/32 KB/S, and that radio channel spacing will be 25 KHZ. Tests have confirmed that suitable

[49]

signal levels can be provided with CVSD at 32 KB/S where several tandem analog/digital, digital/analog conversions are required. The task of developing standard message formats and data link control procedures for digital transmission systems has been turned over to a joint Federal Task Group.

Standards for audio-visual presentation media and equipment were published this past year. These guidelines will insure that audio-visual presentation materials are compatible with associated equipment and will permit exchange of audio-visual media among and within commands.

Because of the complexity of modern communications systems, the Army needs well-educated Signal officers. To help fill this need, the Army arranged for officers who hold bachelor degrees in other than engineering and science to work toward a master of science degree in telecommunications management at the University of Colorado, the George Washington University, and the New York Institute of Technology. Approximately a hundred Signal Officers have received masters degrees under this two-year-old program. The Army has also increased its requirements for Signal officers with advanced degrees. During fiscal year 1974, the Army Educational Requirements Board validated one Signal Corps position at the doctorate level and 461 positions at the master's level, an increase over previous years. The following is a recapitulation of the Signal Corps officer educational level as of November 1973.

Another educational measure was the establishment of a new officer military occupational specialty, the Audio-Visual Instructional Technology Officer, who plans courses of instruction that use visual media. Officers with this skill will serve primarily at service schools in instructional technology divisions and at installations in training aids services offices, organizations that evolved from the 1973 Army reorganization at TRADOC and FORSCOM installations. Instructional technology divisions are responsible for developing audio-visual technology and systems engineering techniques to support education and training. Training aids services offices support Army installations with audio-visual systems aid training aids.

[50]

Return to Table of Contents

	Return to CMH Online
	Last updated 27 August 2004