Story by Connie Ballenger
Note: Due to the September 11th attacks, the Cryptologic Museum is closed until further notice.
Yesteryears' cryptologists probably figured that no one, not even their own descendants, would ever know the contributions they made to this country. Their work of figuring out enemies' codes and protecting America's, was as top secret as the war briefings of multi-star generals. For years the logic in the intelligence community was that if foreign nations discovered what cryptologists did, that information might somehow jeopardize the nation's security. "The need to protect our national intelligence is still extremely important," said Patrick Weadon, National Security Agency public affairs officer. But, at the end of the Cold War, intelligence officials began to realize that it might be appropriate to release some cryptologic information from long ago, he added. "We have learned it is necessary for (the cryptologic profession) to be a little more open if we are going to have backing, recognition and support from the American public," said Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. John J. Morrison, chairman of the board and president of the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation at a ceremony held earlier this year at the museum to honor some of the country's top pioneer cryptologists. One of the main ways the intelligence community informs the public about its successes and failures is through the National Cryptologic Museum on Colony 7 Road. It is located on the NSA complex, just off Route 32 and adjacent to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Gathering artifacts that are now in the museum started long before the intelligence community dreamed of releasing information to the public.
At the end of World War II the country made a concerted effort to collect cryptologic equipment from around the world. The intent was to provide a base of study for engineers for the Armed Forces Security Agency (NSA's forerunner) to develop more advanced cryptologic machinery.
For years NSA had small exhibits around its campus. Plans were made to provide a museum for NSA employees only but no space was available, according to Dr. Dave Hatch, chief of the Center for Cryptologic History.
In 1992, NSA acquired Colony 7, which had been a motel. Then NSA/Central Security Service Director Navy Adm. William O. Studeman, who had loaned historical cryptological items to the Smithsonian Institution, was willing to open a cryptological museum to the public even though the idea was not universally accepted, according to Hatch. The main gallery began operation in July 1993 for NSA employees only. "No one had run an open museum before," stated Hatch. "We got six months' experience before we opened to the public." As time went on, the former motel's conference rooms were converted into museum space, although one conference room remains. The museum has a staff of four: a curator, assistant curator, librarian and someone who maintains the equipment. Volunteers, retired NSA employees, conduct tours. In addition, the museum has state-of-the-art recorded tours. As far as Hatch knows, the museum is unique in the American intelligence community and perhaps in the worldwide intelligence field as well.
Those contributions are considerable.
"The museum reminds people that cryptology saves lives and prevents wars," said Weadon.
The museum's most popular exhibit, the display of German Enigmas, demonstrates Weadon's point. The Nazis used Enigmas to code their World War II plans. The machines were so complicated that one mathematician figured the possible permutations per letter on the machines was two to the 383th power, according to Hatch.
With the odds of keeping their codes from getting into enemy hands astronomically in the Germans' favor, the Nazis believed no one would break the code.
But the Allies did and repeatedly used information from the enemy to their advantage. Consequently, Germans lost men and material while the lives of Allies were saved.
Another popular display, the Native American Code Talkers, reveals the important role that Native Americans played in communicating information to the battlefields during World War II. A code talker would use his native language, which no one outside his tribe, knew. "(Native Americans) never made a mistake as far as we know," said Hatch.
"Whenever they were used they kept voice communication in the field absolutely secure." Intelligence contributions weren't limited to giving Americans an edge during times of war - it probably prevented armed conflicts as well. The U.S. Reconnaissance Program after World War II is one example. "The United States knew very little about the Soviet military. We knew it was big and whipped Hitler and didn't like us. This ignorance could have led to war by miscalculation," said Hatch. "The Reconnaissance Program helped us understand the structure and position of the Soviet military. It probably helped us make wise decisions that kept us out of war." Vigilance Park, an outdoor extension of the museum, opened three years ago to honor those who died in reconnaissance missions. Its centerpiece is a C-130 aircraft, which was refurbished to resemble the unarmed Air Force Recce C-130 that was shot down by Soviet MiG-17 fighters over Soviet Armenia on Sept. 2, 1958. The 17 crew members aboard were killed. Inside the museum a display shows crew memorabilia including a Class A uniform left in the locker of Master Sgt. George Petrochilos. The museum also houses the NSA/CSS Cryptological Memorial, a black granite wall 12 feet wide and eight feet high. The words "They Served in Silence" is etched into granite. Also carved in the polished stone are the names of the 152 military and civilian cryptologists who lost their lives in service to the United States since World War II ended.
Last year NSA began inducting giants in the cryptologic field into the museum's hall of honor. Eight were inducted last year and three more this spring. One of them was Agnes Meyer Driscoll, who broke Japanese navy manual codes and made progress in deciphering the Japanese fleet's operational code which the Navy exploited after Pearl Harbor was attacked.
She is one of many women who played a huge role in American intelligence.
Several of them are honored throughout the museum.
The Black Chamber exhibit details the life of Herbert O. Yardley, one of the most controversial figures in American cryptology. During the 1920s, he headed the highly secretive cryptology unit called MI-8 or "Black Chamber."
Though the MI-8 broke the diplomatic codes of several nations including Japan, the State Department closed the unit in 1929. Embittered by his dismissal, Yardley published "The American Black Chamber," which told the world about the inner workings of the MI-8. Releasing this information did not endear him to the Army. But Yardley's total contributions were so great he was among the first inducted into the museum's hall of honor.
Cryptology is not an invention of the 20th century. In the 1850s Albert Myer invented a method of communicating by using flags. The system, first used at the Battle of Manassas during the Civil War, communicated timely warnings from observing the enemy. The Myer flag system became the origin of the Army Signal Corps, and replicas of the flags emblazon the Signal Corps insignia to this day.
The star flag, another Myer creation, was awarded to Signal Corps officers who distinguished themselves in combat. The flag bore a star in the center. Names of the battle were printed on the points of the star. Only about 20 star flags still exist. The one exhibited in the museum is extremely rare because it lists battles on all five points of the star.
The museum also houses a rare book collection, texts that elaborate on the science of cryptography, and a cipher wheel, thought to be the oldest extant device of its type in the world. The cipher wheel probably used French language, the world's diplomatic language through World War I.
And the museum has sections on modern times including the Supercomputer Age. The museum houses part of a Cray Supercomputer used by NSA from 1983 to 1993. In 1983 it was the most powerful computer in the world.
Today, the intelligence community continues to declassify information. On Sept. 18 Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, director of NSA and chief of the CSS, officiated at the unveiling of a new exhibit highlighting the role cryptology played in several crucial events of the Korean conflict. The exhibit contains copies of recently declassified reports.
With nearly 40,000 people visiting the museum each year, details about the once top-secret cryptologic work that aided and prevented wars, can now take its rightful place in history.
Adding the cryptologic piece to the historical puzzle, doesn't diminish the accomplishments of service members who fought the battles, according to Hatch.
"Our troops could have fought just as hard and as bravely, but lost," he said. "Cryptology gave our commanders the edge again and again."
The museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays except holidays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. For more information, call (301) 688-5849.
I hope that every ASA vet reading this has been to Vern Greunke's ASA database and registered. Although Vern's database is "unofficial", it is the closest thing we have to a National ASA database. It currently has about 23,000 records in it and is the first place I send ASA vets seeking other ASA vets.
So, how did this huge database come to be? It all began with a shoe box full of letters.
Vern was sorting through his mother's belongings after the local woman went to live in a nursing home in 1995. In the process, he found the shoe box. Inside were all the letters he?d written from Vietnam to his parents in Nebraska. The Cedar Bluffs man didn't know the letters would start him on a computer search for his fellow veterans and lead to a reunion. But the letters brought a wave of nostalgia.
Vern was 21 when he went to Vietnam in 1966. He served with the 330th RRC and 372nd RRC on a PRD-1 Team. His letters home were filled with stories about buddies and daily experiences.
After finding the letters Vern knew he wanted to locate his friends. He began his search by purchasing a CD ROM (drive) for his computer and a CD that contained 70 million telephone numbers. He started inserting his buddies? names and last-known hometowns into the computer. Before long, the computer was providing some much-needed information. Vern kept contacting his old ASA friends and the men eventually decided to meet during a Vietnam veterans reunion in Indianapolis.The 330th (Radio Research Company - ASA) of which they were a part was "piggy-backing" its reunion onto that statewide event. Only four of the nine men attended. But after 28 years, their reunion was a happy one.
Having met with success for the 330th RRC, Vern expanded his efforts to include a registration page on the internet for any ASA vet and used their input to create the ASA database.
During the early years of Vern's efforts he met several ASA vets over the internet. Vern, and these other ASA vets, are some of the earliest ASA pioneers into the use of the internet for providing information about ASA. Mark Scott of "ASA Vets USA" (the grand daddy of ASA of the web); Mike "Maddog" Doran who went on to create "ASA Online", and Rocky Chilson who founded the National ASA Association.
How much work is this one-man show that benefits us all? Vern says he can easily spend one to two hours a night updating the database. He uploads the updated version a few times a month onto his website at http://www.5starpicks.com/asalives/search.html . Once in awhile he even receives a thank you letter from someone who has found an old friend by using the database.
If you haven't registered in or used the ASA database then I highly encourage you to do so. If you meet with success, please remember to send Vern a quick thank you. It's efforts like his that keep ASA alive in our hearts, minds and on the world wide web.