• REF ID:A67222 

r.:;-:a, "':..) -: ! I :I ,..1) 

~I, ,I" I 

"' -\._;: ! .. .11...l J 

DRAFT 

5 Jul 51 

?..,1""a"'' .. Minutes of First Meeting of Ad Hoc Committee on ill••• Cormnunication Securitz 

3 Juq 1951 

PRES EMT 

Mr. 11illiam F. FRIEDMAN, AFSA, Chairman 

Colonel Gordon E. DA\\SON, USA, m 

Lt. Colonel Fred COU..INS, USA, m 

Mr. Winston SCO'TT, CIA 

Mr. FRIEDMAN opened the meeting by reading a .memorandum f'orm Admiral 

STONE dated 2 JuJT 1951 concerning the appointment by USCm at its Sixtyfifth Meeting ot an ad hoc cOlllJlittee, composed of the members of the 

U.S. delegation to the U.S./U.K. Conference on French Securit;r, to keep 

developments pertaining to French Communication Securit7 under continuous 

review and to advise USCIB of the appropriate time tor taking further 

action in the premises. In view of the impending detachment from AFSA or 

Admiral STONE, and the tempor8.1'7 absence of Colonel COLLINS of .AFSA, 

Mr. William F. FRD!DMAN had been appointed by' Admiral STONE to act as 

chairman of this ad hoc committee until further notice. (The Camnittee•s 

members formerly were: Admiral STONE, USN, CHAIRICAH; Colonel S.P. 

COU..ms, USA, .AFSA; Colonel Gord.en E. DAt'ifJON, USA, ID; lfr. Winston SCOTT, 

CIA; Mr. William F. FRIEDYAN, AFSA; and Mr. R.F. PACKARD, Department of 

state.) 

Mr. FRIEDMAN stated that as Acting CHAIRMAN he had called the present 

meeting to consider the securit;r aspects or Portuguese conmunications and 

to prepare an evaluation of Portuguese communication securit7 to be submitted. by Admiral STONE to USCIB at that Board's next. regular meeting 

Frida;r, 13 JuJT. As background for the meeting Mr. FRIEDMAN then read 

Jeclassified and approved for 

elease by NSA on 11-20-2014 

Jursuantto E .0. 13526 
- • REF ID:A67222 

TOP M'.eftE! 

the draft minutes of Item 2 of the Sixty-fifth Ueeting (U.S./French and 

U.K./French COMINT Relations) and noted the decisions made by USCIB: 

* * * 

n 1. To defer consideration until the next. meeting of a report b,r CIA on 

M. Boursicot•s visit. 

2. That the U.S. delegation to the U.S./U.K. Conference on French 

Security would study acd evaluate Portuguese communication security am 

that the Coordinator would report thereon to the Board. 

3. That when disclosing certain types of particular]Jr sensitive inf'ormation to NATO countries whose methods of trananission are known to be insecure, 

there should be a stipulation made in advance that such information mq not OGA 

be :p1.ssed on b,r 8!\V' electrical conmunication means, but if essential to pass 

on, a secure courier J1D1st be used.tr 

* * * 
' • REF ID:A67222 • - ;••(;,'I -:1 ,-, ~':J·~r-'\, 

mil&~ ,~.r11JL_ ,, .. , .I I 

~ ~~ I~ r'![11,1 • - .!-, t::.:: .. -..... 1 .... _~ -

Mr. FRIEDMAN indicated that he had asked AFSA-02 for a report on 

Portuguese security similar to that which had. been made by that office on 

French security and that this report would. be available by Monday morning, 

9 Jucy, in order that the committee might stud7 it in preparation for its 

report to AdJniral STONE. 

Vlith regard to the French comrm1njcation security situation, Colonel 

COLLDlS stated that al.though the final report on this question had gone 

from USCIB to the National Security Council (NSC), it had not ;yet been 

put on the agenda and, insofar as he knew, General MARSHALL had not yet 

been briefed on this matter b;y General BOLLDD. Colonel DAWSON indicated 

:::lGA 

\\\ 

\\\ 
• REF ID:A67222 

that if the paper is approved by the NSC, he thought the next step should 

be to go forward with an approach not to M. PARODI, as recommen:ied in the 

paper, but to M. Fr~ois le DUC, who was the head of the French delegation of the Tripartite Security Working Group, is a member of the French 

Foreign Office on loan to the French Department of Defense, and is known 

to be a very good security man. In reJ>l.7 to the statement by the CHAIRMAN 

that any change in approach would be subject to agreement by the British, 

Colonel DAWSON said he felt certain Sir Robert MAC.KENZm of the British 

Foreign Office would agree with his suggestion, as would also Mr. John 

ELLIOTT of' the Department of State. Colonel DAWSON also indicated that 

M. GROUSSET who is in charge of the Cipher Department of the French 

Foreign Ministry and who acts as its security officer had expressed in 

recent conversations with Sir Robert MACKENZIE his desire to go further 

into discussions of French cryptographic security but that authorization 

would first have to be obtained. Colonel DAWSON indicated that 

M. GROUSSET who is elderly and not an expert in technical Cl"'1PtographJr 

should be replaced by a man more technically competent, am that that 

would be a first step in increasing French security. The CHAIRMAN 

remarked that perhaps M. GROUSSET could be persuaded to take on a capable 

assistant and that this would e~ change the ceyptographic picture. 

He stated that recent inquiries in AFSA-02 had shown that the French have 

not changed their system or practices and that the same insecurities 

remain. Colonel DA,'ilSON remarked that 8:cfT improvement would take approximate]¥ one year, since changes in the cryptographic systems of the 
.... • REF ID:A67222 

~ "J ....... ~ ~ ~. I (r"' 

\. "' 

I 

I 

"" I ( 

'-

\ ,... I 

I 

,. "' 

I 

• I ·u· ... ., -):'\1·~ r ~ I I 

, I.-':! ~-' • - -.11 L..::: ~ 

separate bureaus would take at least six months to effect. He noted 

that the committee on internal security which had been set up after the 

cessation of hostilities in 1945 had died and been revived onq in 

Februa17 1951 when it had been reconstituted. Ullder a man tram the Council 

of State. 

To Jtio. FRIEDMAN's inquiry as to the status ot the report of the 

Tripartite Security Working Group, Col. DAWSON replied that it was ready 

for General BRADLEY and that his supplemental report was al.so rea.dy', 

peming Air Force approval.. The .Arm:Jr, Navy, and CIA had already' approved 

it; he was not sure about the approval of the FBI. He stated that 

General MARSHALL had read the report, and that Mr. John ELtIOT of the 

State Department would brief Ml". ACHESON, Secretary ot State. 

With regard to the uscm proposal that information ot high security 

value should go by courier, Mr. SCOTT said that General SMITH was anxious 

that everything should go by courier and that it seemed reasonable to .make 

such a request in view or the precedent which had been set with regard to 

ME:l'RIC and COSMIC traffic. Colonel DAWSON also pointed out that this was 

more important now than previoual;y, since at the pre.sent time NATO was 

beyond the pluming an:l organizational stage and that much material was 

now ope!l'ational.. He expressed. the opinion that time was not an obstacle, 

since courier service to and .traa. Paris was now on a 5-day a week basis, 

and that it was therefore not too great a burden to send all traffic by 

courier. Colonel DAWSON stated that the previous report on this matter 

in regard to canac traffic (DC 2/7) advised courier pouch tor all except 
• 

- • REF ID:A67222 • EO 3 . 3 ( h) ( 2 ) 

PL 86-36/50 USC 3605 

most urgent matters and Typex lllrk II for messages necessarily requiring 

electrical transmission. 

Colonel COLLms raised the.question whether the ad. hoc camnittee 

should inform USCIB that French internal and personnel securit:r had now 

reached a point ot improvement where implementation to the proposals 

might be given. Colonel DAWSON pointed out that al.though there had been 

:iJDprovement, it was a question whether there had been sufficient improvement. Ml-. SCOTT also remarked that there were indications that the 

President of the U.S. was not favorab]¥ impressed with the proposal to 

and that it was possible ...__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~---' 

that the paper would not be approved. Mr. FRD!DUAN read to the committee 

the letter tram General SMITH to NSC forwarding the report. Thie letter 

stated that the results of the Tripartite General Security discussions 

were to be considered by USCIB and I.SIB before any- implementing action is 

undertaken, a matter which had not :ret come before these two bodies. 

6 

! I!._ ...::;.1, "I 

OGA 
• REF ID:A67222 • 

- ~~:@~~~·D; ~ '-' 'i~;--~, _. - ............. - I .dJ I I P\f ., t '"""~I -- \,I 11 

possible damage to U.S. security from Portuguese insecurity am asked 

Colonel DAWSON to prepare a brief on this topic from intormation available to I.D.,, GSUSA. Mr. FRIEDMAN said that he would also ask Mr. 

PACKARD of State Department to prepare a paper on this subject based 

on information available to that Department. I 

The meeting adjourned,, to meet again on Mond.81', 9 July' at 14.30 

hours. 

I\ 

·~ 

OGA