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WAR DJ:PARTMENT 

Office of The Chief Signal Officer 

Washington 

October 20, 1930 

Civilian Personnel 

Signal Corps Civilian Per~onnel Board (THROUGn Executive 

Officer, Office of Chief Signal Officer). 

1. Reference is made to a letter dated October 7, 1930, 

from the Chief Signal Officer, subject as above~ The data 

called for under the above-mentioned 1etter are applicable to 

the civilian personnel of the Signal Intelligence Section of this 

division, since the employees of this section are carried on the 

rolls as field employees of th~ Signal Service at Large. 

2. The soecific recommendations set forth below under 

subparagraphs (a), (b), and (c) are submitted for the consideration 

of the Board. Accompanying the recommendations of subparagraph 

(a) are completed questionnaiFes drawn up in accordance with the 

instructions contained in War Department memorandum of February 

18, 1926, addressed to Chiefs oi' Bureaus having field services. 

(a) Increases or decreases in compensd. tion. 

Specific Recomm.endatlons for Increases as below: 

Name 

William F'. Friedman 

Frank B. Rowlett 

Solomon Kullback 

Abraham Sinkov 

John B. Hurt 

Lawrence Clark 

Annie Louise Newkirk 

Recommended Annual Pay 

~6000 

2200 

2200 

2200 

1920 

1740 

1740 

Increase 

$400 

200 

200 

200 

120 

120 

120 

{b) No new positions are considered essential at this time 

(c) No positions can be eliminated without manifest injury 

to the activities under my jur·isd.iction. 

3. The paragraphs which follow are in connection with the 

COPY 

@'pproved for Release by NSA on 05-21-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 
COE ... 

recommendations contained in subparae raph (a) above, especially 

as regards the new personnel of the Signal Intelligence Section. 

Although the information given may have no direct bearing upon 

the subject at hand, viz., recommendatjons for promotions, it 

is presented in order to afford the Board some background for 

special consideration of the factors involved in their casss. 

4. Until 1929, so far as code and cipher work is concerned, 

the Signal Corps was charged with the responsi oili ty f'or only the 

preparat·ion and revision of codes and ciphers for the use of the 

Army, and the production of cipher devic~s and machinery. Only a 

smell amount of reserch in the solution of codes and ciphers was 

involved. From 1921 to 1929, thes3 code compilation activities 

were conducted by a section consistins of two persons, viz., a 

cryptanalyst and a clerk. Under Change No. 1, Army Regul&tion 

105-5 1 (May 101 1929), responsibility for all work connected with 

codes and ciphers, including the solution of enemy co~~s and ciphers 

and the preparation and detection of secret inks, was transferred 

lrom the Military Intelligence Division, General Staff, to the 

Signal Corps. The Princip~l purpose of this transfer was to 

concentrate all work connected with codes and ciphers under one 

authority, so that a permanent, continuoulsy -0pera ti ve organiza tl on 

for cryptographic work could be established during peace time, 

which,· as a result of a proper organization and training, would. 

oe prepared for immediate and successful operation in war time. 

As a consequence of' this transfer the organization of a 81£,0B.l 

Intelligence Service was proposed, the headquarters section of 

which was to be maintained in the Office of the Chief Signal 

Officer as one section· of' the War Plans and Training :L1i vision. 

The interest that the Military Intelligence Division took in 

this proposal and the i:nportance with which 1 ts prompt accomplishment was regarded by them may be gauged "'oy the f.:,· ct that they provided fUnds f'or the operation of' the proposedService for tt1e 

remainder of the fiscal year 1929, viz., $6666.66, and for the 

whole fiscal year 1930, viz., $101 000. 

5. The first step in the organization of the Signal 

Intelligence Service was the transfJr of what has theretofore 

b'.3en the Code and Cipher Compilati;n Section, O.C.Sig.o., from 

the Research and Development Livision, O.C.Sig.o., to the war 

Plans and Training Division, O.C.Sig.0. 1 This involved only Mr. 

William F. Friedman and Mr. James J. Skelly; the latter was 

discharged soon thereafter, and his position abolished. The 

next step was to obtain additional personnel for the Signal 

Intelli@ence Service. This necessitated muchcareful study of 

organization, type of personnel required, the natura of the 

positions to be filled, restrictions of the Civil Serv:tce Act, 

etc. All of this had to be of the nature of p:i.oneer work in an 

uncharted fi3ld, for there existed no equivalent organizations 

of this :tind anywhere in the government service. Finally a 

COPY 
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carefully planned schedule of positions was drawn up to be used 

as a guide in 0 1;taining the personnel desired. This schedule, 

attached hereto as Exhibit A, was submitted to and approved 

by the Chief Signal o,·ficer. Funds made available by the Military 

Intelligence Division together with ::.unds already available in 

the O.C.Sig. o. were sufficient to permit of the immediate creation 

of six new positions, viz., three Jumior Cryptanalysts, one 

Cryptanalyst Aide, and two Assistant Crytographic Clerks. 

Authority to establishtbese new positions and to fill the vacancies 

was obta:i ned from t)'.l.e Secretary of War and the matter was then 

taken up with the Civil Service Commission. Aft9r many months 

of careful study of Civil Service rosters of various kinds, the 

individuals herein recommended for promotion were selected on 

account of their apparent character a~d latent ability. They were 

given to understand that this oi'fice is seeking to establish a 

permanent corps of trained experts in cryptography and t ha. t l9fil one 

who was not disposed to make this work his life work would be 

engaged. 

6. The latter factor deserves special consideration, 

Cryptographic work is a specialty among certain few restricted 

governmental ucti vi ties. 1Nork of this kind, part:tcul<=::.rly as 

regards solution a cti vi ties, is not condu ~ted in business and 

even in the government service the personnel engaged in 

cryptographic work is extremely limited. Counting the personnel 

in the S~gnal Intelligence Section,· there are in the entire 

government service not more than ten or possible a do~en persons 

employed for cryptographic and cryptanalytic stucies. The 

consequences of this peculiar situat:-'.on are obv:toua; the longer 

a person stays in so a restricted field, the more depenuent he 

becomes uron the particular position for which he has qualified 

and which he occupies. Should the post ticm be abolish~d, or funds 

for i ta continur.ince become unavailable, a 11 of ili s training and 

accomplishments in this work avail him nothine; in gaining a 

livelihood elsewher.e, because there is no r;emand for services of 

the kind he can perform and because his long years of work :tn 

this specialty ilbVe not fitted him for other kinds of work. Should 

no provision be made for promotion consistent with advancement 

in skill, ther·e is no opportunity to offer his services elsewhere 

to organizations where they might be more appreciated und b~tter 

rewarded. It is therefore evident that ~~ry pestricted activities 

of tnis kind impose amoral obligation of those who are responsible 

for their conduct, to see to it that the young p:;rsons they engage 

for these activities, who demonstrate aptitude for the diff'icu.lt 

work, earnestness and sincerity of purposes, ~nd loyalty, should 

be warranted in adopting a feeling of security of tenure of position 

ani of certainty of substantial recognition of a. ccomplishment on 

a par with that which they might have obta~ .. ned in other i" ields of 

endeavor where these factors are the bi:,sisfor advancement • 

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7. It is believed that due consideration of the necessity 

for long continued training in this type of work, the unusual 

combination of high grade intelligence and undoubted ch1::.racter 

required1 places this group of employees in a considerably different category than those normally employed by the Sig:nal Corps. 

This is apparent whcm 1 t is realized tba t practically all other 

classes of employees may be obtained from the open market, whereas 

it is essential that the Signal Corps cevote several years and 

much money to the training of specially selected individt~als in 

order to produce qualified cryptographic personnel. This is 

especially true of those filling the cryptanalyst positions, for 

they have already devoted many years to professional studies and 

training and nmst yet undergo special instructi.on of several years 

durat 1-on in cryptographic studies. It is therefore my opinion 

that the new employees would be justified in assuming that the 

Signal Corps is not ~1ving up to its obligations, if an initial 

increase is not provided in the near future. Fu?1thermore 1 1 t 

vould be only logical for them to feel that future recognition 

of their services would likewise be quite problematical and 

possibly without results so far as financial advancement is concerned. Since age was an important factor in the selection of 

these individuals, even after a year• or two of training, al 1 of 

tbBm would still be young enough to profit by a change to some 

other activity wherein the prospects of advancement mieht be 

considerably grebter and therefore there would soon come the 

desire to separate themselves from the Signal Corps, with a 

consequent loss to the service of all the time and money expended 

in their training. 

a. The training of' the newly acquired personnel is progressing 

rapidly and time will shortly arrive when steps must be t a ken to 

furnish strategic corps areas and departments with Signal Intelligence 

Sections to be composed of two Junio Cryptanalysts and one Cryptographic Clerk. This will require the taking in of an equivalent 

number of additional employees under the same classifications until 

such time as the above-mentioned corps areas and departments have 

been completely supplied. In this connectton it may be pointed 

out that duty in the Signal Intelligence Service will impose the 

same type of personal restrictions ae are imposed upon military 

personnel 1 in that they will be expected to perform the duty at 

stations not subject to their own selections. 

9. The foregoing £acts are believed to explain the necessity 

for regular increases in their pay, reasonable in amount and 

consistent with their progress and length of service, and to the 

end that no dissatisfaction may be engendered through the failure 

of the Signal Corps to look properly to their interests. 

10. If consistent with the rules of procedure of the Board, 

it is desired that I be given an opportunity to a 1 pear before the 

Board, in person, with the vi,3w to indicating more clearly the 

peculiar cone.ii ticns invlmved in the development and operations of 

the Signal Intelligence Service. 

~UPY 
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Attached: 

7 Completed Questionnaires, 

Copy of memo to F'iscal Di vision, 

Exhibit A - Schedule of positions 

~OPY 

D. M. Crawford, 

Major, Signal Corps. 

in the Signal Intelligence Service. 

~OPY 
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(11 William F. Friedman 

(2) Signal Service at Large, Washi.ngton, D. c. 

(3) Principal Cryptanalyst 

{4) $5600 

(5) $gGOO 

(6) None 

(7) Mr. Friedman has demonstrated exceptional ability as a cryptanalyst, not 

only in executing the technical details of the work imrolved, but also 

in administration, research an! instruction along these lines,. He is, 

without doubt, the leading authority on cod.es and ciphers in this country. 

He is often consulted by other governmental agencies and rerrlers valuable 

assistance to them in the solution of their problems connected with secret 

communication in general. In 1929 responsibility for the solution of 

ene1DY cod.es ani ciphers and the preparation and detection of secret inks 

was transferred from the Military Intelligence Division, General Staff, 

to the Signal Corps. Until this time, the Signal Corps has responsibility 

only for the compilation of codes and ciphers for the use of the Anny, ani 

for intercept and radio goniometric work in war time. Mr. Friedman has 

been in charge of these activities since 1921. The newly transf'erred 

responsibilities connected with solution of enemy codes and ciphers, and 

the preparation and detection of secret inks necessitated the organization 

of a new service termed the Signal Intelligence Service of the Signal 

Corps. Mr. Friedman was placed in charge of the Signal Intelligance 

Section of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, umer the Officer in 

Charge of the War Plans and Training Division. Mr. Friedman has been 

largely responsible for organizing the work of the new section, has prepared both residence and correspondence courses of instruction for 

cryptanalysts, and, in addition, has conducted all the regular work o:f · the section in compilation and solution of codes and ciphers. He has 

demonstrated his fitness to carry the additional large responsibilities 

entailed by the transfer of code aid cipher activities of the Military 

Intelligence Division as noted above. Since his original appointment in 

1921, earring compensation at the rate of $4800 per year, the two increases in compensation he has received were the result of automatic 

adjustments in salary scales occasioned by the Reclassification Act of 

1924 (.from $4800 to $5200) am the Welch Bill of 1928 (.from $5200 to 

&5600). When the solution activities now umer Mr. Friedman •ere conducted by the Military Intelligence Division, the salary of the Chief 

of the Code Section thereUDier was $7500 per year. 

tS) To a large extent on his own responsibility. 

(9) Supervises work o.f following: 

3 Junior Cryptanalysts 

1 Cryptanalyst Aide 

2 Assistant Cryptographic Clerks 

• $2000 

1800 

1620 
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(10) Efficiency rating (May 15, 1930): 95, lineal numbe~ in salary range: 1 

(11) Cryptanalytic activities are not conducted outside the govermnent serv-ice; Mr. Friedman is the only Principal Cryptanalyst in government 

service. His position is classified as P-6 in 11Preliminary Class 

Specii'ications of Positions in the Field Service, 193011 {page 177). 

(12) Erom December 31, 1921 to date. 

(13) Same as uzner (12) 

114) La.st promotion; automatic, UDier Welch Act, May 28, 1928, from $5200 to 

$5600. 

{15) Mr. Friedman graduated with the degree of B.S. from Cornell University 

in 1914 am continued thereat for two years as an instructor in the 

University and student in the Graduate School doing work for doctrate 

degree. In 1916 he joined the staff of the Riverbank Laboratories at 

Geneva, Illinois, becoming Director of the Genetics Department thereat. 

At this time he be.c:ame interested in cryptography as an avocation and 

found such special aptitude for the work that the Director of the Laboratories, in view of the probable entrance of the United States in the 

World War, organized a Cipher Department, placing Mr. Friedman in charge, 

in addition to his other duties. From January "1917 to June 1918 he was 

director of hhis department of the above-mentioned Laboratories, which, 

as a war-time establtshment operated for the benefit of the government 

during the war. From June 191S to April 1919 he was First Lieutenant, 

M.I.D., U.S.A., in charge of code work in the G-2 section of GHQ-AEF. 

From April 1919 to December 1920 he was again director of the cipher 

department Riverbank Laboratories. From January 1920 to December 31, 

1920 he was engaged as consultant in code work for the Off'ice of the 

Clj.iei' Signal Officer, Washington, on a contractual basis. He entered 

the Civil Serviee on December 31, 1921 unier the provisions of Section 

10 of Rule II of the Civil Service Act. His practical experience in · the cryptographic field within the pa.st fifteen years has been more extensive than that of any other person in this country, am it may be 

said that his experience, ability, and success, in this type of work 

make him preeminently the leading authority on codes and ciphers in this 

country. As such he \lfas collllllissioned in 192S to prepare the article on 

this subject for the New Encyelopaedia Britannica. 

(16) With reference to this item, see copy of Memo dated January 4, 1930 to 

Major Coles, Fiscal Division, O.C.Sig.O. I understood that Research & 

Development Division would make provision for this increase to be included in estimates for FY 1932, since Mr. Friedman was then under the 

supervision of the Research & Development Division. 
SIGCP-2 {28 Aug 51) lat Im 

SUBJECT; Request for Job Descriptions 

Department of the Army, OCSigO, Washing~n 25, D. c., l4 September 1951 

TOs Department of Defense, Armed Forces Security Agency, Washington 25, l_). c. 

1. In response to request in basic communication regarding job descriptions for William F. Friedman for the years 1921 and 19.30,. it is believed that 

all personnel records for Mr. Friedman, a Signal Service at Large {field) 

employee, were forwarded to the Arrrry Security Agency in conjunction with the 

transfer or Mr. Friedman. However, a search has been made of records and 

regulations and the inclosed copy of correspondence and answers to a 

questionnaire,. dated October .301 19.30 relating to the position of William F • 

Friedman were found in Signal. Security Agency files maintained by oCsigO. 

As evinced by these data a questionnaire system was used when submitting 

recommendations for promotion or SSL employees during the 1926 - 19.30 period. 

2. In all probability, there would be no job sheet for Mr. Friedman f'or 

the year 1921. It would appear that prior to the establishment of the 

Classification Act of 192.3, official job sheets were not required for civil~ 

employees. According to record.a of other field employees in 1921 recommendations for promotion of SSL employees, including very brief synopses of duties, 

were forwarded in letter form to the Office, Secretary of the Army. If the 

latter type of record for Mr. Friedman during the 1921 period is in existence 1 

it should be in his 201 file at the Amy Security Agency • 

.3. The J;Ulcords Administrator, OCSig01 has suggested that your office 

might request the National Archives for any available data on Mr. Friedman 

under reference codes .319.1, Payroll and 248.8, Increase end Reduction in 

Salaries, as those codes were used in correspondence on SSL promotion matters 

in 1921. 

4. If data and references suggested are not satisfactory to complete your 

requirements, this office will be glad to check for possibility of other 

reference codes~ 

.FOR 1HE ClllEF SIGNAL OFFICER.a 

2 Incls 

l. Cy of Ltr, dtd 20 Oct 30 

2. Answer to Ques. (in dup} 

2 

~·J·~ 

G. J. BRISLIN 

Asst Chief, Class & Wage Ad.min Section 

Civilian Personnel Branch 

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