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MRR-13-2000 INSCDMFT EELUOIR UR 6561179 P.002/004 14:41 

REF 'ID:A4046229 

Retirement Regue~ted By Rhoads . . . ~ .· 

By Captaip Mary Q. Lane, WAC 

Recent photograph of:Mr. Rhoads 

(lert) 'With Mr'. W". F. Fried.nian 

'W'ard hae been reoe1ved that Mr-:. Me;fk 

Rhoad.a, vell-1rnovn for many yaAra. tn the 

017Ptologio field,ie requesting retireme~t 

from civil service for reaeona of health. 

Mr. Rhoads' many t'riend.s v'ill recai ve v1th 

regret thia news and v1ll recall 'With 'P~ 

sure his long aaeociation v1tli the ~Y 

Security Agency and 1te predece~sora. · 

Mr. Rhoade' aaeociat1on vith the ei8D41 

intelligence service besan in the early 

thirties, vhen, as a F1rat' Lieutenant in 

the Regular Army, he vaa the first: etudeqt 

offloer to be assigned to: the newly authorized Signal Intelligenc~ School eeta~-

11ehed in We."shington uoder the .· directi~n 

of the Chief Signa.l Officer. Fram the ti~e 

of hie assignment to the aohool,Mr. Rhoo.c"ia 

continued, vith the excerption of sev~n 

years of enforced retiremeotJ t:O be aseciciated a.a off1oer and o1v1lian vith the 

f1eld Of CTyptoi~y I Bbaril?S in the Army 1;8 

development of 1te eigcal 1ntall1gentje 

a.ot1v1t1ea, witnessing the grovtb.of the 

present far-flung organization, and coritribut1ng to its achievements. 

Immediately -preceditJg hie recent 1llneeei, 

a recurrence of' the lJu.lmo'Oary affUot1oh 

whloh had -prevlowil:y 1ntetru:pted hie ArriiJ 

career, Mr-. Rhoads we.a Aaeistant ·to th~ 

Chief of the Training D1v1aion, Armed For:-

oee Security Agency. He now plane to make 

hie homB at Arvada., Colora4o. · 

·•· AcadetllY Graduate and U.S. Anrry Of'f1cer 

: .Mr. Rhea.de wae born 1n Edse Hill, PeDDaylvania, on September 9, 1897. In 1916, 

~ter gradua.t1ng from Cheltenham ll4;h 

Scihool, ·Elkins Park, Pa., he entered the 

United Sta.tee Military Academy at 'W'eet 

Point a.e cadet. In 1918 be vae graduated. 

~om the •Academy vith degr-ee of B.S. and 

wEui caJmi1as1oned 1n the Regular Army ae 

Second Lieutenant of Cavalry. 

. As an officer in the U. S. A:erriy, Lt 

:Rb.cads later waa graduated ( 1923) · from the 

U~ S. A:rmy S1gna.l School's Communlcatione 

officers' Class ti.t Fort Monmouth, Nev 

Jersey, and fr0IJ1 1923 to 1924 attended e. 

poet-graduate course 1n cammunicatioDB 

e~1neer1rig at. Yale University. 

Following these coursea,Lt Bhoada served 

ap Bignal Of'f1Cer 'W1th the 2d Cavalry from 

1924 to l925; from 1925 to 1927 ae B~l 

officer at Fort Bliss, Texaa; following 

hie transfer to the Sigwil Corpe in 1927, 

he served from 1928 to 1931 as the Regular 

Army Signal inatructor in Indiaoa and Kent~cky. In 1931 he was assigned aa the 

fi.ret student of'f1c"r to take tlus ffll8C1Al 

couree fo cryptogr~:phy and crntanalye1a 

vhich had been initiated in the Oftice of 

t~e Chie'f Signal Off1cer,llaeh1ngton, D.C., 

that year under the ~1rect1on of Mr. Vill- iam Friedman, than Chief of the Sigcal 

I~tellisence Service. Thie oouree, which wae deeisned to provide the army v1th a 

r~ee~e of officers tra1D.6d 1n e1goal 1nteill1sance operations wae to prove 1te 

'V&lu.e many timee over 1n the later dit'f1-

c~lt var yea.re. Amoog 1te diet1ngu.1sbed 

ee.rly graduates may be Ill8nt1oned the sec--

orid. student of'f 1cer to be assigned to the 

course, F1ret Lieutenant 'W'. Preeton Corde~, !Ater Br:!Badier ~neral and cn1ef, 

Arniy Security Agency, from 1943 to 194.6. 

Folloving hie ~eriod of training in the 

ecihool, Lt Rboad.s waa "Placed in co111ZD11nd of 

the: Provia1onal Radio Inte lligenoe Detaoh1116llt, 5lst Signal Battalion, at Fort Moom0j.ith. Ib 1935, under tho command of Lt 

Rh~de, th1e detachment vao sent to the 

Ph111ppiriee, vhere it was to eet u~ an intarcept etation nt Fort Hughes on Caballo 

ft ASA Ravicw 

@'pp roved for Release by NSA on 05-13 2014 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 

~. 

~~) 
JNSCOMFT EELUOIR UR 

REF ID:A4046229 · ~lRR-1::::-2080 14: 42 6561179 

- ---

~~rl (Ip - - ' _;rl '('• 

' 

Island. Un.:fortunately the work of ~he de- ,,.. 

tClcbmont wa.a serioua ly hBII1I1ered -~y the 

transfer of highly-skilled o~erators to 

other organizations ~artly because ,of the · 

failure to a~~rec1ete the miaaion of the 

detachment. A lao, the contract11on by 

Captain :Rhoads of pul!DOnary tuber~uloeis 

three months after his arrival 1o the 

Philippines brought the work of t~e detachment to an untimely end. Ca:ptain 

Rhoo.da 'Jaa returned to the United Sta.tea 

and hoaFitalized in Fitzsimmons ~neral 

Hospital in Denver, ~here, after ap illness of wo y8a.rs, he wa.a retired: from 

active military service in J.nrch 1939 for 

physical disability. 

later Served as Civilian 

Soon after Pearl Harbor Mr. Rhoads attempted to return to active military duty 

but ~a.a re~eatedly rejected by the Army 

medical authorities because of his -paot illness. Undaunted by these refue~lo, Mr. 

Rhoads secured a civil service appointment 

~ith the Signal Security Agency, and ut 

considerable personnel sacrifice cume to 

~ashington io 1943 as assistant to his 

£ormer teacher !!.Ild f'riend o~ long-Bta.nding, 

Mt-. William F. Friedman, 'IJho 'Jaa then 

Director of Communications Research in 

the Signal Security Agency. Mr. Rhoo.do' 

,.er-time service va.a marked by a. comoinntion of honesty wid k1ndlln8es, of selfe:f1'acement and devotion to duty. On 3 1-By 

1946 Mr. Rhoads was presented by Brig. 

Genoral P.E. Peabody with the Commendation 

for Exceptional C1 v1l1an Service '':for 

patriotic devotion above and beyond the 

call of duty, for eice~tionally meritorious service to hie country in time of ~ur; 

(ContiDued on p~e 61) 

Mr. Rh01:1ds ( stunding e:rtrmne left) 111 th a.aaoc1a.toa in 1944. Tho others otand1ng, loft 

to right: Lt Col Solomon Kullback:, Mr. John Hurt (no"' retirod), Captain Ed'\-/ard J · Vogel (nov rotired), Major Frank B .. Rovlott, nnd Lt Col Abrn.hllm Sinkov. Sentod: Lt Col 

A. J. McGr111l (nCN dacensod), Col W. P. Cordo:nnan, and Mt-. Fr1odman. M1l1ta.ry ?mi:: nn 

o:f 1944. 

January-February 1952 
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. MRR-13-2000 14: 42 INSCOMFT EELVOIR VR 

REF ID:A4046229 

6561179 P.004/004 

-, .. -· -~· 

I) 

10. 11. INDIGENT. 12...' RHED-,..,._ ---------~ .-) 

'J 

SPORADIC. 

STAT. 

erat1ng in tb1a I!_.E!:t---te good a:rperienco, 

ev-en tho~ a little out of the Non-

·' ~Jitvl:1ne or vork. 

-=-------·------

i 

POZZLE PUNCTUATION 

Smith, where Jones had bad ''Ila~ ba.d1 " 

bad bad. "bad. " "&.d had 1 " ba;d· had ~he e:i:-

am.1nere' a1rproval. ' 

THE SALE-ON 8JIIBTS ,, 

,\.' 

.if~.. The ~oblem is to factor 60377 ~ The '. 

:";}_' statement hints tba.t one factor i~ lase ; 

>~i; · than 200. The factora prove to be ~73 and \ i.:, 349, both '{lrime. Coneequ6ntly 1 thi;rt"e must · 

~_.. have ba6n 349 ah1.rle at $1. 73 ea.ch,.: J 

I: DIGIT RESTORATION 

·'l,{$.-' 

··r~· 

{'4;-

'~',:-1~ 

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:• 'f' ·r:"t ;'r;.. 

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123195 divided by 215 equals 573. 

TIME OUT OF JOINT, 

"Minute'' { p?"onounced 

"trifling, very small." 

"m1;.nyite"l means ,\ 

I 

' i ·1 

ASAPac Net (Cont'd f'r<fl.n pogo 8) ; 

frequency transmitter ~ca.ted in aineigbboring building appro1-1ma.tely 150 yarda 

away. The um' transm;Jitter 1e on ~he air 

constantly (nega.t1v:e· yed). The qarr1er 

ie p1cked up at the distant tranEJ!ll1tter 

site and keys that ransmitter only when 

broken by tbe key ng line being qloeed. 

The opera.tore t'his ne't 'Will no\ doubt { . 

recall t1mea our transmitter ' givea 

out \litb a acra.t y signal tba.t aourile like 

it might be 119 cba.rinel lo\ier Slobov1an 

Multiplex. Tbi is due to atat~c, or fading of the UBF carrier. When this ~ading 

occurs, the erator rushes to the ~hone, 

calle the c~ler room and tells them the 

trouble. I'i.~hey are unaucoeaat'ul 1~ atoppiD€ it,be en calla the transmitter site 

and tells em to shut tbe transmitter off , I ' the a.1r. /The transmitter w~ are ue~tl8 at 

preaeot ~ute out one thouaan~.wattb and 

vorka v~ry satisfactorily other tbp.n for 

the 1teirls mantionAd above. ' 

/ 

Procpdure used on this net 1a aupppeedly 

ta.ken, from JANAP 124, v1 th the exceJ;ition 

tba.t /J.O cleru- text may be used. The procedufe usually seems a bit puzzling ta new 

operators, but they catch on quickly[after 

a [ffii ZAA' a and ZBM?' a. (A ABK? 18; vorth 

a.Jtbut tvo veeka of ribbing f'rom' the~other ' I ) I O/lJ B • '. 

All 0"06ratore here agree that the O'fl-

·-~-~ .. - .. 

Rhoads(Cont'd from }le.go 23) 

for BUFerior 1ntell18ence t\Ild init1at1ve 1 

ertraordinary diligence and ability 1n 

executing many varied and difficult asa:l8PllltJnta ae Au1et8nt Director of' Co111mUD1cat1ooa Research from January 1944 to January 1946." 

With the establishment of the Armed 

Forces Security Agency in July 1949, Mr. 

Rhoads Joined that orsan1zat1on as Aeaisttant to the Chief, Technical Division, a 

~oe1t1on vh1ch he held first under Mr. 

Friedmm and then under Captain Thomae H. 

Dyer, U. S. Navy, until the time of hie 

retirement. There 1e little doubt that 

continuous attention to duty a.nd long 

hours of concentrated effort contributed 

to breaking down the physical resistance 

vhioh had been built up against a recurronc!'J of hie earlier illneaa. In June 

1951, u~on undergoing hie regular annua.l 

physical examination at F1tzs1mmons Hospital, it vas d1ecovored, to the regret of 

all who learned of the f1nd1z:l8B 1 that the 

illness of 1935 had returned and that Mr-. 

Rboada required hospitalization once more. 

Upon recovery in December 1951, the army 

medical authorities roconmended that Mr . Rhoads not return to any active duty whatever, 1n the hope that the resistance 

built up once more by long rest not be 

undel.'lllined again by a return to work eroept of the lishteat sort. 

Those who know him vell -- and. there a.re 

many who ~y call him friend -- lu!.ve found 

in Mi:-. Rhoada a man vboee nature ie marked 

by rare Wlderetand1ns, sympathy, and good j~ament. In addition to bia own faithful service to hie country aa officer and 

o1vilian, Mr • .Rhoads may loo~ v1th 'Pride 

upon his two eons, Captain Edwin Milton 

Rhoade, gradU11te of the U. S. M.111 tary 

Academy in 1943, and Lt M!u-k Charles 

Rhoode, Academy graduate of 1950, and upon 

hie da.ughtere,one of whom, Esther M!i.rcetta 

Rhoada Lutz, will be remembered by her 

formar aeaociatea in the Signal Security 

ABency where ehe wae employed during the 

Second World War. Mt-. Rhoads' vife, Esther 

Wolcott Buckman Rhoads, vho ha.a shared b1a 

career with quiet stre11f5th and sustaining 

oour~e J will be -particularly missed by ar 

many friends 1n the circle of officers' 

vivas and in the numeroua civic activities 

in which ehe took an active ~a.rt. 

61