~· 

... 

. ... ~ .... I 

Dil'ectol" ot ~gistics 

Ceneral Statt, U.. s. AT'lf1I' 

A'l1TI: Cb, Foreign !fil .Aid Br 

17 I'ES 1949 

:i,,. .. 

1. Informal advice indidatee that it is pre~ plamied to ship a 

small number ot the CoirrertG~ H~ ... t.o Tarkey to permit inat.ru.cU.on or . 'furJd.sh .military personnel in ~h4'i:;Para.tion ot this equipment. This Division 

believes that. the poliq under- wti:lch this equipneJlt. is made available to 

foreign nations through the voiou~ aid programs should be reexamined. 

'.. . 2. The Converter r.._,209 is a low echelon, non-regietered. cipher device 

used by th& U.S. ~below division level and 1# still a stardard item. ot 

iesue,. ~ t.be paam wa.r the Coderter 15-209 was issued to allied troops, inc1miing the Prench, Bruil.ians, and Umcana, ani, eince t.he war, bas been 

rurn:tshed in tobn ~tie• to ftrious Sc;u.tb an! Central .Amer!oan countriee 

through milita.17 aid programs.. .tn ~case a!.nce the 'Wal" haw au:tt1oient 

devices been issued ~ .foreign nation to auppq its tactical organisa.tions. 

From :lnf'orm.t.tou a'Y81lable .f:t. appeats that the equi)Jlent haa been used .for 

inst.1"11Ctioml. purpoaes at toreip c9'mmnicat.1dns schools • . 3. It is an accepted P"d.ncipl~.that. the proriaton o£ security equipi11ent 

mi procedures tar militarT COl¥1mlnlo•tiqne of arv country 18 a mat.ter Of 

concern to that country alone, exce~ duril2g wart:J.tne when requirements for 

inter-allied comunioa.tion U:J1 diota\e the i:ieed tor mod.U'ica.tion ot the 

principle, :ln which case special crnrtoqsteme are prov1ded.. l'articularq 1n 

peacetime, it is umiae to giw Wide AielMi!d.rJation to our aecuri:t:y procedures 

sitlce it pmnita a potential enemy tCi tJNpare hiJuelt to handle our wartime 

cammunioat:tona. Were security methqdl ataUo, possible harm would be miniJ!iisedJ hcwlfJYeJ", this :la not, the aaee •ince, aas t.he art develops. procedures 

:i.mpl'"ove and the j..deaa are irlco~~~d. in the tl'a!ning literature. It this 

literature is widely dissemtn~ted tO ~iendq rore1gn nations, then the 

chances ot a potent.ial enemy knowinit OU>!' lat.eat J!lOthoda are Yaatq improved. 

'ftle orJ4r defense against; thier ai tuation ia to Btl"!ctly limit the dissemination 

of such intorsnat.:lon. 

4.. It ahou.1d be pointed. out that ~tographic documents ueed below 

cU:vision leYel must be given a 1...., eDOlllh claeaitication to permit. their issue 

to and use by troops. st01'Q&e tacilitiea 1i'l tbe l.ovrer eohelcns w.Ul not 

permit. general iesu.e ot documen\a claaaitied h1gher than RES'l'R:tcTm. With 

respect to the U-209 1teelt, 1t 1a a C()PJ' ot a COlm'liercial equipa~ nhioh can 

be purchased f?iom a raanutacturillg oonceft'l :in SWwaderi,, and therefore does rJOt 

:requ!re clisa:lticat:ton. 

5.. The method ot operation ot the J.!-209 as used 1n t® U.S .. :Arqr is a 

purely u .. s. dEmtlopnent. !netruct1cns obtaine-d with the Swadiab dev.lco ee 

nowhere near as complete nor do tbf.l"provid.e u secure endphe~. 

6. The cost. ot the cor.m91'Cial device~ coqn.rable to the .U-209. Jl'l.&l'Ulfacturecl 1n sfted•n ia apprmdmateq t250.oo. 'lbe u .. s • .manutactured. approxi .... ma.tely 112,000 ot the devicee during the paet war with a lead time requirement ~ appraximawq one year. Upon completion or the contl'act the tools, diG!z 

and tixtures used in the .manutacture ot the equipaent wete de•troJed• Avauahle int01'1TBt1 .. cn :!ridicatee there ara aP,Pl'OXtmateq 32,000 H-209's 1n Z/I 

depot stock. '!be T/E ot an il'lf'ant%7 divieton calls tor the 1-ue ot 117 ot 

the dev.lce .. 

?. It is appmient .tram the above that pre•nt atock quantities of.the Converter would permit no lal"p :lsauea ot tl'da equipn.ent to foreign nations and at.lll 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 06-17-2014 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 

22 

~· ' . 

SECRET 

AmltllTO 

EHCtoSURI n:su 
... . • 

retain an adequate Wat' N8411"W tor iour «m farces. Due to the high commercial price per unit it 18 1m111cel1" that arw tore:lgn mt.ion wc;uld find it 

econm1cally feasible to outtit itf:s ~ torees frOll the SWed18h source. I 

6. We adftntage can be seen in tl'aining foreign. communications 

specialists in the uee ot em equipn.etlt. U thq will not have the equipnent 

available during their norral dutJ', part1cular17 ad.nae u.s. aommmtcation. 

security is jeopardised and the se~ty of conmnioat.!ons ot the toretsn 

nation 11 not. improved., 

9. In view ot the abcJVe., th!G t>S:r1*1ca recomn.ealsc 

a.. '!bat the Connirtera norr on requiait.ion by the .Amarican J.fiaaion 

tor Aid to TUrkq not be uaued. 

b. '!'hat, without prior approval ot this DiYision, no further issue 

ot tho Converter Jl-209 or associated instructional documonta be made to 

f'oreign nationa ar to militU"T llisaiona tor f.nstruotion ot foreign military 

peno.nnel. 

lm!ORA'NDm! FOR RECOIU>t 

/e/ I.CU 

LIONEL c. 1.!cGARR 

Col. osc 

Assistant Executive 

Thia cotteepon!ence is a reexmdna:t.ion of the u. s. poliq permitt.illg 

the issue ot the Oonverter !~209 to foreign nations umei- the varioua Anna 

41d programs. It reoamiends that no tu1'th82' iane ot the device be made 

without prior approval or the Director of Intelligence. 

SECRET 

ANllX l TO 

ENCLOSURE "B"