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Preliminary Report 

(Revised 17 March 1952) 

of 

SPECIAL COMMUNICATIONS .ADVISoR!' GROUP 

(SCAG) 

12 March 19S2 

copy no. -· ...... z...___ 

.ARCANE 

TOP SECRET SIJEDE Alt'C:AN~ - - - !!J;--

0 e c I ass if i e d and approved for release by NSA on 04-14-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 

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REF ID:A66091 

.TOP SECRET5UfsE . 

The Special Communications Advisary Group has completed six meetingso 

As a resul:t; or its stunus, SCAG has arrived at the following conclusions 

[EO 3.3(h)(2) 

arJd l"eCommeaiationa I PL 86-36/50 USC 3605 

General Conclusions 

+---____:(l~):.___Th_e_r_a_lS_· _afc=l=e=ar-_c_u_:t .. pr_om.s_·_e_of_l _________ ____,_,1 7" .~wt'"' 

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(2) Much more effort by /iFSA is justified on the Albatross pt'oblem. 

Recammen:lati.ons 

(1) More programming and computing ti.me should be allocated to the 

Roberts• and related approaches for determining I I 

(2) An expanied program should be initiated in high-speed machine 

developments with particular emphasis on new approaches to AFSA's special 

problems. 

--(3) A Senior Civilian T~chnical Direct.or should be appointed,, 

reporting directly to the Dir~ctor of AFB.A. 

,./ 

(4) A separate research organization should be established_, headed 

by a Director af Researcba The Director of Research should report in 

. . parallel with the heads 0£ Development and Operat.i.CllS to the Technical 

Directora U proposal (3) ·is adopted_, he would report directly to the 

Senior Civilian Technical Director. 

lS> More use should be made ot the potentialities of outside contractors for basie research as well as machine development. 

In addition to the above redommendations., t,rhich appear to be capable 

ot implementation ~thin AFSA, the following points requirirJg Qooper&tion 

of outsiCie agencies are extremely significanli: 

f.2) The importance ot the Albatross prob1em to the national security 

.Li :.:r.:t,r· justifies a major eltpansion of tbs ettort and :funds expen:led in "· 

AF::>.' ;;~ op?.rationo / 

<Lnese conclusions and recommerdations are based on the following 

discussion. 
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REF ID:A66091 

•roP SECRET ~llilE The Special Communications Advisory Group was established jointly by the 

Armed Forces Security Agency and the Research and Developient Doard with 

' the support or the central. Intelligence Agemy. The first meetd.ng of 

-this Group took place on 4 and S June 19Sl. In discussing the miss1on 

ot the Group, it was conclllied that SCAG should: 

(a) Provide advice am assistance to AFSA in meeUng special 

problems. 

(b) Maintain f'amiliartty tfi.th these special problems and make 

rec0Iflr.19rdati.ons to !>.FSA in connection i-lith their solutim. 

Although many related probletns exist, it was decided to concentrate the 

aotiVity of SCAG on the Albatross problem. During these sessions it.has 

examined in some detail the wrk of AFSA on the problemo It is the purpose 

of this report to summarize conclusions reached.. T'nree major questions 

must be answered bei'ore proceeding with the recommemati.onso These are: 

(l.) Is the problem solvable? 

E, D 3.3(h)(2) 

P 86-36/50 USC 3605 

J 'fhe exten'li at the e.tto~ which should be L--~~~~~~~~~--' 

placed on the problem depends to some degree upon the extent of this 

currency. The members of SCAG are at the opinion that there is 

L-~~~~~~~~~~---'~ (2) Is the Armed Forces security Agency usingr--i_t_s/==========~~~__,/ 

(J) Are there reso~ces out.side of AFSA which should be brought 

to bear on the problElll? 

The answers to th.a :I:ast two questions must be conditioned by 

certain limitations on resources. Certain technical avenues leading 

toward a solutd.on are not being coiiPieteJ.;r explored am additional 

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logistics support oan be applied to improve present operatai..ng conditions • 

SCAG be11eves ·the answer to Questions 2 and 3 is "No." .AFSA does not 

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a}'lpear ta.be gi'Vi.ng prio~es in iriaahine _ti.me am programming personnel 

to the Albatross problem consistent with tbe urgency and importance of 

with 

tile pl'Oblma. 

Albatross 

The 

appears 

machine 

to 

dEWel.opment. 

have reached 

program 

a point 

deYeloperi 

where greatly 

1n ~ 

eJCpanied 

effort will be justit1eda 
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t:so 3.3(h)(2) 

PL 86-36/50 USC 3605 

• ARCANE 

Recove!'y' or the System 

I 

There are three general approaches in 

Since,, however., limited infol'mation of a direct natlll"e can be ot 

tremendous assistance., every possible etf'ort should be experx:lsl toward 

(2) Recovery through~ 

Method.a of increasing this type of intorma. ti.on call far closer 

scr-11tiny ot J land increasing thel I 

(3) Analytical methods: Researches by AFSA imicate that certain 

______ ____,/ 

These methods are depezxl.ent. upon 

the f-tll'ther development or bot.hi._ ______ ___.I a.lid high-speed 

computing devices. 

It is the opinion of SCAG that much more effort is warranted in 

this area .. 

More detailed recommendations concerning this increase of ettort 

are containal in the following paragraphs. 

Analytical Methods 

several suggestd.ons have been made by Roberts ard. others o 

An examination of these suggestions requires an expanded ettort on 

the part of" JtFSA both in personnel and in comput-ing machine time, 
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REF ID:A66091 

The difficulties ot conducting this sort ot research Ul'lder present 

conditions indicate the desirability or approaching this as a research 

problem assigned to a special group. 

Another analytical approach to the 3.3(h)(2) 

,....----------------;;::::~---------:-__,...~_;__.pi!. 86-36/50 USC 3605 

Application or thes1amethods l-~~~~~~~~~~~~~--' 

requires the developmant of special purpose comp'llters./It appears t.o 

SCAG that an expard.ecl effort in the deyelO}Jmen.t or devices such as/ the 

NOMAD System orl lis~~ed. 

~ l~villbea~~tor~ quantities or special purposel lequipmnt. This reqUirement 

can be jmged to some extent by experience with the 

Although it is dif'ticult to plan this equipm!:)nt prior t<> 

det~led knot-1ledge still to be acquired from tlle recavery stage, SOAG 

believes that 1'\FSA should place incl"eased emphasis on planning for th.is 

/I eventuality.; The key to this operation lies in 

AFSl~ has experimented t-dth such .... I___ __.lin several formsa 

Xhe results ot these experiments are such that an active development am 

construction program can be started. 

Basia Research 

~The stu~ Of the Albatross problem· by AFSA has developed the fact that 

there is l.1ttl.e opportunity (because of the pressure for operational 

results) for the conduct ot any basic research in cryptographic problems. 

(It is SCAG's firm opinion that a stl'Ong basic research program is of 

great importance in supporting the development and operation work of 

l.FSA and that a separate basic research: organizatdon shoUl.d be set up. 

Research should be lcept separate from developzriO?lt am operations witn 

personnel a.Di tac1lity asmgmnenis w'.aich cannot be inf'ringed upon by 

dfJV'61.opment and operation requirements. The experience of members of 

SCAG in industrial research organization is that to 'be fully effective 

research shoUld be set up uni er a civ:U.ian research director reporting 

to the techni.eal directory 

A nwnber or important research areas hatre been discussed in the 

SCAG meetings ineluding research on tlle 

research on 
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REF ID:A66091 

VHF components for use in anal.7tical equipment~ research on information 

theory,, a.ni research on ionspheric anamolies for remote interceptim of 

low pouer communication circuits. 

Machine Development . 

l"fin view o£ the rapid advances being made in h~h-speed electronic deVices, 

SCAG is ot the opinion that a great. deal more emphasis should be placed 

f10 on the development ot electronic devices especially designed to han:ile 

the sort o£ problems arising in ,\FSA operati~ns {A number of these 

machine developments have been mentioned in ttie foregoing disoussions ot 

analytical approaches to specii'ic problems ani because of tile \lllusual. 

nature o£ the machine requirements for this sort of l«>rk1 an integrated 

machine development program is incliaated. to develop means for handling 

. --, large volumes ot this analytical t;rork expeditiouslyo / 

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Administrative Matters 

~In its relation to the Al't!atross problem~CAG has been faced with some o£ 

the administrative problems o£ AFGA,, and has considered problerrs ot 

military versus civilian control or this activity. In the light of the 

tactical and strategic responsibilities or i\FSA in ti.ms of national 

emergency, the necessity for military responsibility is ackn0t-1ledged. 

However, it. is recommended that a senior technical director with both 

technical and management. expe~ence, reporting directly to the Director 

ot AFSA, be app0inted with i'ull~~ delegated authori v for al.l operations 

wi~ his fiel<i of, re.~~~YJI'. . . ~ order to attra~t am to keep key personnel and other top-night people 

needed for the per.tormance of AFSA•s mission~ SCAG feels that a care.tul 

\revision of persoilnel pol:ioy is needed,, particularly with respect to the 

assignment of technically qualif'ied people and their adequate recognition 

ani compensationo.:J' 

Working comitions ot t.he personnel a.re not satisfactory £or carry~ 

011t such intensive work under great pressure tor achievement. A great 

deal should be dona in proViding adequate working condi ttons and equipment. 
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., 9 REF ID:A66091 ~' ,a:nE ,.~ & iu·j.. ~sA~~E : TOP SECl<ET ~d!;;u a- 16B it; 

AFS.f\ should take greater advantage of outside Ol"ganizati.ons in connection 

tdth both research aJJd development. · I't is SO/lG' s opinion that AFSA has 

,...---,.--) 

not taken full advantage of outs:kie l~-~ both in connection tdth ~ ~ 

machine development and basic _research't In connection with the recommendations for a separate research activity, the expansion of th.is actiVity 

by means of outside research contracts otters a method of expanding 

certain phases of research r.iore rapidly than it could be done it complete 

. dependence were placed on .AFSA' s owl) research group. Mazw 0£ these 

research projects are essentiall.y of low classification am therefore 

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J.end. fhemselves to outside haml.ing. For full advantage to be derived,, 

houever., as much of the backgrouni ot the problem as possible must be 

given to the groups doing the \-rork. There has been cons:iderable criticism 

ot procurement procedures due in part to the present complicated method 

h 

of transmitting information between AFSA and the contractor. // 

Bu::lget Consideratio:ns 

The SCAG has tried to find h~,r important tilis problem is to the :national 

secu.ri ty and, from what has been said to i.s 1 we f'eel that the ef'.fort 

devoted tb the. problem is entirely inadequate. LI~ £~ct it has not been 

obvious that aey expansion or research· and. devel.~pmant has been undertaken 

in areas wn:Lch are related to . the Albatross problem.\ There are indications _.J . 

that a major expansion or the entire effort is in order an1 tha. t a broad.er 

prograin,, particularly in research and development, should be considered 

and planned from a long-range point of view at 'this time. J 

FOR THE SPECIAL CONMUNICATIOllS ADVISORY GROUPt 

/s/Howa:rd T. Engstrom 

HOWARD T. ENGSTROM 

Chairman 

17 March 19S2