9911P:EJJ!11illtt 

REF ID:A44700 

e CONFIDENTIAL9 

NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY 

FORT GEO~E G. MEADE, MARYLAND 

aerial: N 4717 

3 0 NOV 1960 

MllJ40RANDUM FOR THE mmmas, u. s. CCJ.IMUNICATIONS SECURM BlARD 

SUBJECT: utilization of Contract Personnel in Government COMSEC 

Operations (U) 

i. Communications security- equipment is increasing in complexity, 

·and there is a growing trend toward its integration with be.sic 

communications equipnent. The military services and the civil departments and as:encies of' the govermnent are finding it dif'i'icul.t to 

provide, from their own ranks, electronics technicians and specialists 

in the numbers and quality' necessacy to insure continuous satistactoey 

maintenance and operation of ca4SEC equipnent. Consequen~ I there 

is an increasing trend toward use of technicians tran private industey 

to perform the functions of instaJ.lation, maintenance, and operation 

of CQ.fSEC equipment. 

2. As private citizens, industey technicians are not subject to 

the ~rational and jurisdictional. controls that exist in the govern-. 

ment (particularly the militar;y services). Further, in the performance 

of their contract services, these individuals will necessarily have 

·access to much classified defense information not related to the 

contract on which they are ~CJ.Yed. Therefore, specific conditions 

DDlSt be established under which contract personnel ma.;r be used to 

perform such services. 

: 3. It is the opi~on of this Agency that the inclosed policy 

statement, which has been staffed within the militacy departments, 

will provide necessa.r,r guidance to the departments and agencies of 

the govermnent in the utilization of contract personnel in government 

Cam:EC operations. It is recommended that it be-approved as national. 

policy. / ) 

..____.--

Incl: 

Polic;y Statement 

t,'--./ -~L.--- . rirh 

Vice Admiral, USN 

Director 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 10-28-2013 pursuantto E .0. 1352a 

CONFIDENTIAL • • .. • I ._ ' 
'« 

I 

iONFIDEN'FIAi 

t11'ILIZATION OF CONTRACT PERSONNEL IIf G0\1EHNM1lfl 

C<>fSix: OPERATIONS 

l. .Aa a general policy, the installation, maintenance, and 

operation of cl')'pto-equipment within govermnent coamunicaticna . facilities at u. s. Govermnent eatablisbmenta, and the training of 

perscmnel for such duties, shall be performed by appropriately 

cleared u. s. citizens who are members of the military services 

or are civilian employees of the government. In conformance with 

this policy, all affected depart~nts and agencies should take 

action to develop the capability of performing these functions 

utilizing personnel under their direct cmtrol. 

2. It is recognized that there 'llBY be instances in which the 

capability ot installing or maintaining classified crypto-equipnent 

or of conducting crypto-equipment maintenance training is inadequate 

or does not yet exist within a military or civil department or agency 

of the government. In these circumatances, such tunctiona 1118¥ be 

performed by u. s. citizens fran u. s. private indust1'1, hereinafter 

termed "contract personnel", with the approval of the Chief or Staff', 

U. S. Army; the Chief or Naval Operations.; the Chief of Staff, U. S. 

Air Poree; the head ot the concerned civil departme~t or agency ot 

the government; or an authorized representative at any of the above. 

In order to avoid possible interference with existing cryptographic 

contracts, the.Director, National Security Agency, should be consulted 

in the selection of contractors. 

· 3. If maintelJSllce by contract personnel is considered neceas&.17 

on a permanent basis, or if use of contract personnel involves or is 

expected to involve their access to operational cryptographic keying 

iaaterial or classified operational traffic, specific prior approval 

shall be requested from the Secretary of Defense as the Executive 

Agent for the government for all ca4SEC matters. In each case the 

Executive Agent shall be furnished, through the Director, NatiODal 

Securit;y Agency, details and justification in support ot the request. 

4. In circumstances where contract personnel are used to 

perform cryptographic functions within the prOV"isiona at this policy, 

contracts shall specify tbat information available to or obtained by 

personnel directly involved in performing contract sel"V'ices shall.be 

bandl.ed within the contractor organization in strict accordance with 

need-'to-know as established by the cognizant u. s. government authoritt. 

C0NFIBEN'FIAL 
• 

REF ID:A44700 

&ONFIDEN'flJ\i 

5. Contract personnel shall be investigated and cleared in 

accordance with department or agency policies and procedures 

applicable to the level of classification of the information involved. 

Moreover, contract personnel who in the performance of their services 

will have access to operatio:cal. cryptoaraphic keying material or 

classified operational traffic shall be required to undergo full 

field (background) investigation as part of the clearance.process. 

In addition to the clearance action, written authorization for 

access to cr;yptauaterial shall be issued by the contracting department or agency before contract personnel are assigned to or emplo;yed 

in COMSEC operations. · 

2 

€0NFIBENTIAL