i • 

_., 

' TOP ~efffi'i' 2 

FM-213-939 Pentagcn 

10 July 1944 

- SUBJECT: security Regulations £or Special :rntolligonce. a e •• a ... e • e • a II ...... . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . . . . . 

J : T01' sr.;CPJ;11 • 

TO: ~he comrriandcr-in-chief, Southwest Paci.fie J~rea 

The Commanding Gcnorals, 

: J,.u~h.: ~· "J 4::dP"2-· : !n 1 trn. SP./ # 

: n:l. to : .. ~ t!.""'ar : 

U .s. Arey Forces, China-Burma-:rndia,, 

Thoater Headquarters 

U .s. J~rmy For cos, Central pacific 1.rea 

U..s. ~·,.rr:ry Forces, So11th pacific Arca 

Alaskan Dopartnent, Rear Echelon 

::1::::::::: :::::: 

1. :In order that the handli.'1g and ru.ssomination of Special L1telligence by u.s. and British forces in thm-1.t-.:rs ot oporat;i.ons in th-3 

pacific arid ;~sia may be gmrorncd by tho so.me security regul.:i.tions, the 

incloscd Regulations for Ua.intaining tho Security of Special Intelligence 

have been 'agreed upon for those theaters. · 

2ir 'the inclosed Regulations will becone offoctive in ouch theater 

in the Pacific and Ji.sia upon a date to be prescribed by the uar DLpartment. The date ".ti.ll vary for differE.'Ilt theaters in ardor that certain 

provisions 'will not bocomo nandatory until necessary prclinin1ry arrcngements have been r.iado vrhich will porr:i.i t them to be carried out. on tho 

effective date for each theater, tho mclosod Regulc1.tionG ·will sur·ersede 

letter, J~G 312.l (13 Oct 43)0B-S-B-!!, lL~ October 1943, s·ibjoct: ~ocurity 

of Ultra. :boxter intelligence, with re:spoct to such thcatur ::md 'lr'.riJl apply 

to all comri.e.nds of tho J,.rrrry wi. thin such tho a. tor, 

3. Tho inclos"3d Regulations will bo distributed only over the 

spoci.a.l channels prescribpd therein for Spacial Intclligoncc and uill be 

made available only to persons authorized to receive Special r..~to~ligoncc 

pursuant to the inclosod Regulations. 

I 4. Reproduction of this letter and its inclosure is prohi_bi ted. 

l'Y order of tho secretary of \"Tar: 

1 Incl., 

ROgulations 

eclassified and a ursuant to E .0. 1352 
• 

• 

REF ID:A71863 

REGULATIONS lQ!J: l·iAINTAINING _m SECURITY 

.Q£'. SPECIAL IN~ELLIGl!ll.JCE 

l. DlilFINITION. Special Intelligence is the designated term for 

highly secret information obtained by intercepting and reading en•,my me~sages which have been enciphered in cryptographic systems of a high 

security classification. 

a. GENERAL.. The extreme importance of Special Intelligence as a 

so'Ul'ce ot reliable information concerning enemy activities and intentions has been repeatedly proved. Preservation of this source requires 

that the enemy be given no reason to suspect that his communications are 

being read. If from any document which might fall into his hands, from 

8.I'cy' message he might intercept, from any word revealed by a prisoner of 

'War, or from any ill-considered action taken upon the basis •f such 

intelligence, the enemy" were given cause to believe that his coJJlll'unica.tions are not adequately safeguarded against the interception ~hich he 

knows to be employed against him, he would effect changes which ~ould 

deprive us of knowledge of his operations on all fronts. Extreme 

secrecy is therefore required and these regulations are to be stJictly 

obaerved • 

3. CODE~ FOR SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE. All messages or other documents transmitting Special Intelligence, information based therec•n, or 

8n1' direct or indirect reference thereto 1 will contain the code uord 

Ultra to indicate the source. 'lhen transmitted by wire or radio. the 

word Ultra will be buried within the body of the message near tho 

beginning and cryptographed as part of the text. 

4r. AUTHORIZED RECIPIENTS. 'rhe levels upon which Ultra may be 

diaseminated, and the number of officers at any level authorized to receive it, are severely restricted, as follows: 

4. Ultra will not be made available to staffs below ti1e level 

of .Army or equivalent Air Force formations, except that (l) Ultra ~ay be passed in the form of operational orders to lower formations, 

as provided in para.graph 9(c) below, and (2) in exceptional circum~ 

atances making it imper~tive, the Commander-in-Chief of the Theater 

may authorize Ultra to be passed to lower formations down t·:> the 

leve1 of divisions or equivalent Air Force formations if they are 

operating independently, but only in strict accordance with paragraph 6 below and only if the p}\vsical security of the receiving 

headquarters is assured. 

:e,. \lithin headquarters' authorized to receive Ultra, it Jl1ay 

be made available onl;,r to officers holding the fol.lowing posts: 

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__ F ID:A71863e 

(l) Commander and his Deputy 

Chief of Staff and his Deputy 

Senior Intelligence Staff Officer 

Senior Operations Staff Officer 

Senior Planning Officer ) At Army Group 

Senior Signal Officer ) or 

Senior Signal Intelligence Officer ) highe~ level 

(2) Additional intelligence and operations staff cfficers 

absolutely necessary for its handling and use, as specifically authorized in each instance pursuant to paragraph 8(b) 

below (except that in the case of formations below the Jevel 

of A:rmy or equivalent Air Force formations, no recipients may 

be authorized in addition to Commander, Chief of Staff, and 

senior intelligence and operations staff officers). 

_g... No officer will be entitled to receive Ultra solely oy 

reason of the post which he holds. 

5. DISSEMINATil'fG AGENCY WITHIN MQH THEA.T:@R. All Ultra prorluced 

or received within any theater will be transmitted to a single ag1mcy 

which will be charged with responsibility for disseminating the intelligence derived from such Ultra to authorized recipients over authorimed 

channels. Within any theater of combined u.s.-British operations (a) 

such agenc? will include both U.6'. and British personnel who will be 

jointly responsible for dissemination to British and U.S. recipients, or 

(b) where it is considered desirable, there may be separate U.S •. :ind 

British* agencies which will be responsible for dissemination to 3ritisll 

and U.S. recipients, respectively. In the latter event, such separate 

agencies will cooperfl.te to the fullest extent practicable in orde.r to 

avoid duplication of effort in the collation, evaluation and dissemination 

of Ultra, to obviate the necessity of sep~rate transmissions of Ultra 

from production centers to each such unit, and to permit wherever 

possible the use of common communication facilities and cryptographic 

systems for the receipt a.nd transmission of Ultra messages. 

6. SPECIAL SECURITY PE.RSONNJ!ll0 CHANNELS AND CIPlmRS ~ ~M 

( SEE :OIAGRA!ii ATTACIDID) • 

*The word "British" as used in these regulA.tions includes the 

Dominions of the ~ritish Oommonwenlth of Nations and India. 

-a.-
REF ID:A718638 

~· Apnroval of Channels. Except in strict accordance wlth 

paragraph lO(a) below1 Ultra Inte::.ligence 1 information based 

thereon, or any reference thereto, will be transmitted only b;r 

personnel and by means of channels and ci~hers approved, in the 

case of U.S. commands, by the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, 'lar 

DepRrtment General Staff, or, in the case of British commands, 

by the chairman of the Signal Intelligence Board Lo~don. 

}.. SpeciA.l Securi t:v Personnel. Special Security persom1el 1 

to be known as Special Security Officers (s.s.o.) will be att•tched 

by the' A_O, of s., G ·2 1 il.D.G,S. 1 to each U.S. headquarters 

entitleti to :receive UJ.tra, and like personnel, to be known as 

Speci..-LJ. I,i!J.:..r.oi1. Units (S.L.U.), will be attached by the Signa"l 

Intellir:;ence Bo&rd London to each British headquarters entitl·~d 

to receive Pltra.. Such personnel for purposes of administration 

and discipline will be subject to theater control. They will 

hold special cryptographic systems, or special settings of 

machine ciphars, for the transmission of Ultra and will have sole 

responsibility for (l) the decry:ptographing of all Ultra messages 

received at the headquarters to which they are attached and the 

sn:f'e delivery of the decryptogra.phed texts to authorized recipients 

and (2) the cryptographing of all Ultra messages sent from su·::h 

headquarters. They will also advise recipients at such headquarters regarding security in the handling of Ultra and the 

carrying out of these regulations. ' 

S• Communica.tions Personnel. Where necessary to provid•l 

for the prompt transmission of Ultra messages, special commun·~­

cations personnel will be attached to disseminating centers and 

operational headquarters and will be responsible for maintaintng 

direct rfl.dio communicR.tions between such centers and headquar~;ers • 

.Q.. SneciRl Securi tv Representsi.tives. The Signal Intell:"~gence 

Board London may designate,· for efl.ch theater having l3ri ti sh huadquarters authorized to receive Ultra, an officer, with such 

assistants as may appenr desirable, who will represent the Sit~al 

Intelligence :Board London on A.ll matters involving the securi1;y, 

trflnsmission and exchange of Ultra and who, except for rulminintrntion and discipline, will supervise all British special sii:nal 

intelligence security personnel within such theater. The A. O. of 

S., G-2, '.1.D.G,S., may designate, for each theater hc"l.ving U.S. 

headquarters authorized to receive Ultra, an officer, with suc:h 

assistants as may appear desirable, who will represent the Wa>' 

Department.in all matters involving the security, transmission 

and exchrul.~e of Ultra and who, except for ~dministration and 

discipline. will supervise all U.S. special security personnel 

within such theater. Such officers a"l.,d. their assistants will be 

atta.C"heC. to theAte:r heruiq'lllrters for administration nnd disci11line 

only. 

-~ 
REF ID:A718639 

A• Use .Qi, Courier, Bag .Ql: Po!d&h,. Except as S})ecificall~.r 

authorized pursuant to paragraph 6(a), Ultra material may be 

transmitted by courier or by bag or pouch only if (a) the 

route is completely secure and does not pass over enemy, enem;roccupied or neutral territory, or the material is enciphered 

in an approved cryptographic system, and (b) the handling 

arrarl.gements at both ends are confined to personnel authorize·i 

pursuant to para.graph 6. 

· 7. CLASSIFICATIOU ~ ENJi?"l.Y OR'YP~OGRAJ>HIC SYSTllLS. The A. C. of 

s., G-2, U.D.G.S., in the case o'f U.S. commands, and the Signal Intelligence ~onrd London, in the case of British.commands, will have sole 

authority to determine which enemy cryptographic systems are of a high 

security classification, for the purpose of defining which ones fall 

within the class of Special Intelligence, and will have authority to 

upgrade the security classification of nny enemy system ~hen desirable 

in the interests of security. Such classifications and an:r changes 

therein will be forwarded from time to time as they are maue to Tr.eater 

Commanders over the special chc1.llnels.provided pursuant to pRragrarh 6. 

a. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO RECIPIENTS. 

·§:· :Briefing. :Before Ultra is made available to any aut.horized 

recipient, he will first be properly initiated into the natul'e of 

the source and briefed regarding the security regulations, and 

will sign a form stating that he has read and understands tho 

regul11tions and will comply therewith. Briefing will be cari·ied 

out either by the senior s.s.o. or S.L.U. officer or, if no ';uch 

officer has been designated, by the senior intelligence staf:~ 

officer or such other officer as the Commander may designate, 

S• MditionR-l Reci"Dients. In the event that a Command•:!r 

considers it essential that any officer in addition to those 

specifically enumerated in paragraph 4(b) (l) should be auth~rized to receive Ultra, he will mEU::e application through the 

s.s.o. or s.i..u. to the War DepP.rtment, in the CRSe of a. u.s. 

recipient, or to the Signal Intelligence Board London, in the 

case of a British recipient, giving reasons for the request. 

When an officer who is not alreruiy an authorized recipient is 

assigned to a post which entitles him to Ultra, a similar 

application will be made, unless the Commander making the 

assignment personally guarantees that such officer is a 

reliable recipient. 

c. Relinquishment .Q.f. Post. If an officer relinquisheE- a 

post which hfl.s entitled him to receive Ultra, he automatically 

forfeits }lie right to see such material and will sign an unci.ertaking to thEl.t effect. In such a case it is highly undesirf~le 

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.. 

,I 

I 

REF ID:A71863 e 

' ¥ , 

that the officer be transferi'ed.to any post which will subject 

/ him to the risk of ca"nture by- the enemy. I ' 'r' 

' 

. A,. Discμssion xUh Xgn-recipients. No authorized recir•ient 

0£ ultra will under any- c1rcumstancesllhow or read any Ultra 

mate'rial to, or dj.scues it with, any person of any service unless 

he is satisfied that such person is also authorized to recei,•e 

such; material. 

, .!!.• Lists !Ji. Recipients. The s.s.o. or S.L.U. at each 

headquarters "which receives Ultra, or, i:t' no such officer ha·:t 

been designated, an authorized recipient designated by the 

Commander, will maintain on a current basis a list o:t' all pe~sons 

at ~uch headqUa.rters authorized to receive Ultra and will tr.:msmit over Ultra channels to the disseminating agency the names 

and posts.of all authorized recipients and any changes therein. 

The.disseminating a&ency will transmit this information over 

Ultra channels to the Signal Intelligence Board London in the 

case of British recipients and to the Assistant Chief of Staff, 

Q-2' \lar Department General Staff in the case of U.S. recipients. . . ' 

; g. Communication between Ultra .Recipients. Communication 

between recipients on matters whioh in any we:y- concern UltrE-., 

whether in the form of queries, oonmients, su.mmariea or apprtci- ~tions, will be transmitted only over the Ultra channels authorized pursuant to paragraph 6 hereof. If any recipient cons5.ders 

it .essential that any tn.tra should receive distribution addHional 

to that already given, he will not transmit it directly but will 

req,u.est the s.s.o. or S.L.U. to arrange :t'or the additional clisppibution, , 

9. ».tPLOYk"El~ Ql U!.TB.A. 

A• Action :Based mi Ultra. Any action based upon Ul tr.l must 

,be .so c~ouflaged that the action itself cannot lead the en•amy 

to the conclusion that it is based on Ultra. Momentary tactical 

id.ifant8€e is not sufficient ground for ta.king any risk of c·:>mprdmising the source. No action ma..v be taken against specific 

sea 'or land targets revealed by UltrA. unless appropriate air 

or land reconnaissance or other suitable camouflRge measures 

• ha.ye also been undertnken, 

~~ h· '.Qriefing .m'., Pilo~s. The utmost CP.re is to be taken. \rh~n briefing pilots for an operp.tion bA.sed on Ultra ini'or:rration. t~t onlr such details nre given them as might have been ol:·tained 

b:,v other menns, such fl.a air reconnaissance, and then only i:uch RB~ are essential to the success of the operation. In no event 

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,. I lff~ 
REF ID:A71863 -

~9P SBBR:D! 

will the source of sueh information be disclosed, and whenever 

practicable the information will be attributed to some otb.er 

source. The risk of capture makes it il!Tperative that these 

provisions be strictly observed • 

.£• Orders to Subordinate Commands. Uh.en Ultra furnishes 

the basis of action to be taken by a command which is not 

authorized to receive Ultra., the information when passed 1;0 

the subordinate command must be translated into terms of Hn 

operational order, so worded that if captured or intercep1.ed 

by the enemy the origin of the order could not be traced lack 

to Ultra. Such orders must never contain the precise tim£, 

date or place of an enemy operation, or the name of any sl'.ip 

ot tactical unit revealed only by Ultra. Such operational 

orders if transmitted by radio must be in high grade cryptographic systems. 

10. sm.1J.IARIES, APPRECIATIONS ,gm P.APHRS • 

.E.• Restriction _g,n Use .Q.{ m tra" Any summar~r, report estimate, appreciation or other paper based upon or including information from Ultra sources automatically becomes subject to the 

Sl'Jlle security regulations concerning dissemination, distri1n1tion, 

handling and use, as the Ultra material itself, unless 

(1) the information has also been received from other 

sources, or 

(2) the information relates to Order of Battle ru:.d. 

(a) sufficient time h.~s elapsed to make it reasonable for 

the enemy to assume that the information was obtained from 

other sources known by the enemy to be avail~ble to u~, 

and (b) the Theater Commander hl:i,s specifically authorized 

such information to be so included. 

In any case, the source of such information shall not be disclosed. 

E,. Avoiding Restrictions ,gn other ;tntelligence. In view 

of the above, it is evident that, in order to avoid subjectLng 

information not from Ultrn sources to the special seourity 

requirements for Ultra, such informntion should not be mixe•l 

with Ultrn except \·rhen absolutely necessary • 

.S• Intelligence Records, War Jliaries, ~. Mo information 

from Ultra sources, and no reference thereto, shall be included 

in any intelligence journals or logs, w~.r diaries or other 

similar records. 

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• 

REF ID:A71863e 

ll. SAFETY QE ULTRA MATERIAL. 

e• Retention .st: Ultrn iiateria.l. No Ultra material, an•i 

only such records as cnnnot give any clue to the nature of tne 

source, may be kept at any operntional hendq_UR.rters below Ariny 

Group. It is the duty of the s.s.o. or s.L.u. to keep an ac.:mrate 

record of nll copies of messnges delivered to any headqunrteJ~s and, 

in the case of formations below the level of Army Group, to j~etrieve and destroy them. The number of hours during \ihich Cc>mmanders 

may retain Ultrn messoges depends on their proximity to the cinemy, 

but destruction should normally tnke place ns soon ns the necessary 

notion has been taken. 

E.,. PhvsicA.l. Handling .Q.t Ultra, Within Headonnrters. Spfcial 

measures will be tA.ken to insure thnt nll Ultr~ mnterial is ~t 

all times so hc"Uldled and kept thEl.t no unauthorized person CRl'l 

obtain access to it. Recipients of Ultra at operntionnl comrr-ands 

may not under any circumstances carry on their persons, or dispatch 

outside their headquarters, Ultrn messages which have been delivered 

to them. Ordinn.rily, Ultrn may be received, discussed or worked'.' 

upon only in n room which is reserved for thEl.t purpose alone and to 

which no person who is not authorized to receive Ultra has access. 

\lhen it is impossible to set aside a room exclusivoly for this 

~rpose~ n room or other segregated place shall be provided \ri:iich 

Ultrn reci:pients mny use periodicnlly, or when required, for .ceading, 

discussing or otherwise using Ultrn. 1.lhen circumstflnces require 

thn.t a comrnnnder or other recipient receive or discuss Ultra n.t 

any other place, every :precaution shnll be taken to insure that 

no unn.uthorized person shall see such materin.l, thn.t such dis1:ussion 

does not tn.ke plnce within the hearing of any unRuthorized person, 

rui.d thRt the Ultrn mnteri~l is retnined only for the minimum J>eriod 

of time necessnry for rending nnd discussing it. 

c. Snfetv of Snecial Securitv Personnel. It is the responsibility of the commander to whom specinl security personnel ar( 

attr.ched to see thnt they nre neve1· re:iquired to go where they 

would be subjected to the risk of c~pture by the enemy. 

§;. Destruction of Cf.' .... tm ¥r.te!"1nl. It is the responsibility 

o:: the senior s.s.o~ or senior o.!..,U~ officer attached to any 

heniquRrters to destroy all messfige~ n~d do~uments containing 

Ultrn nnd all specin.l cryptog::-.'.ly!°'i:: material, should he consider 

the; situ1>.tion warrnnts such acticn 

12. SECURITY OF REGULATION.:> Alfi> Q.OD~ }ORQ. These regulations sh.t.1.ll 

be trP.nsmitted only over channels nut~crjz~c fer the t~fl.!lsmission of 

Ultra and shn.ll be made nvnilnble onl;r tc persons authorized to rec·~ivc 

Ultrn. The mt·nning of the code \lord Ultrn shc"lll not be disclosei to 

any person not authorized to receive Ultl'a, 

-7-
OJJTSIDE THE,'.Tg. 

SS". 

~lashington 

G.C. & C.S. 

':PGP SFi<:HSI' 

FLfl~! CF ULTR\ llTITHIN :. THE'TER OF COMBINED OPER.'~TieNs 

(see Regulations, paragraph 6) J ,.Army I 1 "ITHIN THE.'_ TER 

US Crypt. 

Organizatio 

(a) 

DISSEtlN '.TING 

I ~ r,::-i\ 

/ 9'~ > 

/ / / / ---'~'"r Force I I 

/ ~ I I // / I 

.... / Other J 

, <. ~ / ~~'s , 

, ,,' // 

//~ 

;:/...... sso 

Highest 

U.1.S_. __________ U...t s_. IF--------~__..:.i Combined 

BfilT. B1UT. ..,_---+~--------- London 

other 

Theaters 

... 

Brit. Crypt 

Crganizatio 

(a) 

SLU 

/.GSNCY 

(b) 

U~S. and British cryptanalysis organizations may be combined 

when situation permits. May be separate U.S. and B ·itish disseminating agencies when 

situation requires. 

J,lj authorized. pursuant t,, regulations. 

Includes D.M. I.. India and Australia • 

HQ 

Army 

Group 

:ur 

Force 

other 

H 's 

c d 

u .. s .. 

Hf~' s 

Brit. 

HQ' s