Cryptologic Warfare History
A Short History of U.S. Navy Information Warfare
Naval cryptology traces its history to the Civil War, when specially trained personnel intercepted and deciphered enemy signals and formulated ways to protect their own communications. The first wireless transmission from a Navy ship in 1899 created newly assigned responsibilities in radio intelligence and communications security to Sailors and Marines.
The formal instantiation of Navy cryptology began in 1924 in the Department of Naval Communications under LT (later Captain) Laurence Safford who had an intuitive understanding of the importance of radio (still new) intelligence in future conflicts. He recruited a handful of subordinates, the most famous of whom was LT (jg) Joseph Rochefort and Agnes Driscoll.
During this time the Navy established a number of intercept stations. The first became operational on Guam in 1925, followed by, two in the Philippines and another in the American consulate in Shanghai. In that same year, Commander (later Rear Admiral) Ellis M. Zacharias tested the effectiveness of a seaborne listening station. It proved so effective that in 1928 Zacharias set up on the cruiser U. S. S. Marblehead to listen in on the Japanese as they fought their annual naval war game.
The group, led by Safford, was re-designated OP-20-G as a secret staff under the Director of Naval Communications. They began training significant numbers of intercept operators in how to copy and analyze encrypted Japanese Navy communications.
In October 1928, the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ first training class of radio intercept operators convened, led and trained by the hard-charging Chief Radioman Harry Kidder.
OP-20-G was hidden in a shed on the roof of the Navy Department Building in Washington, DC. Those in the group became known as the “On the Roof Gang.” From 1928 to 1941, the school graduated 176 Sailors and Marines who were the first enlisted radio operators and formed the vanguard of naval cryptology.
In 1930 graduates were already serving in the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets conducting radio intelligence operations against the Japanese Navy. US Admirals were deeply impressed with their code breaking and analytic skills.
The exploits of the On the Roof Gang ran the gamut from clandestine missions in Japanese territorial waters to covert collection from US diplomatic facilities in China. This force formed the nucleus of cryptologic operations in the looming war against Japan and Germany.
On the eve of WWII, CDR Joe Rochefort, who commanded Station Hypo in Honolulu, was the only Navy officer who was both a trained cryptanalyst and Japanese linguist. His office was understaffed, Germany was the higher priority target at the time, and as a result had not been able to crack the JN-25 main Navy Code before Dec 7 1941.
After failing to predict the raid on Pearl Harbor, Rochefort vowed to do whatever he humanly could to provide the Pacific Fleet with the information needed to defeat the Japanese.
By March of 1942 Rochefort and crew were breaking and reading JN-25 messages as fast as the intended recipients.
Rochefort and his team were able to work out the time and location of the Japanese Navy’s cross-Pacific offensive. Admiral Nimitz put great stock in his work, gambled, and positioned his forces to intercept the enemy at Midway. The US victory in that epic battle turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.
In a team effort with Great Britain and the Royal Navy, Navy Cryptologists worked round the clock with a workforce of thousands, 80% of it women, to crack the German U-Boat Enigma codes to end deadly attacks on Allied convoys. They enjoyed great success and even defeated the far more sophisticated four-rotor version of Enigma called Shark. In so doing they saved thousands of tons of Allied shipping and thousands of lives.
At the height of the war, nearly 10,000 specialists were involved in the work of the Naval Security Group. WWII demonstrated the value for a standing force of trained cryptologists. In 1950 the Naval Security Group was established as an independent command.
Since then, cryptologists have played a direct role in every U.S. conflict and have evolved to meet the dynamic challenges of modern cyber warfare. Today, the community is more than 11,000 strong.
A New Era of Warfare
- 6, 2004 –The Navy established the Cryptologic Technician Networks (CTN) rating to meet fleet requirements in computer network operations.
- 15, 2005 – The Navy renamed cryptologic officers “information warfare officers” to reflect the expanded competencies of information operations and cyber warfare.
- 30, 2005 – The Naval Security Group was disestablished and all missions were assumed by Naval Network Warfare Command.
- 1, 2009 – The Information Dominance Corps was established. The Corps consists of four separate communities: IW/CT; Intelligence/Intelligence Specialists; Information Professionals and Technicians; and Oceanographers/Aerographers.
- 29, 2010 – U.S. 10th Fleet was recommissioned, Fleet Cyber Command was established, and the dual-hatted command assumed the Navy’s cryptologic, information operations, cyber, electronic warfare and space missions.
- 26, 2012 – Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance/Director of Naval Intelligence, and Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet, promulgated strategies that set the course for Information Dominance for the decade.
- March 22, 2013 – Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet announced the winner of the 2013 Captain Joseph Rochefort Information Warfare (IW) Officer Distinguished Leadership Award. Vice. Adm. Michael S. Rogers announced Lt. Cmdr. Lemuel "Seth" Lawrence, executive officer of Navy Information Operations Command Pensacola, is the 2013 winner.
- April 19, 2013 –U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet Sailor was named 2012 Navy Shore Sailor of the Year. Vice Adm. Richard W. Hunt, Director, Navy Staff, announced that Cryptologic Technician (Networks) 1st Class Petty Officer Shannon N. McQueen, CTF 1060/Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Maryland, is 2012 Navy Shore Sailor of the Year.
The Navy views the electromagnetic spectrum-cyber environment as a primary warfighting domain. Information warfare officers and cryptologic technicians are the principal warfighters. Information warriors have been an integral part of SEAL teams in Iraq and Afghanistan and several have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duties. The IW community continues to fight and sacrifice. Chief Cryptologic Technician (SW) Christian Michael Pike died March 13, 2013 of combat-related injuries sustained while conducting stability operations in Afghanistan.
Information warfare specialists, born from naval cryptology, are directly involved in every aspect of naval operations, deploying globally to support Navy and joint military requirements. They deliver vital information to decision makers by attacking, defending and exploiting networks to capitalize on vulnerabilities in the information environment and continue to make selfless sacrifices to defend the nation.
Fast Facts and Figures
- IW/CT warfighters execute the full spectrum of cyber, cryptology, signals intelligence, information operations, computer network operations (exploit, defend, attack), and electronic warfare missions. They operate afloat and ashore and serve at the National Security Agency, the Pentagon, Navy information operations commands and regional cryptologic centers across the globe.
- IW/CT April 2013 end strength includes: 1,182 active duty (AD) officers; 250 Reserve component (RC) officers; and 9,617 AD and 771 RC cryptologic technicians.
- Navy CTs are trained in a total of 114 languages and dialects.
Additional Resources:
Pioneering Women in Cryptology | National Air and Space Museum (si.edu)
Captain Laurance F. Safford, the "father of U.S. Navy cryptology," established the Naval cryptologic organization after World War I, and headed the effort more or less constantly until shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Captain Joseph John Rochefort was a major figure in the U.S. Navy's cryptologic and intelligence developments from 1925 to 1947. He headed the Navy's fledgling cryptanalytic organization in the 1920s and provided singularly superb cryptologic support to the U.S. fleet during World War II, leading to victory in the war in the Pacific.
Agnes Meyer Driscoll 2000 Hall of Honor Inductee Women in American Cryptology Honoree
Agnes Meyer Driscoll's work as a navy cryptanalyst who broke a multitude of Japanese naval systems, as well as a developer of early machine systems, marks her as one of the true "originals" in American cryptology.
In June 1918, about one year after America entered World War I, Agnes Meyer enlisted in the United States Navy. She was recruited at the highest possible rank of chief yeoman and was assigned to the Code and Signal section of the Director of Naval Communications, where she was a leading cryptanalyst for the U.S. Navy until 1949.
