FOREWORD

In the fullness of time, the individual nations of this world have developed the very best intelligence systems available to them. The leaders of our nation have kept us on the cutting edge of intelligence innovation. A prime example of this is described in this book—the development of the U.S. Air Force Security Service.

Nations have also come to realize that to maintain a strong intelligence commitment is as valuable as maintaining the most modern military equipment. The leaders of the U.S. Air Force considered the Security Service so important that they made it a separate command. The Security Service became operational at just about the start of the Cold War and proved a valuable tool during that time. It has proven to be a remarkable addition to the nation’s intelligence network.

I was a farm boy from north Mississippi and had a very humble upbringing. From August 1952 until August 1956, I was an enlisted man in the Air Force. I spent thirty months of this time in the Security Service, stationed at the Royal Air Force station in Kirknewton, Scotland. My first impression of the base at Kirknewton, with its tar-paper buildings and its rundown condition, was of a most distressing place. Nevertheless, it was home for the next thirty months.

There was talk at that time of the Security Service as an “enlisted man’s unit” because of the large ratio of enlisted men to officers. Our unit was the 37th Radio Squadron, Mobile (RSM), later changed to the 6952nd RSM. My training and duties were as a teletype-crypto operator. I was very impressed with the mission of Security Service and with the dedication of the airmen. The level of security that surrounded the work impressed me, and I considered the work an important part of American intelligence gathering, especially during the Cold War.

I am also the grandfather of the author of this book, Philip C. Shackelford.

Philip attended Kent State University in Ohio. At some time during his second year, Philip became interested in the Air Force Security Service and told me he was doing research on this subject. I was shocked at the amount of information he had found on the subject in declassified files—shocked because we had been grilled from orientation until discharge never, ever to discuss, with anyone, what we did in the Security Service. I had never discussed our work at USAFSS with anyone, but here was a young college student who knew far more than I had ever had the opportunity to learn. Philip completed master’s degrees in both history and library science at Kent State, and he wrote his master’s thesis on the Security Service. He has wanted to write this book since his college days and finally has accomplished it. He has spent a lot of time digging out the information contained in this book, and he has personally interviewed a number of people who were actually involved in the Security Service. Exploring the mix of all the intelligence units of our nation makes this book a fairly technical one. It requires the reader’s full attention but is well worth the effort. Philip has done an excellent job in telling the story of the Security Service, and it needed to be told.

—Thomas W. Shackelford

Preface

The rain fell slowly.

The Mississippi clay was already saturated, and the trunks of the pecan trees had turned a dark, moist brown. A cool breeze whispered by now and then, rustling through the dormant hydrangeas and fading yellow bells, causing the wind chime on the front porch to yawn a familiar tune. Thunder rolled in distant rumbles. Dark brown and yellow oak leaves, remnants of the previous autumn, grew damp with the rain and plastered themselves against glass doors, windows, vehicles—anything with a smooth surface. For my brother and me, a rainy spring day at our grandparents’ house meant plenty of playing, reading, and perhaps a story. With the enormous vegetable garden quickly turning into a pool of red-clay mud, however, we boys were not the only ones confined indoors by the weather. Our grandfather, unable to plant or work outside, was also trapped inside by the rain.

Obsessed with all things military as I was at the time, many years ago, I had often asked my grandfather about his time in the Air Force, eagerly anticipating tales of daring raids, dogfights high in the clouds, and other explosive delights. Together my grandfather and I had reenacted thousands of important battles with my green plastic soldiers—an army reinforced by occasional troop transfers from the toy aisle. Most of these afternoons were spent teaching my men tactical strategy, learning the drill myself, and carrying out shrapnel-filled rubber-band battles on the floor with my soldiers, engagements no one survived. Occasionally, however, as on this particularly dreary afternoon, I would feel the need to rest my trigger finger for a bit and would ask my grandfather again about his time in the Air Force. Little did I know then how significant these stories actually were.

“Well, you have to realize,” he would begin, “that I wasn’t involved in any actual fighting. I was involved more in reconnaissance and intelligencetype work, listening in on radio communications and so forth. I was in what they called the Air Force Security Service, and when I was stationed in Scotland, we would sit there with our headphones on and intercept radio traffic coming out of Russia.”

So would begin a period of such reminiscing, never long enough, punctuated liberally by my eager questions. If we were really lucky my grandfather might pull out his carousel slide projector and regale us with the hundreds of pictures he had taken with his thirty-five-millimeter camera while stationed overseas, each accompanied with another story or sidebar.

While I was definitely interested then, I became even more intrigued by the elusive organization that was the Air Force Security Service as I went through college. Early efforts to learn more were frustrated by a dearth of information that would confirm what the Security Service was or did. Slowly I began to realize that the U.S. Air Force Security Service was not just another military unit but was in fact a highly specialized intelligencegathering arm of the Air Force responsible for one of the most storied missions of the early Cold War.

It can be difficult for us now, and especially for the younger members of our communities, to comprehend fully the pervasive uncertainty, foreboding, and dangers present during that conflict. The Cold War can feel distant, cinematic, a historical moment known more by reputation than by any personal connection. For entire generations of Americans, however, the Cold War was the defining struggle of a lifetime—a contest for survival that affected almost every aspect of life for the second half of the twentieth century. Some may suspect that this is hyperbole. But consider that millions of children underwent bomb-raid drills at school, that American universities were transformed into research partners to support the military-industrial pursuit of national security, that the interstate highway system was born of the need to transport military personnel and equipment efficiently across the nation, and that even college football became emblematic of American national priorities during the Cold War: the statement becomes more convincing.1

The world of Cold War intelligence, even more than the international conflict itself, is vividly captured in our imaginations, more in terms of representations in popular culture than of actual events. Lack of declassified information provides an obvious opportunity for works of fiction to supply glimpses behind the veil of secrecy that facts are unavailable to provide.

However, these conditions are changing, if slowly. Government agencies have begun to release more documentation detailing World War II and Cold War espionage activities, and intelligence history is maturing into a robust academic discipline all its own, and to positive reception. Both scholarly and popular authors exploring intelligence topics continue to find a hungry audience that ravenously devours their works.

It must be a bizarre experience for former intelligence personnel. Many of the secrets they labored so long to protect are now finding their way out into the sunlight, to emerge blinking, wondering what year it is. The activities in which these individuals were involved—tightly controlled, very sensitive, and often dangerous—are now openly discussed in countless volumes lining the shelves at every bookstore. Information these personnel held private even from their families is now described, sometimes in considerable detail, for all the world to see. The public appetite for such content can hardly come as a surprise—but still, it must be strange, and I wonder what they think.

Personally, I am incredibly grateful to a special group of these silent warriors, including my grandfather, for taking me under their collective wing and accommodating my curiosity and persistent exploration into their past secret lives. Many were wary, to be sure, and remained guarded, reluctant to discuss too many specific details. But this reticence is understandable, even admirable. Unmoored from official chains of communication, former intelligence personnel have precious little assistance in making what must be a monumental choice—whether to open up, even slightly, about responsibilities they once swore to protect or to remain steadfastly committed to lives of silence.

I am humbled and honored that several of these servicemen made that choice on my behalf. Not only that, they also welcomed me into their networks and reunions, answered my letters and emails, and provided memories that represented valuable research data for me—and all without knowing me personally or understanding how I might represent them and their service. I will not mention these individuals here by name—you know who you are—and I hope it is clear how much I appreciate and respect each and every one of you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for accepting me, thank you for helping me, and above all, thank you for your service.

It is my hope that this book promotes an understanding of the U.S. Air Force Security Service in a way that makes it a valuable addition to the literature on American Cold War intelligence gathering and, equally, honors the airmen and women who served within it, freely giving years of their lives to protect their country, their families, and the American way of life. Thanks and respect should be given to them and their families. Credit should be given to the countless librarians, archivists, researchers, professors, and historians who paved the way for this project. All errors are mine alone, and I hope they do not detract from the narrative or its impact.

The personnel of the U.S. Air Force Security Service served in silence and with a singular dedication to mission, playing an important role in providing for the national security of the United States. They have been rewarded solely by the personal satisfaction and knowledge of patriotic service, willingly given, often without thanks, recognition, or decoration. This is their story.

Telephone monitoring operators of the 6912th RSM, Detachment 3 take part in an exercise in Berlin, Germany, in 1956. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency, USAF