DOCID 4036134 1 llYll The Journal of Technical Health Vol XXII No 1 SPRING 1996 eclassified and Approved for Release by NSA on 10-10-2012 pursuant to E_O_ 13526 MDR Case # 4778 --------------- DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Vol XXII No 1 Contents of CRYPTOLOG may not be reproduced or disseminated outside the National Security Agency without the permission of the Publisher Inquiries regarding reproduction and dissemination should be directed to the Editor All opinions expressed in CRYPTOLOG are those of the authors They do not represent the official views of the National Security Agency Central Security Service DOCID 4036134 Table of Contents Publisher's Note iii by Wi iam Nolte Eulogy for Louis W Tordella Biography ofDr Tordella 1 by Walter Pforzheimer 2 by Thomas R Johnson 5 KBE Presentation Ceremony P L Louis Tordella Led By Example brI__---lI 7 Louis Tordella As Colleagues Remember lfim Dr T The Man 10 byl_ _ J ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 21 IfLou Tordella Says It's OK That's GoodEnough For Me by Gene Becker 11 25 86-36 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Publisher's Note Louis W Tordella and the Making of NSA by William Nolte One of the dangers of retrospection of history itself is the tendency to see that which has happened as having inevitably happened Every teacher of history can point to the folly leading to the American Civil War or the First World War simply because we know the events occurred From the perspective of 1996 or 1941 Lord Keynes's prediction that the Treaty of Versailles would be but an armistice of twenty years looks incredibly prescient From the perspective of 1920 it may have appeared merely cranky In fact of course the United States did not break with that tradition in 1945 It did so in 1947 and beyond when President Truman reversed his and the country's course back to economy and efficiency NSA like the Central Intelligence Agency is a product of that remobilization Which brings us to the second reality nowhere was it predetermined that a national as opposed to departmental cryptologic establishment would be part of the architecture of post-World War II American intelligence In fact the first steps in the creation of a national structure were less than fully successful The British historian Christopher Andrew has observed that the United States suffered strategic surprise in 1941 with two cryptologic agencies in 1950 with the invasion of Korea it took four agencies Army Navy Air Force and the Armed Forces Security Agency to achieve the same effect So it is with institutions First-time visitors to the National Security Agency must be struck above all by the sheer mass of the place Even the eclectic to put it gently architectural style speaks to an institution of some permanence permanent enough at least to have passed through several generations of general service esthetic fashion But it might not have been The success of NSA in operational and bureaucratic dimensions obscures two important realities The first is the relative novelty of a permanent peacetime American cryptologic establishment of any real size Only the Second World War and the subsequent determination on the part of presidents the Congress and the American people to remain on a virtual war footing to engage the Soviet Union led to a break in the tradition of nearly two centuries in which mobilization-of intelligence and military capacity-was followed at the coming of peace by an even more rapid demobilization Seen from the vantage point of retrospective inevitability the creation of NSA in 1952 appears to be the tidy completion of the process of nationalization The Truman administration got it wrong with AFSA got it right with NSA and the rest is history In that context Louis Tordella is noteworthy merely because of the length of his tenure as NSA's Deputy Director His service could be reduced to something of a trivia question for new employees akin to the bits of arcane service lore committed to memory by Annapo- III DOCID 4036134 CR'fPTOLOG Spring 1996 lis plebes and their counterparts at the other academies the uniformed services to intercept the communications of the counterpart target services And even that did not address the needs of civilian agencies and departments So you think dear reader that sounds faintly ridiculous Yet the reality is that it happened and the transition to a consolidated structure and consolidated operations took years of often intense struggle But that retrospective inevitably is illusory NSA might easily have suffered the fate of AFSA It might have been replaced by yet another attempt at cryptologic consolidations or it might have performed its missions ineffectively over the next decades If we believe what we claim about the importance of our missions the cost of such failure would have been measured in lost American interest lost American treasure and lost American lives Finally Dr Tordella understood that the modem cryptologic establishment was not simply a larger version of the black chambers of earlier times Code making and code breaking remained they were not however the total reality of modem cryptology Understanding the signals that carried cryptograms and the electronic computing technology that generated stored or routed them were parts of the process The argument here is that the success of NSA was not foreordained It was the result of that combination of leadership resources and good fortune that underlies so much of human achievement Success was also the product of skill a shorthand term for the aggregation of intelligence imagination integrity and patriotism of the generation of American cryptologists of which Dr Tordella was the acknowledged leader In no sense was this his success alone He was the witting inheritor of the policies and visions of predecessors including NSA's first director LTG Ralph Canine To a great degree Tordella's success brought to fruition the work of RADM Joseph Wenger one of the truly great and greatly ignored figures in the history of American cryptology As was the true miracle of Twentieth Century cryptology traffic analysis The very idea that cryptologists even when unable to produce plain text the Holy Grail of the black chambers could provide valuable even lifesaving information to consumers revolutionized the field As an esoteric skill and in limited applications cryptology can exist apart from the environment of electronic communications and information management Secret ink anyone But secret ink would not support the construction of the mass on the BaltimoreWashington Parkway Modem cryptology is a multiphase multidisciplined process with the final victory achieved not at plain text but at the delivery of information needed by a consumer in a format the customer can handle in time for the customer to act The central fact of American cryptology in the twentieth century remains that Pearl Harbor was a cryptanalytic success the Japanese ultimatum being decrypted before the attack and a cryptologic failure in that the warning was not forwarded at appropriate speed n retrospect the Wenger-Tordella vision seems to have rested on principles so evident as to have seemed inevitable in their adoption There is that word again This vision centered on three fundamentals the first of which was the need for national effort while balancing the interests of the various services and departments of the government The second principle was that of consolidation within the national effort From the perspective of several decades it may seem ridiculous to think that a cryptologic effort would require the placement of stations representing each of iv DOClD 4036134 CRVPTOLOG Spring It has been noted that Dr Tordella in addition to being the heir to so much of the achievement of Canine and Wenger was also the leader of an extraordinary generation of American cryptologists The preparation of this special issue of CRYPrOLOG like so many of the other tributes to Dr Tordella attests to that His colleagues have supported this effort with the same loyalty affection and respect that filled the chapel at Fort Myer for his funeral Mass 1996 We ritualistically dismiss the public perception of intelligence associated with the glamor described by Ian Fleming or even the analyst case officer covert action officer policy maker of Tom Clancy does Jack Ryan also run the motor pool But there is a mystique to it all even amid the day-to-day bureaucracy It gets in your blood may be a partial answer But it doesn't tell the whole story A historian once noted that the Roman Church turned to deal with the wounds of the Reformation and the internal ills that produced it through the handful of adherents to the new Society of Jesus for their learning loyalty discretion resourcefulness and eloquence Dr Tordella was a product of the Jesuit tradition and embodied its virtues chief of which was the determination to confront evil through the development of the intellect Like Louis Tordella his colleagues came to the cryptologic service from other fields expecting one suspects to return to those pursuits after the war Many of the cryptologic personnel of the Second World War did precisely that rising in many cases to positions of eminence in business in academic life or even on the Supreme Court Over and over Dr Tordella's colleagues describe him through characterizations remarkably similar to that description of the early Jesuits a commitment to education his own and others moral authority integrity loyalty A few including Tordella stayed on or resumed service after a short break outside government Why did they stay Certainly not because of the promise of fame or fortune Certainly not because they foresaw an opportunity to get in at the ground floor of a large public enterprise And patriotism This issue is a tribute to Dr Tordella But it cannot fail to be as well a tribute to the generation he led Cryptology as an intellectual diversion may indeed get in the blood but one suspects the other motive for remaining in the service for all of these men and women was something even closer to the heart We their professional descendents and fellow citizens owe them every thanks Some say even now that the business gets in your blood All right up to a point Who doesn't like puzzles and mysteries And which of us would not admit if pressed to some satisfaction at participating in an adult version of the child's I know something you don't know v DOCID 4036134 Spring 1996 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Eulogy for Dr Louis W Tordella by Walter Pforzheimer As I look upon this gathering representing the family friends and colleagues of Louis Tordella-among them great scholars and workers in the field of cryptology to which he devoted so much of his life-I know that the brief remarks I am privileged to make here should not encompass the technical fields to which Lou devoted a life of service to his country and which so many of you know so much better than I But how to remember Lou Tordella in his professional career A few days ago I talked with my good British friend Professor R V Jones sometimes called the father of scientific intelligence for his work in World War II and he recalled Lou's sense of fair play and again his fairness and the balance of his comments This was why in part the British awarded Lou's work and cooperation with the rare for an American title of Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire One might also remember that in 1974 Louis was the seventeenth awardee of the President's National Security Medal-the fourth cryptologist to be so honored How interesting to reflect that this very day today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the appointment of the first Director of Central Intelligence a concept to which Louis gave so much of his professional NSA cooper- ation to make our Intelligence Community into a workable national concept But remember that Louis was not all work and no relaxation Remember his love of family with the wondrous Barbara and his children at his side Remember his great love of music--opera in particular He would sit by the hour listening to opera broadcasts or attending nearby performances of both opera and symphony Remember one of his proudest boasts and he was not a boastful man as he told of how when he was a student he managed to work himself into a walk-on part as a spear carrier in an opera-I think it was Aida ' Let me now say what is known to all of us-Louis' tremendous capacity for quiet friendship His arms reached out to embrace so many of us So did his thoughts As Alexander Pope wrote in the eighteenth century Thou wert my guide philosopher and friend So it was with Louis For me it has been more than a quarter of a century for some of you even longer It was a warmth of friendship which will be with us always Finally let me say in what little Latin I can muster Ave atque vale Hail and farewell dear friend Walter Pforzheimer's involvement with the ass in World War II has been described in Robin W Winks' book Cloak and Gown This eulogy was delivered at the memorial service for Dr Tordella on 23 January 1996 1 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Dr Louis W Tordella 1911-1996 by Thomas R Johnson Dr Louis W Tordella a former top official of the National Security Agency died of cancer on 10 January 1996 at the age of 84 Dr Tordella was a pioneer in the science of cryptology and rose to the position of deputy director of NSA a position he held for sixteen years longer than any other official at NSA Dr Tordella was born in Garrett Indiana in 1911 and grew up in the Chicago environs He displayed an early affinity for mathematics and obtained B S A M and Ph D degrees in the 1930s The outbreak of World War II found him teaching mathematics at Chicago's Loyola University He volunteered for the Army but the recruiter told him that the Army would draft whomever they needed So Tordella made contacts in the Navy and he was brought aboard as lieutenant junior grade in 1942 He went directly into cryptologic work for the Navy's codebreaking organization OP-20-G where he worked on the German Enigma cipher machine He was one of a team of brilliant mathematicians who designed the bombe a wartime machine used to decipher the keys on the Enigma He finished the war at OP-20-G collection stations on the West Coast at Bainbridge Island Washington and Skaggs Island California After the war Tordella stayed on with the Navy and in 1949 he joined the newly created Armed Forces Security Agency AFSA an early attempt to achieve service unity in the business of cryptology He was a key figure in devising policy for the new agency and for its 2 successor the National Security Agency which emerged in 1952 to replace AFSA Although a Navy man Tordella readily grasped the advantages of unification and he pushed the concept forcefully in the early years Tordella's career at NSA brought him to the very front rank of cryptologists On the technical side he was an early advocate of the use of computers for cryptologic work and he helped to cement a close working relationship with a new computer firm Electronic Research Associates which eventually became CDC His grasp of computer technology and the associated engineering concepts coupled with his understanding of cryptanalysis was invaluable in keeping the United States ahead of the field in this critical skill Tardella was also a leader in securing American communications pushing a series of leading-edge new encoding devices to secure U S government communications During the Eisenhower administration when the central concern of the government was the growing Soviet nuclear capability Tordella led the NSA response He was the driving force behind NSA's response to the threat and he directed the technical activities of the Agency at a time when President Eisenhower had little else to rely on except signals intelligence In 1958 Tordella persuaded Eisenhower to fund a new communications initiative called CRITICOMM which offered a means to get critical intelligence information to the White House within ten minutes The new system revolutionized concepts in Ameri- DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring can intelligence bringing with it methodology that is still in use everywhere within the defense and intelligence communities 1996 II Within NSA he became an institution and to many he was NSA There was no precedent for his tenure nor has it since been equaled As a senior official at NSA Dr Tordella played a central role in NSA's outside relationships Close collaborators in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth built up such a trust with Tordella that many foreign intelligence officials regarded him at the linchpin of their relationship with NSA He traveled throughout the world building up that trust and it paid great dividends over many years He also served as the principal contact between NSA and its American collaborators CIA DIA and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Dr Tordella received unprecedented honors over the years On his retirement in 1974 the secretary of defense James R Schlesinger presented him the National Security Medal That same month he received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal from the Director of Central Intelligence William Colby His relationship with the British was officially recognized in he 1976 when become an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Mter his retirement he remained active in Secretary Schlesinger presents Dr Tordella with the Baker Medal In July of 1958 the intelligence community serving on a while he was serving in number of boards a liaison post to the secand committees and as a consultant to various retary of defense Tordella was asked by thenDirector Lt Gen John A Samford to become corporations that held national defense conhis deputy Tordella took office on 1 August tracts In 1992 the Security Affairs Support 1958 and he continued as the deputy to six Association composed mainly of retired intelsuccessive directors until his retirement on 21 ligence officials gave him the William O April 1974 He thus became the longest-servBaker Medal for distinguished service to ing high intelligence official since World War American intelligence CRVPTOLOG thanks Mr Johnson and the Center for Cryptologic History for permission to use the official NSA biography which is engraved on a bronze plaque in the National Cryptologic Museum and for the many photos ofDr Tordella that appear in this issue 3 Spring $993 3 3 1 DDCID DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Louis W 'Torde a Jlonorary 1 niglit Commander of tlie Most fGBP ce ent Order of tlie tJ3ritisli tGBPmpire tj r Presentedby Sir Peter l amsbotliam JGBPer Majest s 9Lmbassador to tlie U S Washington 'DC February 1976 l I Ladies and Gentlemen It is a very great pleasure to welcome Dr and Mrs Tordella and their family and all our friends and guests to this ceremony this afternoon be compatibility But there is a continuing opportunity to contribute to each other's enterprises which makes our joint activities more than doubly rewarding and exciting We have all grown so accustomed to the closeness of the relationship between our two countries that those of use who live and work in the United States have come to take it for granted One reason why I welcome the tumultuous and expansive way in which you in America have begun to celebrate the 200th anniversary of your birth as a nation is that for all the enthusiasm with which we are sharing in your festivities it does remind us British that circumstances are capable of provoking some very nasty misunderstandings It is somewhat paradoxical for an ambassador in speaking to audiences around the country to which he is accredited to remind them of the differences which drove their ancestors to war But I do it because it brings home to us now that the excellent relations we enjoy today are not the result of some divine ordinance It is particularly in this period since World War II that our co-operation has been profitable the period spanned by the career of the man whom we are assembled to honour today For his services Dr Louis Tordella has already been awarded several of his country's highest distinctions But his devotion to his own country has been matched by an outstanding contribution to our common cause The distinction which Her Majesty The Queen has now been pleased to confer upon him is only rarely awarded to a United States citizen It is indeed one of the most senior ranks of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and is in a sense Her Majesty's gift Dr Tordella will be joining the honoured company of those whom the British Sovereign has rewarded over the centuries for services which go far beyond the call of normal duty The distinction is richly deserved by one whose collaboration with the United Kingdom in the field of national security is a most significant example of the partnership which we value so highly I am sure that for you all as well as for my wife and myself and members of my staff this is an occasion that we will long remember They have come about more than anything else through the close ties that exist between so many of the separate departments of our countries' activities both official and unofficial There is in peacetime no natural identity in our national interests even though there may 5 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 And so it is with the greatest pleasure that I shall now read the formal authorisation for me to make this award on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen By command of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by virtue of the authority vested in me as Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador and Plenipotentiary at Washington in the United States of America it is my honour and privilege to present to Louis William Tordella the insignia which Her Majesty The Queen has been graciously pleased to bestow-that of membership of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the rank of Honorary Knight Commander in recognition of outstanding services Louis William Tordella I request that you now come forward to accept the insignia of the Order February 19 1976 I CRYPrOLOG thanks land the UK Liaison Office for providing the text of the ambassador's remarks and photograph ofthe medal EO 1 4 d P L 86-36 6 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Louis Tordella Led by Example P L 86-36 On January 23 1996 I stood in the chill winds among patches of snow in Arlington National Cemetery I heard the words of the funeral service saw the American flag folded and presented to Barbara and family Then came the rifle salute and the lump-in-the-throat sound of Taps My closest longtime friend travel companion and co-worker had come to his final mortal resting place Walking to our car my wife Jeanne and I talked about the gre t gOOd fortune which brought the Tordella and families together For my part I again realized how proud and pleased I am to have spent most of my active career life working with Dr T and the rest of the World War II cryptologic crew l That crew participated in the unification of Army and Navy organizations under the Armed Forces Security Agency AFSA Later we all gave fervent thanks when AFSA was replaced by the National Security Agency-a national-level agency Louis and I became close friends when we participated in the first London Conference in 1948 Rules and agreements were established for cooperation similar to the wartime UKUSA arrangements which had produced amazing successes on difficult challenges After our return we began our career-long cooperation some called it collusion by jointly scraping together a total of slightly over $400 000 _ _ _lis a former NSA senior official P L -from diverse Navy and Army kittys Then we organized and used the money for a do-ityourself' NSG-ASA fabrication project to build radio teletype intercept equipment to cover foreign non-morse communications The production line was in the basement of the cafeteria at Arlington Hall Station The equipment worked and we stayed under budget With the unification of the ASA-NSG organizations the military and civilian components all entered the Agency Invention period of AFSA then NSA This was a time of travelling planning and much bureaucratic shadow-boxing to establish NSA missions and assist Service Cryptologic Agency budgeting personnel and opt rational mission requirements definition and justification From 1952 until 1968 I travelled to much of the world with Dr T visiting and evaluating facilities identifying problems often with NSA and participating in base-rights and cooperative international arrangements With the Director we also made numerous command appearances before DoD and congressional review and approval authorities to sell or save program and budget proposals In later years in fact in October 1995 while Jeanne and I were staying with the Tordellas for the October Cryptologic Symposium Louis and I talked about our choice of a career in NSA We concluded this October that our career decisions were based on 1 the interest satisfaction and lack of sameness of 86-36 7 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 cryptology and 2 personal convictions that the miracles of wartime contributions to Allied success should be maintained as an asset to our nation The motivation for selecting NSG or ASA was certainly not to join an established operation with existing and clear missions and objectives and a positive career outlook for the future On the contrary the stringent security of ULTRA had limited its distribution to a few selected need-to-know military and civilian users This preserved the anonymity but also limited the appreciation of the source Postwar demobilization further shrank the ranks of knowledgeable experienced users to a mere handful gained a number of sponsors in high government offices through VENONA successes Later successes justified funding of expanding NSA and also solidified specific missions and functions for the Agency Yet this problematic venture attracted Louis Tordella who could have opted for universitylevel teaching or other stable occupations With the passing of years and time to think about past and current events I have come to realize that the greatest accomplishment of Louis Tordella and his compatriots and successor cryptologists may not be easy to define-but is in fact the impact the NSA creation has made in our world and in particular in our nation Contributions to successes in One of the greatest problems of the first decade of agency operations was bringing together individualized capabilities and divergent outlooks of very independent and highly skilled technocrats Leadership for harnessing and concentrating the exceptional capabilities of these rugged individualists was provided by Dr Louis W Tordella He was accepted and therefore followed because of his brilliant crypto-scholarship his The stringent security of With the defeat of Axis practical knowledge and ULTRA had limited its military forces the highly his fair professional distribution to a few selected competent cadre of wartime judgment NSA workers need-to-know military and cryptologists faced a unique and members of the civilian users This preserved dilemma They felt commitassociated Intelligence the anonymity but also ted to preserving what they Community became limited the appreciation of knew to be an essential national security function aware of and admired his the source combination of technihowever they were faced cal talent and high moral and ethical standards with It is truthfully said that Or T never compromised his beliefs or objectives and never military o drastic reductions in claimed or derogated success achieved by othexpenditures ers o no major or high national priority He led by example and by offering inspirtargets ing rationale for focusing limited assets and mindpower on urgent requirements His leado limited U S government customers ership was key to NSA responsiveness and contributions when urgently needed by our o questionable requirements for whatever nation's planners and leaders they might be able to produce His choice of career is an indication of his dedication It is difficult today to comprehend the hand-to-mouth existence of the early years of AFSA NSA Fortunately the endeavor had 8 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 If the real value of a life and its ultimate the Intelligence Community assistance to worth is in part the difference it makes in our national leaders and support for military and world then Louis Tordella certainly made diplomatic initiatives have all caused varying degrees of change for U S citizens most of important differences All of us who worked whom probably are not even with him share a aware of the National Secufeeling of pride It is truly said that Dr T never rity Agency Working in and wonder at havhis beliefs or compromised ing been part of an defense industries I see objectives and never claimed or historic national many programs implementderogated success achieved by cryptologic proing cryptologic functions others gram which continue to drive home the fact we are all part U This is my appreciation of an exemof history and all of us share in results of past plary life and my salute to a true friend Dr events Louis W Tordella CRYPfOWG's Former Board Chairman Remembers His First Meeting With Dr Tordella I was truly saddened when I learned of Dr Tordella's passing recalling the first time we met I had entered on duty full-time in June 1966 and automatically entered a six-week orientation program at the old hospital site The weather was hot and sticky compounded by the fact that the only air conditioning was a big fan trying quite unsuccessfully to ease the internal smog Despite the prospects of a long hot afternoon an announcement came by phone that the deputy director was coming by to visit with us Having spent two prior summers as a summer hire I was familiar with who the deputy director was one of the founding fathers ranking with Friedman and several others who had broken the German and Japanese codes leading to victory in WWII You cannot imagine my excitement and yet at the same time disbelief that such an important personage would visit our lowly EOD class Especially that he would do so in such oppressive heat and humidity and then to stay even longer to have lunch with us I don't remember what he said only that he did come by to visit and that he spent a few minutes during lunch talking to each one of us What I remember most of all is the thought I had then and have never forgotten saying to myself so this is what being a great leader is all about I Iretired after spent many years with NSA most recently as the DO Senior Training Authority and Chairman ofthe Technical Health Advisory Board he also chaired CRYPTOLOG 's editorial board P L 86-36 9 DOCID Q JR134 - I Spring 1996 Louis Tordella As Colleagues Remember Him In March 1996 several of Louis Tordella's colleagues assembled in the NSA Broadcast Center for a retrospective on his career The participants for this session were Ann Z Caracristi former Deruty Director of NS A Maj Gen John Morrison land CAPT James Pendergrass USAF reL Mr Arthur Levenson USN ret An edited transcript of their conversation follow P L 86-36 L-R CAPT Pendergrass Maj Gen Morrison Dr Nolte Ms Caracristi Mr Levenson and jreminisce about working with Louis Tordella I CRYPTOLOG Each of you knew Dr Tordella for several decades Captain Pendergrass you seem to have the honors within this group for the earliest association with Dr Tordella Pendergrass After the war the Naval Security Group was in chaos as was everything else in the services I found myself just back from Bletchley and found myself on a newly created staff one of the other members of which was Dr Tordella This was early in 1946 January or February and from that point I got to know him quite well Morrison I met Lou in 1947 at Nebraska Avenue Naval Security Group Headquarters I forget what the occasion was but we were still busy trying to strap ourselves together Something was in the wind about reconstructing the business we had been in We knew that something had to be done about the future of the business and this meeting was one of those occasions Later in 1948 I had the opportunity to travel overseas with him and the relationship continued from there I his period that John's talking about was a very important time in the postwar development of the cryptologic business The Was he still on active duty P L 10 Pendergrass No He had converted by that time 86-36 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring Navy and the Army were coming together and there were many problems associated with integrating their wartime efforts At times it seemed like it was not going to get done but the AFSA came into being That did not put to rest all the frictions and suspicions that existed and this is how I came to know Dr Tordella He was recognized even in those early days as the kind of person who could serve well as a peacemaker That may not be the right word but he had the capacity to develop balanced positions that would lead both sides to trust him and talk to him This is the area in which I've always thought Dr Tordella made his greatest contribution keeping us together in the days when we were very weak and very vulnerable and we could have been attacked from any direction Tordella had foresight and vision and held us together in that period I was already developing a great loyalty to him and it stayed that way throughout my career Most ofthe audience for this discussion will have no first-hand experience with how tenuous arrangements were during this period Any other thoughts on Dr Tordella's role in that time Was there a danger this consolidation would fail Caracristi I think there was As in any consolidation of two bureaucracies or two companies everyone gets very defensive about his own role Will you be able to playas powerful or important a role in the new organization as you did in the old one So there was a lot of tension in this period but I think people who came out of the wartime experience still had a tremendous commitment to what we were all about We were more interested in accomplishing the mission than in fighting bureaucratic battles though there certainly was some of that going on Morrison To use the current expression we had different cultures 1998 Levenson At the working levels it may not have been that bad but at the higher levels it got worse In the Army we had the feeling that the only way we could find out what the Navy was doing was to go through the British So the communication path from Arlington Hall to Nebraska Avenue ran through Bletchley Park Levenson It was really ridiculous So consolidation was always looked upon as a distinctly frail effort Morrison Younger people here who are interested in the pulling and tugging associated with those days ought to take a look at some of the material on that period just to see what life in that period was like It was tough going You were never sure we were going to end up with a coherent assembly of people who would be mission-centered and with the capability to serve the national interest Service rivalries were tough and once the Air Force became separate in 1948 you had another player to contend with I was very active on that side pulling and tugging in the direction of the Air Force while the Army and Navy were pulling in their own directions Levenson Another of the tough issues of the period involved our relations with GCHQ We had the cooperation during the war the result of a high-level agreement between Roosevelt and Churchill Historically even between the friendliest of countries people never exchanged cryptologic sources and methods and results The fact of this cooperation with the assignment of Americans to GCHQ was a breakthrough But with the war over the question was Where do we go from here Do we continue with this cooperation or is it too sensitive Lou Tordella played a very important role in this area as one of the people who established the postwar cooperation 11 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring P L 86-36 1996 We're having this conversation within a week of the 50th Anniversary of that agreement Was there opposition to continuing this extraordinary cooperation I 1of course There was opposition from other intelligence elements who felt that the cooperation in Signals Intelligence was too close and other people were feeling left out Some of this may have been that there were no formal guidelines for the cooperation until the BRUSA agreement which Lou not only played a role in devising but on which he spent the next several years working on implementation Morrison Lou was recognized early on in this relationship as a leader as a man of substance Even as early as the BRUSA Conference of 1948 he was recognized as the leader of the American delegation Louis stood out he always stood out Was that a consensus view In late 1952 AFSA was replaced by the National Security Agency Where was Dr Tordella in the process I b LOU had run what was called the CollectIOn ivision in AFSA running in effect the intercept resources This was a natural for him having come in to AFSA from having been a station commander in the Navy Then when General Canine came in 1951 Lou moved to what was called AFSA 12 Plans and Policy That unit had assembled several of the bright young stars of the agency and it's my recollection that Lou went from there to the National War College in 1953-1954 When he left the War College he spent a year or so at the Pentagon working for General Graves B Erskine who was a great friend of General Canine NSA's Director He then became head of something called NSA 70 it had been AFSA 70 but we kept the same numbers and just changed the letters Caracristi I've always been Levenson I can remember That tells us something grateful to Lou for the chance to be exposed to an entirely a briefing he gave early on It about how momentous the different part of the business was so remarkable in its deciswitch was from AFSA to siveness and its clarity I told NSA You went out of business on Friday as AFSA and came back to him afterward he was going to be the first civilian director of NSA He didn't quite make the same organizations on Monday that but then no one else has either Caracristi At the time I was in one branch and Juanita Moody was in charge of One of the names associated with Dr another working a different problem Lou Tordella's early career is that of Admiral called us in one day and essentially asked us if Joseph Wenger Would it be fair to describe we would be willing to ex change jobs Lou Dr Tordella as a Wenger protege was not the sort of person you said no to but at the time it seemed to me like a strange arrangePendergrass To a certain extent Lou had ment In the end though it worked out very worked for then-Captain Wenger who had a well giving each of us a chance to be exposed real appreciation for what Lou could do to an entirely different part of the business 12 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring I've always been grateful to him for arranging that What was it like working here during that time It was a technically difficult period Did that affect morale Caracristi Morale was never hard when the problems were hard In fact I recall morale as being very good Tordella's opinion of what the deputy director should be like Dr Tordella tells him the deputy director should be the director's alter ego and Gen Samford says in effect you're it Was that a surprise to anyone Levenson Dr Tordella had given one of his celebrated briefings to General Samford and a small group at the Pentagon and they were very impressed And that may have sold it for Lou Was there however concern being expressed from outside the agency about the future of cryptology Caracristi There were concerns in that regard and committees were formed to look over our shoulders an effort in which Arthur was heavily involved I IOf course congres- I IThere was another candidate fottl1e job but I don't think there was any doubt thatDr Tor el1awas thenatural choice for the job P L '--_ _ 'Iwew re telling companies like Control Data and IBM what we wanted and Tordella was at the center of that effort sional oversight was a completely different issue We didn't have any in those days General Canine's favorite story was that he would go down to Capitol Hill and some member of the appropriations committee would ask some interesting question to which the general would answer Congressman you don't really want to know the answer to that You wouldn't be able to sleep at night And the members would look at each other and they were content with that Levenson All the committee chairs were very friendly in those days and the secrecy impressed them and they believed that NSA had to operate in a special way to be effective We got most of what we wanted and a free hand in how we used it In 1958 General Samford invites Dr Tordella to a meeting in which he asks for P L 1996 aLwillgilarantee us a sotto voce reference or two on the tape to the other candidate Were there any immediate changes with him in that job Levenson I think the immediate impression was that now we had a deputy director because his predecessors had had little impact Joe Ream the first deputy director may have been a terrific lawyer but he was out of his element And Howard Engstrom was a capable man but he held the job for only a short time before he left too Once Lou came into the job you knew there was someone there Dr Tordella told the story of Mr Ream coming into his office on the day Ream left handing Tordella all his papers and saying Lou you might as well keep these You're the only person here who's ever spoken to me Morrison I wasn't stationed here at the time I was in the field But the immediate impression was that there was a steady hand on the tiller These were turbulent times and peo- 86-36 13 86-36 DOCI vlrg 134 sPring --1996 pIe felt safer with Lou up there manning the conn Captain Pendergrass you were not here at the time but you had remained personal friends with Dr Tordella Pendergrass Well when he made deputy director I was surprised I was with the Agency in Melbourne but even though he was an old friend I considered it a surprise-a very pleasant surprise He came out a few months later for a conference He was still very interested in foreign relations and he impressed all his colleagues at that conference We've entered into the period of his deputy directorship a time in which among other things NSA was doing important work with the emerging technology of computers 1 IcanyOl l speak to that In looking at Dr Tordella's work in this aT one gets the sense of someone very conscious the need to stay in touch with developments places like IBM and other tft_ nical centers Pendergrass L u always knew what he was talkingabOLJt because he spent time and effort to understand the issues Levenson The computer business was in its infancy A few years earlier we'd had the invention of the first stored program devices like ENIAC and the British COLOSSUS which you programmed by setting switches After the war several small groups especially the United States got into the business Remington RandUNIVAC got started as ERA Energy Research Associates and Howard Engstrom was deeply involved in that effort In those days AFSA and later NSA operated with something of a fee hand in using our money This amounted at one point to about $20 million dollars in available funds which in those days was real money But we invested that money in several computer projects including an effort to underwrite research into high-speed computing We 14 were basically telling companies like Con Data and IBM what we wanted in high-spl high-storage computers HARVEST was result of that effort That was all NSA Tordella was at the center of that effort i many years we were IBM's best custom They knew it we knew it and we had a cons' erable influence on the industry Levenson Bell Labs another example We wor with Bell Labs to develop first instances of shared p gramming allowing seve users to have access to the s computer The whole concep' virtual storage in which y keep moving data around so things you're not using immo ately can be shoved out so SOl thingelsec n be shoved increasing your storage P L The issue of people skills must have b interesting You certainly didn't go out and people with computer degrees Levenson Right We had to develop own skills but we came up with some craclr jack programmers that way In those days programming languages were very primitiand very specialized That was very diffie We eventually decided however to go to so'thing called open-shop programming on theory that it was still easier to teach a crypt lyst to program than to teach cryptanalysis programmer We had some friction in the e days of cryptanalysts complaining that the grammers didn't know what they wantel 86-36 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring wouldn't deliver what they wanted so we said Here You do it Caracristi That's an area in which Lou Tordella had to step in and make it open Levenson Oh yes He had to overcome the resistance of the programmers' union that didn't want to open up the field Speaking about another union what about Tordella's relationship with other parts of the intelligence community Caracristi I think they were excellent He developed an excellent relationship with Richard Helms for instance He was the kind of person who developed respect Those were times when NSA was recognized as it continues to be as the expert in a rather arcane world Lou was able to bridge the gap between that world and the more general area of intelligence Most of all he was able to make understandable what was going on at NSA using the briefing skills that Arthur has described His standing in the community was very high and he was in effect our link to the community Morrison Those of us who attended Lou's funeral noted the number of people from other parts of the community CIA was well represented as were other agencies They really turned out You get the sense that when Louis Tordella talked people listened Pendergrass He was a good teacher Follow up on that ifyou would Pendergrass As a matter of fact Lou not only taught before he came into this business he taught at night at George Washington University He even used that experience to recruit a few people 1996 Levenson He was very good at teaching He would have risen to the top of that field or any other field he got involved in On a trip to Alaska one time we stopped in Chicago to change planes and we were met there by the provost of Loyola University of Chicago Lou's undergraduate alma mater At one point the provost turned to Lou and said If you had stayed with us you would have been the dean It sounds like GW's math department needs to erect a plaque ofsome sort marking the contribution of NSA to its programs Solomon Kullback and Louis Tordella Pendergrass I think we've missed one point in that Lou always knew what he was talking about because he spent time and effort to understand the issues he was dealing He wanted to understand all the parts of the business rather than being a specialist in cryptanalysis or collection or whatever P L I IHissi dent-teacher involvements were a lifelong concern He taught both before and while he worked here But even after he retired he continued to go over to the University of Maryland and take courses in chemistry and physics What was it like working here while Dr Tordella was deputy director Caracristi As Jim said he worked very hard to keep track of almost everything One of the things I remember him keeping track of was the VENONA problem which has recently been declassified Now everybody knows about it but for a long time this was something Lou took a great deal of personal interest in He kept in touch with the people working it he looked at the product he personally arranged to collect material that would enhance our productivity on this problem It was also an area in which he had great concerns about security and compartmentation 15 86-36 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 He kept personal track as he always did with the people working problems and issues that interested him And he knew-personallyvast numbers of the people who worked here even during periods of rapid growth Did he have a role in the continued work on this project so long after collection stopped Levenson Let me put in awordfor Gordon Blake who was a very good director and who did not feel threatened by Lou And they worked well together Next to Canine who in my book was in a class by himself Blake was marvelous I ICanine was another one who had a Caracristi Very much so There was a great deal of concern that within this material great respect for Tordella iNa question about it Canine helped establishDr Tordella's position in this agency To cite another case I might be revealed who were the missing spies don't think Gen Samford was intimidated by in various cases that had developed Because he thought this material might reveal some of that information-in effect traitors in this country or in England-he together with the British encouraged the pursuit of this problem Dr Tordella I think he regarded him as a friend I know that Admiral Frost looked to Tordella for help On many things Were there people in the building who were suggesting that this was not worth continued effort that it was becoming a historical problem not a cryptanalytic one Caracristi Yes there were I may have even become one of them It must have been difficult for a new director to come in here with a deputy who was so firmly entrenched I ISome of these directors are still around so I'd better be careful But most of these men had very strong personalities of there own so I don't think they felt challenged by Dr Tordella Some especially those we might describe as more intellectual actually felt good having him around General Allen and Dr Tordella had a great relationship and General Allen was one of the better-informed directors technically speaking we've had Other directors may have been more political or not as technically skilled and they may have been intimidated by Dr Tordella P L P L 86-36 16 Levenson Admiral Frost looked for help anywhere I dmiral Frost was his own man and made his own decisions But he was wise enough to understand that Dr Tordella's understanding of this business was greater than his He took advantage of that understanding All the parties associated with this story are deceased so I think I can tell it without fear of libel suits But we had a new 9irector Admiral Frost and there was a period of several weeks in which he could not take up his position because his predecessor was not eager to give it up So Dr Tordella who had become deputy director at that time decided Admiral Frost should occupy himself going around visiting places that were going to be important to him in his new job He wanted him to visit GCHQ and he asked me to go with him to keep an eye on him make sure he saw the right people and so on Let's talk about the period just before and after Dr Tordella's retirement Was this a surprise Caracristi No I think it was accepted 86-36 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring Morrison If anything I think people felt Lou was entitled to retire He had borne the brunt of an awful lot Caracristi And Buffham was the heir apparent Buff had worked plans and policy and had the background to deal with the range of problems associated with the job So I think it was a very easy transition Levenson I think it was an advantageous time for him to retire personally and at some point I think he actually felt he may have stayed a bit too long It may have been true He did so many marvelous things but you can only stay in a job so long He was ready to go What stands out about him personally What should this generation of cryptologic professionals know about Louis Tordella Morrison He was a dedicated man a man who just lived this business The amazing thing is how he found the time to do all the things he did He ran rings around all of us I frequently worked on Saturdays when I was ADP and Lou would work on Saturdays and after noon or so we would go up to the Director's dining room and look in the icebox and get cheese and rolls and libations and then we'd really get around to talking about what was on our minds This was where you 1996 saw the real warm considerate person he was I just admired the dickens out of him Caracristi It's important to remember that even though he did work hard he was able to maintain interests in things other than work He was very interested in opera not just the Washington Opera but the Baltimore Opera He went to New York to the operas he was interested in other kinds of music He was interested in his family This was a very wellrounded person P L 86-36 _ _ _ITheie'il everbe another Tordella Captain Pendergrass we've done you the disservice of surrounding you with all of these Army people You get the last word Pendergrass He was a rare combination He was a very smart man a hard-working man a very good leader who was also very loyal It's not easy to find people who combine all of these When you think of the funeral and the chapel at Fort Myer absolutely full I think the staff over there was completely unprepared for standing room only for a Captain u S Naval Reserve That was a tribute on the part of everyone there I know you're all here today to honor Dr Tordella but for those of us working here today it's an honor to have you back Thanks for coming to spend the time 17 DOCID 4036134 CRVPTOLOG Spring 1996 CRYPTOLOG interviews NSA employee Gene Becker Mr Becker you've witnessed the discussion with Dr Tordella's colleagues What's your sense ofDr Tordella's contribution to NSA example he handled the NSA budget practically singlehandedly He either prepared the director to go downtown or he testified personally When questions came about why did NSA need this or need that As has already been pointed out Dr Tordella's contribution to this the assurance that Dr agency was absolutely tremenTordella says they need it dous Among the qualities went a long way toward When questions came that distinguished him were gaining approval about why did NSA need this his integrity even extendThat kind of authority ing to very minor things is not likely to be or need that the assurance Frank Austin who was equalled that 'Dr Tordella says they very close to Dr Tordella describes how TordeUa Someone once said need it' went a long way was in London when Frank You manage things toward gaining was our representative there you lead people And approval the leadership quality Tordella's flight was cancelled and Austin offered to arrange to comes across so strong you get him on another flight first could still see it today with our class Dr Tordella refused saying he guests Dr Tordella was their wouldn't travel first class because no one else leader in the agency could Austin tried to persuade him that it would keep him on schedule but Tordella And that respect and authority continued wouldn't hear of it He flew out the next morning throughout his life There's also that attention to on coach That was Dr Tordella detail Nothing was too insigrrlficant to escape his attention When the agency moved to the FriendThe other characteristic that came out in this ship complex the regulations said the government conversation was his moral authority When the had to pay relocation allowances if the change of Martin and Mitchell case came about it was one of station involved a trip of more than 10 miles The the worst spy cases in the agency's history to that system assured Dr Tordella that in fact the distance point It shook everybody up the chief of persondid exceed 10 miles But that wasn't good enough nel and the chief of security were fired and the for Tordella Joe Burke who was then a senior workforce was very restive Rumors were flying executive used to tell about getting a call from all over Dr Tordella convened a meeting in the Tordella saying Bring your car around in ten minFriedman Auditorium and gave assurance to the utes Not knowing what the purpose was Burke agency that no matter how bad the case was we brought his car around to the front of the building would go on People should go back to their jobs Tordella got in and directed him to Friendship and carry on With his assurance the shock waves And the distance on the odometer was just over 10 going through the agency were stilled He had miles But there was that attention to detail He enormous authority in moments of crisis approved every major project But the power of Dr Tordella's word was enormous within the U S government At the time for 18 He was restless about the development of a more bureaucratic system that seemed to be under- DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring tnining that personal control that had been possible when the agency was younger and smaller Toward the end the growth of bureaucracy the increased congressional oversight and other things must have been significant changes for him The simple growth of the agency was a factor We had become a several billion dollar a year corporation with thousands of people operating a global system And that may have been part of the feeling referred to by Arthur Levenson that Tordella may have felt that he stayed a little too long If you go back to that period of consolidation we spoke about earlier that consolidation was successful But it's important to note that it could have failed It was not inevitable There was nothing inevitable about it at all In fact as someone said earlier we were on probation in those early years We were constantly being examined and reexamined We owed our success in part to Eisenhower who remembered how important COMINT had been to him during the war and wasn't going to jeopardize that And internally you look at people like Gen Canine Adm Wenger and Dr Tordella as keys to that success with Dr Tordella providing much of the continuity What Tordella contributed among other things was his ability to negotiate between various factions If he proposed a compromise people were willing to listen His personal prestige carried enormous times at a delicate point in our history The centrifugal forces in the process a natural restlessness on the part of the services to accept NSA authority a tendency to wonder whether intelli- 1996 gence they didn't control would be there when they needed it was an understandable concern So we always had to prove the case that we would be there And re-prove it There's a changing audience out there that constantly has to be reeducated and Dr Tordella provided enormous continuity over a long period of time You were interviewing him late in his life when he knew he was very ill What sort of assessment had he made ofhis career I think he was enormously proud of his role That came through in the interviews as did his natural role as a teacher He left a legacy of technical excellence that he was proud of and that will endure as long as the agency endures He was the first NSA employee to attend the National War College and he pushed programs like that He pushed people to go into them It was not Tordella single-handedly promoting this people like Frank Rowlett and others also contributed but the emphasis on technical excellence is one of his enduring legacies Any last thoughts We'l1 never see another Tordella for a variety of reasons We've changed Tne world has changed But the qualities he brought to the agency integrity moral authority and civility those are always in short supply And qualities we always need to look for That too is a part of his legacy Not a bad record Moral authority integrity teaching instincts technical excellence leadership All the things we would want to instill into future generations Exactly 19 4036134 Spring 1996 20 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring P L 1996 86-36 Dr T - The Man B I -_ I completed a review of about twenty boxes of former Deputy Directors' correspondence at about the time of Dr T's death in January 1996 The title Dr T was used almost universally by many mid-level managers Much of his material will continue to be of high interest to SIGINT and COMSEC INFOSEC today historians Having known him personally I was always impressed by his technical knowledge management skills and writing ability After reviewing many of his hand-written notes letters and memoranda I am now equally impressed by his humanity He was extremely logical in his thought processes a master of the English language and precise in his instructions particularly for access to sensitive material His application of the need-to-know principle was often enforced by obtaining one's agreement not to make copies nor show it to anyone one's initials usually were mandatory One could feel the sincerity and the intensity as he explained to people in meetings and on the telephone how things would be Here are a few of his notes to specific individuals o 30 November 1964 Polly For your info Please initial If you choose to let anyone else see it please let me know Please return and we can discuss o 8 December 1973 By Hand Buff you should read this Please return to me by hand o 10 July 1973 This copy retained by me with the writer's knowledge o December 1973 N B If these papers cannot remain in the DIDIR safe they should be burned Under NO circumstances should they go to the archives L W Tordella Even 22 years later his wishes were heeded they did not go the archives 1 etired after 41 years of government serVlce After a 21-year career with the Naval Security Group he has worked for five Directors five Deputy Directors and ten Chiefs ofStaff Executive Directors P L o 9 July 1974 Mr XXXX read in my presence I stressed no attribution of any ideas set forth herein o He once wrote a reply for Lt Gen Carter's signature which further typifies his sensitivity to access First of all be assured that only Lou and I will know of the contents of your letter until such time as you advise me that the appointment is made public Except of course the beautiful blonde secretary who typed this and she is the most discreet of the three of us Discreet inquiries lead me to conclude that your choice of a replacement is an excellent one I notice that you have emphasized his tender age-44 It is only pure coincidence I'm sure which prompts me also to refer to people in this age bracket as babes in arms and to 54-yearold people as fuzzy-cheeked youths Us older folk are teen-aged delinquents 86-36 21 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 Dr T was a champion of the UKUSA agreement and would have surely attended the 50th anniversary of its existence had he lived only a few more months Also noteworthy was the presence of the current Directors of both GCHQ and CSE at his funeral in Arlington National Cemetery on 23 January 1996 EO 1 4 c P L 86-36 maybe keep your door closed more often during the day and not be so available 1 really think you must do something Such cogent advice notwithstanding no one remembers seeing Dr T 's door closed often nor many horseholders awaiting instructions from the master His letters to the Senior U S Liaison Officer London SUSLOL and to GCHQ were extensive most of them he apparently wrote himself Among other topics he like everyone else wanted to know how he was perceived by others In the mid-60's he asked a trusted SUSLOL colleague for an informal assessment which brought a handwritten reply Further in your letter you ask of 'any reflections recently on your On 27 May 1982 performance ' People long after he retired Dr sometimes tell me you In spite of advice from T reviewed a 1963 are too busy i e that you colleagues to moderate his do too much yourself report He penned a note schedule and rely more on My reply is 'who else ' on the cover which said others no one remembers I spent almost 8 days The only specific thing I seeing Dr T 's door closed often full time on various have heard from our nor many horseholders awaiting aspects of this study of XXXX friends which is instructions from the master NSA and NSA-GCHQ anything but high relationships He no praise was their amazedoubt provided his usual ment over the XXXX thing The concern was deep and they had a sage advice to interested NSA parties hard time reconciling the NSA 'position' and their knowledge and opinion of you They In a 2 March 1968 letter to SUSLOL Another problem which is causing me undue finally attributed it to the fact that you were so busy that you hadn't had time to think it waste of time and energy is the usual agitation and nonsense about reorganization which through and XXXX had got you in a weak moment Otherwise all and everything I hear occurs in every Director's third year of office from visitors is fine Because 1 don't feel inclined to discuss it in detail without a liberal use of four-letter words I'll say nothing further about it And he With respect to how busy you are Saturdidn't But his good sense of humor came days and all that-you've got to stop it-I don't know how But you aren't going to be through in the final paragraph By the any good to anybody if you get sick Could time all the miscellaneous nonsense is taken you use XXXX more Have you given any care of the remaining two to five percent of my time is being devoted to coping with some thought to having a couple of junior 'leg men' type assistants Could XXXX take some of of the pressing daily problems in the Agency including the budget and one or two other the administrative load off you Could you 22 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring minor inconsequential aspects 1996 plex technical matters and respect for the ease with which you covered the full spectrum of NSA responsibilities EO 1 4 c P L 86-36 If you have read the Ramparts artic e you will note that most of the claims made by the author FELLWOCK and I can hardly resist the temptation to transpose a couple of letters The statement in his name are fictional that the NSA HQS has no windows is belied by the picture of the HQS building published in Ramparts which shows either windows or painted-on black rectangles For this particular message he did not even let the communications center keep a copy the original message form was dutifully returned to him with the date time group handwritten on it His ability to explain NSA's mission and functions was much in demand both at home and abroad An August 1973 letter from the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board acknowledged his briefing skills you might be interested in learning that there was a uniform sense of admiration for the clarity with which you articulated a series of com- J r T 's edicts were not encumbered by formal decision memoranda He oftenwandered into your office exchanged pleasantries and told VOll what he wanted done 1 I After successful testing and amid plans for an operational capability the ever-practical logical and sensible Dr T feared aircraft collisions L -_ l The coup de grace was delivered personally to the senior manager quietly efficiently and irrevocably L- J Some may have chafed under the inflexibility of his guidelines strict accountability and attention to detail however his strong leadership ability was widely respected and obviously served the Agency well in its formative years There is little doubt that to many he was in fact Mr NSA during his tenure as Deputy Director from 1958 through 1974 23 00cm 4036134 Spring 1996 24 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring 1996 If Lou Tordella Says It's OK That's Good Enough For Me by Gene Becker The young Navy lieutenant was handed a highly classified message with instructions to decrypt it personally It was 1943 and the lieutenant was Dr Louis Tordella acting OIC of operations at the Bainbridge Island Naval Station receiving an eyes only instruction from Naval Headquarters to set up a compartmented intercept project directed against Soviet naval communications He quickly assembled a select team of about 15 operators all of whom had been on-the-roof-gang l Morse operators and many of whom went on to have highly successful careers in the Navy six retired as captains including Chris Currie and Hal Jocelyn This was the first U S Navy collection effort against a Soviet military target and was Dr Tordella's first operational cryptologic assignment Dr Tordella's association with the Soviet problem continued after he left Bainbridge Island in 1944 He received orders to go on assignment to China after a stop at headquarters in Washington On arriving in Washington he learned that his orders had been changed and that he was to report to Bell Laboratories in New York for special training on a new system of equipment that was designed to decipher Japanese voice codes Before the system could be deployed to the Pacific however the military situation there had changed and it was redirected to a newly established U S Navy experimental intercept site at Skaggs Island with Lt Tordella in charge In addition to personally heading the operation he designed a 1 This term was applied to the Navy's Morse intercept operators who literally were trained in huts on the roof of the Navy Headquarters building crude multiplexer the first of its kind then Lt j g Art Houseman who went on to become CEO of Ampex designed a greatly improved multiplexer this system despite being cobbled together proved to be very successful The training assignment at Bell Labs was to have an important influence on Dr Tordella It was a valuable lesson in how research and development could quickly provide concrete solutions to operational problems in the field It was also a lesson in the value of training and hands-on experience in the successful deployment of new and untried systems Furthermore it was a practical demonstration of the importance of collaboration and cooperation with the private sector The early years of Dr Tordella's long career in cryptology were one of many subjects that he talked about in a series of interviews conducted as part of the Center for Cryptologic History's Oral History program in the year preceding his death What follows are some impressions of Dr Tordella and a few highlights of these interviews a full account will be published in the future In 1960 the defection to the Soviet Union of two junior NSA cryptanalysts named Martin and Mitchell made front-page news across the nation and hit the Agency with devastating impact Although the Agency had had several spy cases in the past specifically those of Mr Becker is a longtime NSA employee This article is derived from a series of oral history interviews conducted with Dr Tordella by the author 25 DOCID 4036134 CnYFTOLOG Spring 1996 Petersen and Dunlap none was of the magnitude of the defection to Moscow of Martin and Mitchell Several investigations were launched into the affair the most significant of which was that of the House Un-American Activities Committee There were several immediate consequences of the various investigations the Chief of NSA security was fired and a number of subordinate officials were transferred the Chief of Personnel was also fired and the security clearance procedures were changed to require full background investigations before access to classified material was granted ued The affair continto reverberate His words of the workforce or by himself Such was his reputation for probity on the Hill that Senator Saltonstall the senior senator from Massachusetts and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee was quoted as saying If Lou Tordella says it's OK that's good enough for me Dr Tordella recalled one occasion when Mendel Rivers Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee asked to see him very early one morning to explain why there was need for another Liberty ship for the Navy to use as an intercept platform Before meeting with the chairman Dr Tordella asked about the existing Liberty ship and was told that the assurance to Navy had ordered it to after the take u a osition off the throughout the Agency and rumors of addicoast because of Martin and tional firings and adverse defection actions persisted Dr of a seriOBS intem l1 CriTordella by now Deputy Mitchell had an immediate sis there P o LDu'ffugl 6his Director of the Agency meeting Chairman Rivwith a well-established calming effect ers asked him where the existing ship was reputation for honesty located and Dr and integrity and with an aura of moral authority convened an open Tordella responded that it was on location off ecause of the current meeting of employees in the Friedman Auditothe coast rium In a brief address he told a standingcrisis Good said Rivers That's where it room audience that the Agency had been hurt ought to be and approved the request for a by the Martin and Mitchell affair that actions second ship had been taken to improve security and personnel procedures but that there would be no As Deputy Director he took a special witch hunt no draconian measures and that the interest in and played a direct role in the conessential work of the Agency would continue duct of the Agency's foreign relations He had and would prosper His words of assurance been a leading member of the U S team that negotiated the original BRUSA Agreement had an immediate calming effect and life at NSA soon resumed its normal pattern shortly after World War II and later he played a key role in negotiating the follow-on UKUSA Dr Tordella described relations with ConAgreement that governed the relationship between NSA and GCHQ Dr Tordella's gress during most of his career as Deputy Director as being confined to dealing with a view which in effect became the Tordella docfew key committee chairmen and senior memtrine was that the Agency had a partnership bers in both Houses He often appeared perwith GCHQ and that we shared tasking and sonally before the committees either operations but could function independently of one another As he said We are each mindful accompanying the various directors he served I 26 DOCID 4036134 CRYPTOLOG Spring of our national interests but can still find common ground Dr Tordella was also directly involved in relations with private industry Here too the high regard and esteem in which he was held served the Agency's interests well He developed a close and long-standing relationship with Dr William O Baker former director of Bell Labs Dr Baker was an influential member of the scientific community a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under several presidents and a great champion of cryptology and the Agency Dr Tordella had an understanding with Dr Baker and others in the private sector that if NSA needed help in technical and scientific endeavors they would respond as a matter of the highest priority NSA was brought in on planning by IBM Sperry Rand RCA and Burroughs among others and was able to influence significantly the design of systems and equipment and indeed the pace and direction of research and development particularly in the fields of telecommunications and computers As is evident Dr Tordella was involved in every important aspect of the Agency's mission and functions One aspect that he dealt with that resonates even today was the NSA role in the production of intelligence The issue began with the establishment of the Agency and the attempt to rein in its cryptologic mission by those opposed to the centralization that NSA represented The subject was highly contentious and charged with emotion and issue was joined over NSA's issuing several summary reports during one of several crises in the 1960s when the flow of intelligence had overwhelmed the system 1996 NSA The issue was taken up at a USIB meeting at which Dr Tordella represented the Agency Mter Gen Carroll explained his position the chairman asked him whether he found the reports useful He replied with a yes The chairman then asked him whether DIA could have issued the same reports He replied with a no The Chairman then asked each member the same questions received the same replies turned to Dr Tordella and said that NSA should continue to publish such reports Dr Tordella was the first Agency civilian to attend the National War College and thereafter the Agency began to send people to the senior service schools routinely He was a great believer in the value of training and education and we mentioned earlier how his own experience at Bell Labs made a lasting impression on him He also promoted maintaining the highest possible standards of technical and professional excellence and ardently supported the professional career structure that became a hallmark of NSA's career development program Dr Tordella's long and' distinguished career chronicles the Agency's passage from its tentative beginning after WWII to its position today as a pillar of national security Dr Tordella although forewarned that the summary reports would stir up a controversy in the community approved their release Gen Carroll then director of DIA immediately protested this overstepping of bounds by 27 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu