I 17 I'ES 1949 Dil'ectol ot gistics Ceneral Statt U A'l1TI s AT'lf1I' Cb Foreign fil Aid Br i 1 Informal advice indidatee that it is pre plamied to ship a small number ot the CoirrertG H t o Tarkey to permit inat ru cU on or 'furJd sh military personnel in h4'i Para tion ot this equipment This Division believes that the poliq under- wti lch this equipneJlt is made available to foreign nations through the voiou aid programs should be reexamined ' 2 The Converter r _ 209 is a low echelon non-regietered cipher device used by th U S below division level and 1# still a stardard item ot iesue t be paam wa r the Coderter 15-209 was issued to allied troops inc1miing the Prench Bruil ians and Umcana ani eince t he war bas been rurn tshed in tobn tieo to ftrious Sc u tb an Central Amer oan countriee through milita 17 aid programs tn case a nce the 'Wal haw au tt1oient devices been issued foreign nation to auppq its tactical organisa tions From lnf'orm t tou a'Y81lable f t appeats that the equi Jlent haa been used for inst 1 11Ctioml purpoaes at toreip c9'mmnicat 1dns schools o 3 It is an accepted P d ncipl that the proriaton oGBP security equipi11ent mi procedures tar militarT COlJPY1mlnlootiqne of arv country 18 a mat ter Of concern to that country alone exce duril2g wart J tne when requirements for inter-allied comunioa tion U J1 diota e the i ieed tor mod U'ica tion ot the principle ln which case special crnrtoqsteme are prov1ded l'articularq 1n peacetime it is umiae to giw Wide AielMi d rJation to our aecuri t y procedures sitlce it pmnita a potential enemy tCi tJNpare hiJuelt to handle our wartime cammunioat tona Were security methqdl ataUo possible harm would be miniJ iisedJ hcwlfJYeJ this la not the aaee oince aas t he art develops procedures i mpl' ove and the j deaa are irlco d in the tl'a ning literature It this literature is widely dissemtn ted tO iendq rore1gn nations then the chances ot a potent ial enemy knowinit OU ' lat eat J lOthoda are Yaatq improved 'ftle orJ4r defense against thier aituation ia to Btl ctly limit the dissemination of such intorsnat lon 4 It ahou 1d be pointed out that tographic documents ueed below cU vision leYel must be given a 1 eDOlllh claeaitication to permit their issue to and use by troops st01'Q e tacilitiea 1i'l tbe l ovrer eohelcns w Ul not permit general iesu e ot documen a claaaitied h1gher than RES'l'R tcTm With respect to the U-209 1teelt 1t 1a a C PJ' ot a COlm'liercial equipa nhioh can be purchased f iom a raanutacturillg oonceft'l in SWwaderi and therefore does rJOt requ re clisa lticat ton 5 The method ot operation ot the J -209 as used 1n t R U S purely u s dEmtlopnent Arqr is a netruct1cns obtaine-d with the Swadiab dev lco ee nowhere near as complete nor do tbf l provid e u secure endphe 6 The cost ot the cor m91'Cial device coqn rable to the U-209 Jl'l l'Ulfacturecl 1n sftedon ia apprmdmateq t250 oo 'lbe u s o manutactured approxi ma tely 112 000 ot the devicee during the paet war with a lead time requirement appraximawq one year Upon completion or the contl'act the tools diG z and tixtures used in the manutacture ot the equipaent wete deotroJedo Avauahle int01'1TBt1 cn ridicatee there ara aP Pl'OXtmateq 32 000 H-209's 1n Z I depot stock ' be T E ot an il'lf'ant%7 divieton calls tor the 1-ue ot 117 ot the dev lce It is appmient tram the above that preont atock quantities of the Converter would permit no lal p lsauea ot tl'da equipn ent to foreign nations and at lll Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 06-17-2014 pursuantto E 0 1352a 22 ' SECRET AmltllTO EHCtoSURI n su o retain an adequate Wat' N8411 W tor iour m farces Due to the high commercial price per unit it 18 1m111cel1 that arw tore lgn mt ion wc uld find it econm1cally feasible to outtit itf s torees frOll the SWed18h source I 6 We adftntage can be seen in tl'aining foreign communications specialists in the uee ot em equipn etlt U thq will not have the equipnent available during their norral dutJ' part1cular17 ad nae u s aommmtcation security is jeopardised and the se ty of conmnioat ons ot the toretsn nation 11 not improved 9 In view ot the abcJVe th G t S r1 1ca recomn ealsc a ' bat the Connirtera norr on requiait ion by the Amarican J fiaaion tor Aid to TUrkq not be uaued b ' 'hat without prior approval ot this DiYision no further issue ot tho Converter Jl-209 or associated instructional documonta be made to f'oreign nationa ar to militU T llisaiona tor f nstruotion ot foreign military peno nnel e I CU LIONEL c Col osc 1 cGARR Assistant Executive lm ORA'NDm FOR RECOIU t Thia cotteepon ence is a reexmdna t ion of the u s poliq permitt illg the issue ot the Oonverter 209 to foreign nations umei- the varioua Anna 41d programs It reoamiends that no tu1'th82' iane ot the device be made without prior approval or the Director of Intelligence ANllX l TO ENCLOSURE B SECRET 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