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October 25, 2011

NSA Acronyms

The second document in this file is the recently unclassified "Guide to Historical Cryptologic Acronyms and Abbreviations, 1940-1980," from the NSA

Note that there are still some redactions.

Posted on October 25, 2011 at 5:31 AM • 16 Comments

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Comments

NRAs?

Posted by: Paul Renault at October 25, 2011 7:58 AM

MUSIC Multi-user Special Intelligence Center

So MTV is a tv program for people of special intelligence?

Posted by: Christian at October 25, 2011 8:34 AM

Looks like the NPOD - National Pornography Observation Directorate was redacted.

Posted by: Jane at October 25, 2011 8:42 AM

The Pre-NSA SIGINT Timeline is kind of interesting.

Posted by: Dan at October 25, 2011 8:44 AM

Puzzled as to the point of declassifying a document but then redacting a bunch of stuff. Seems simpler to just leave it classified, or at most downgrade it?

Posted by: bob at October 25, 2011 9:21 AM

Isn't the situation as follows: Ddeclassification after X years required by law - however redacting is still possible (in sensible amounts)

I'm not from the US, but I guess that's a likely explanation...?

Posted by: Chris at October 25, 2011 9:26 AM

Redacting stuff but leaving it in alphabetical order seems like a bit of a goof.

Posted by: Alex Wilson at October 25, 2011 9:43 AM

I'm puzzled as to why a bunch of acronyms needed to be classified in the first place.

BFO - Beat Frequency Oscillator, any ham or SW listener knows what that is.

STANCICC State-Army-Navy Communications Intelligence Coordinating Committee (huh?)

Posted by: anon at October 25, 2011 9:48 AM

Re: "Puzzled as to the point of declassifying a document but then redacting a bunch of stuff."

It was redacted first, then the redacted version was declassified.

Posted by: JJ at October 25, 2011 10:43 AM

The most boring 73-pages I've read in quite a while. It would actually have made sense for them to differentiate between meaningful acronyms and n-letter abbreviations of agencies, organisations, departments, divisions, groups and so on and so forth. With so many of them, one cannot help but wonder how these guys in the military-intelligence industry ever manage to get anything done. Hey, wait a minute ...

Most silly: KORCOM - Korean communist
Most prominently missing: AA - Acronym addiction

Posted by: Dirk Praet at October 25, 2011 11:37 AM

(b)(1) EXEMPTION - (national security information) Protects Classified Matters of National Defense or Foreign Policy

(b)(3) EXEMPTION - Information Specifically Exempted by Other Statutes

50 USC 403 (i) Protection of intelligence sources and methods

PL 86-36 National Security Agency Act

18 U.S.C. Sec. 798, prohibits the release of classified information concerning communications intelligence and communications security information to unauthorized persons.

GOT Gulf of Tonkin - that's mildly unsettling.

TRRS Two Rock Ranch Station, Petaluma, CA. NSA was in Marin County? No wonder they cost so much.
It's a Coast Guard training center now.

Posted by: BF Skinner at October 25, 2011 11:54 AM

There's lots of talk in private sector about creating "culture of security" in addition to technologies. Guess it starts with lots of acronyms and denoting their specialness.

Posted by: Paul Calento at October 25, 2011 4:17 PM

Kleiglight is an interesting inclusion.

Posted by: caf at October 25, 2011 7:18 PM

@Dan, thanks, the timeline was kinda interesting.

One thing that caught my eye in the timeline was that the US was intercepting Japanese PURPLE codes 1-2 years before Pearl Harbor. Not news, but I hadn't ran across that little factoid before.

Posted by: GregW at October 25, 2011 10:51 PM

And there was me expecting a light-hearted piece on humourous translations of "NSA", to which I might have commented "Needless Spending in Abundance".

Never mind...

Posted by: Mark at October 27, 2011 2:27 AM

@GregW: David Kahn, in 'The Code Breakers', describes how the 13-part ultimatum to be delivered to the US State Dept by the Japanese Embassy in Washington, on the morning of December 7, 1941, was decoded from Purple, translated and delivered to State by the US Navy cryptanalytic service hours before the Japanese version was received. This was a result of years of work attacking Purple.

Posted by: JoeV at October 28, 2011 4:28 PM

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October 25, 2011

NSA Acronyms

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