THE HERALDRY OF CRYPTOLOGY- Addendum

"The Heraldry of Cryptology
Addendum" from the Oct 1984 /Jan 1989 - Cryptologia by Louis Kruh

[Ed. note: In my earlier article, The Heraldry of Cryptology (Cryptologia 1984), I described the distinctive insignia of various U.S. Army units and branches with cryptologic related duties. These included several major units which had been merged in 1977 to form the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (USAINSCOM). The article noted that included in the consolidation were a number of smaller intelligence agencies under the direct control of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACSI) . We thank the INSCOM History Office for the following historical and heraldic information on one of those agencies; and for the delightful and informative essay on the sphinx which has been a principal heraldic symbol of U.S. military intelligence since 1923.
- Louis Kruh.]

U.S. ARMY SPECIAL SECURITY GROUP

Although the U.S. Army Special Security Group traces its organizational origins as a separate TDA unit to the establishment of Detachment MIOAC of S.G2 on 15 May 1950 in Washington, D.C., the group's mission dates to WorldWar II. After the sudden attack on Pearl Harbor, Secretary of War Stimson recognized the need to exploit and protect the "MAGIC" intercept material being produced by the Signal Intelligence Service from the Japanese diplomatic code traffic. Secretary Stimson turned to Mr. Alfred McCormack, a prominent NewYork lawyer of the day, to investigate signal intelligence operations to ensure that they met the requirements of the war effort and that they were exploited to their maximum possibilities.

During the course of his investigation, Mr. McCormack came in contact with Colonel (later Brigadier General) Carter W. Clarke. The two presented their recommendations to the AC of S. G2, who agreed with the findings
Consequently, a section of the Far Eastern Branch of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), the operating arm of AC of S. G2, was made the Special Service Branch (soon renamed the Special Branch) in May 1942. (During the early days of the war, the Far Eastern Branch had prepared the initial intelligence summaries derived from intercepted traffic.) Colonel Clarke was designated the Special Service Branch's chief, and Mr. McCormack was commissioned with the rank of colonel and became deputy chief. By the end of July, the branch had succeeded in assembling 20 officers, one enlisted man, and 18 civilians.Because of numerous personnel restrictions, the total rose to only 28 officers and 55 civilians by March 1943.

In April 1943, Colonel McCormack, accompanied by Colonel Telford Taylor of the Military Intelligence Service and Mr. William Friedman, the famed cryptologist of the Signal Security Agency, went to England and made a two-monthsurvey of British signal intelligence operations. As a result, the Special Service Branch adopted many of the operational principles established by the British for the handling of "ULTRA" material, the code name given for signal intelligence derived by breaking the German high level machine produced ciphers.

In the fall of 1943, approval was obtained to establish a system of MIS special security representatives to serve field commanders in the dissemination and interpretation of MAGIC/ULTRA. By the end of the year, special security officers had been attached to the three major U.S. commands in the Pacific.

By June 1944, the staff of Special Branch had attained a strength of 382.This made the branch larger than all the other intelligence production elements within MIS put together. Because there was a great duplication of effort and the remainder of MIS was producing intelligence reports without the benefit of signal intelligence material, it was decided in June that the Special Branch would be discontinued and its functions absorbed into a homogeneous MIS.The "special security" functions remained within MIS until May 1946, at which time the MIS was discontinued and its operating functions were merged with the Military Intelligence Division, which had formerly served as the staff arm of AC of S. G2.

On 15 May 1950, the "special security" responsibilities located world wide were brought together for the first time in a separate TDA organization with the establishment of Detachment M, OAC of S. G2 in Washington, D.C. Detachment M served as a field detachment under the AC of S. G2. For its personnel's contributions during the Korean War, elements of the detachment received the Meritorious Unit Commendation (30 July 1950 to 27 July 1953) and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

Over the years, the organization was successively redesignated the following: the Special Security Detachment, ACSI on 15 June 1960 and the Special Security Group, ACSI on 1 October 1967. In 1960, the organizational charter was expanded to include control and distribution of all-source intelligence data.For its contributions during the Vietnam War, elements of the group within Vietnam received two Meritorious Unit Citations, a Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, and a Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal.

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As a result of the Intelligence Organization and Stationing Study, implementedin 1976, the Special Security Office (SSO) system was divided into two separate and distinct components: SSO's supporting activities at echelons above corps(EAC) and those supporting units at corps and below. The former remained a part of the Special Security Group while the later, called tactical SSO's, became organic to the supported units and fell under the command and control of the tactical command. Additionally, IOSS gave the Army Communications Command responsibility for the communications functions previously performed by the SSO's.

In an effort to centralize Special Compartmented Intelligence operations, theVice Chief of Staff, U.S. Army directed the transfer of the U.S. Army Special Security Group from OACSI to HQ INSCOM effective 1 October 1980. In January1985, the unit moved from the Pentagon to Arlington Hall Station, Virginia.

THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SPHINX

The sphinx, a composite creature with a lion's body and a human head, is often represented in ancient Middle Eastern art. The earliest example is the famed reclining sphinx in Giza, Egypt, dating from approximately 2,500 B.C. This colossal monument is believed to be a portrait statue of King Khafre. Throughout Egyptian history, the sphinx continued to symbolize the strength and protective power of Egypt's rulers

Around 1600 B.C., the sphinx first appeared in Greek art and later became a part of Greek legend. According to Greek mythology, the sphinx was a winged,human-headed lion, an off-spring of two giants. Living in the vicinity of the city of Thebes, she terrorized the people by demanding the answer to a riddle taught her by the Muses: What is it that has one voice and yet becomes four- footed,then two-footed, and finally three-footed? Upon receiving an incorrect answer,the sphinx proceeded to devour her helpless victims. Eventually, Oedipus gave the correct answer: "Man who crawls on all fours during infancy, walks on two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age." Confronted with the solution,the sphinx killed herself.

From ancient times to present, the sphinx has portrayed both wisdom and strength. Because of its association with these virtues, the War Department selected the sphinx in 1923¹ as the most appropriate symbol to represent the recently established Military Intelligence Officers' Reserve Corps (MIORC), an association of World War I veterans with experience and interest in intelligence. The MIORC's insignia consisted of an eared shield bearing a circle, 13 radial ribs connecting the border to the circle and a sphinx within the circle.The 13 converging strips symbolized the collecting of information by military intelligence which was represented by the sphinx, and conversely, the strips also symbolized the dissemination of information after evaluation. Through the years, the sphinx remained the principal heraldic symbol of military intelligence, and in particular, counterintelligence. When the Military Intelligence Reserve Branch was established in 1952, the shielded sphinx was placed on the purple and gold branch flag, and the brass worn by the reserve officers featured the "resting cow" as the reclining sphinx was often called. In 1949, the Counter Intelligence Corps School, located at Fort Holabird, Maryland, had the sphinx on its crest as did its successor unit, the U.S. Army Intelligence School, in 1961.When the U.S. Army Intelligence Command (USAINTC) was organized as a major Army command from 1965 to 1974, the sphinx was on the command's shoulder patch.

However, the most striking example of the symbol's connection with intelligence was the five-foot sphinx statue constructed of pot iron and painted gold which stood for over 20 years in front of the headquarters of USAINTC and its predecessors and which since 1974 has been part of the U.S Army Intelligence Center and School (USAICS). The statue was first erected on a concrete pedestal in front of the CIC Center Headquarters at Fort Holabird in 1953.During a special ceremony on 5 August 1962, the statue was rededicated and a bronze plate was attached to its base by the National Counter Intelligence Corps Association with the inscription: "In memory of those men of the Corps who made the supreme sacrifice while securing the blessings of liberty for the United States of America." For students and visitors at Fort Holabird, the statue and the CIC became inseparably related. It was difficult to disassociate one from the other.

From time to time the pranksters had their day with the statue. The sphinx would turn from gold to pink overnight, and on occasion, could be seen decked outwith a new brassiere.

In July 1973, Headquarters, U.S. Army Intelligence Command moved from FortHolabird to Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and with it went the sphinx, which barely survived the ride through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. In October it was placed on its new pedestal in front of Nathan Hale Hall, but its stay was brief. When the U.S. Army Intelligence Command was discontinued on 30 June 1974, it was decided that the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, would be the permanent home of the sphinx. At Fort Huachuca, the sphinx stood in front of the Military Intelligence Museum until its closure in 1976. Today,it maintains a constant vigil in the courtyard of Riley Barracks, Headquarters, U.S.Army Intelligence Center and School.

But, like the sphinx of ancient Thebes, the MI sphinx has a riddle all its own.How and when did it come to be discarded in a salvage area at Fort George G.Meade; who did it; and why? Records indicate that in 1953, an officer and a civilian associated with the Counter Intelligence Corps retrieved the statue from the salvage area and had it refurbished and erected at Fort Holabird. There is a story that the statue once stood on an earthern mound in front of either the 19th or 525th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Meade during the post World War II period until being discarded, but official records fail to verify that these units existed for the time and place in question. Others subscribe to the story that the statue was one of two such sphinxes which stood for over 50 years at a well-known ranch in California, only to disappear in the early 1950's. Finally, most old-timers believe it was liberated from a brothel in Paris by enterprising CIC agents and brought back to the States at the endof World War II. The sphinx in its symbolic wisdom continues to keep its secrets.

1) The sphinx was used by the French during World War I as a symbol worn on the collars of their Corps of Interpreters, who served in an intelligence support role. Therefore, it has also been suggested that U.S. militaryintelligence personnel selected the sphinx as their symbol in 1923 as a result of their recent association with their French counterparts.