11/15/1944 The Black B-3-b unit became part of the General Cryptanalytic Branch, now the National Security Agency (NSA) under Lieutenant Buffham and Bill Coffee, exploited nongovernmental commercial code messages originating from Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Indochina, Thailand, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru and Argentina. In 4/1945, it was assigned responsibility for exploiting the diplomatic systems of Belgium, Haiti, Liberia and Luxembourg. In 2/1947, the practice of having a Caucasian as the nominal head of the Commercial Code unit ended with the appointment of Herman Phynes to the position of Officer in Charge (O.I.C.). Although B-3-b was a unique and unprecedented organization, these early Black cryptanalysts and translators appeared to have been virtually invisible. Few former Agency employees who were interviewed and who worked at AHS during WWII had any knowledge of Blacks in professional positions; most did not even recall seeing Blacks on the campus (See: 1972).
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:44:04 +0000
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