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(U) What's a Military Cryptologic Advisor?
FROM: CW5 Wallace S. Price, USA
Military Cryptologic Advisor to the SIGINT Director
Run Date: 09/08/2005
(U) On the verge of retirement, Chief Warrant Officer Price describes how his "one-off" job has
been made permanent.
(U//FOUO) For almost two years now I have been serving the SIGINT Director as a Special
Assistant. This began in Fall 2003, when I had been serving as the Senior Technical Advisor for
the Army Technical Control and Analysis Element here for six years, and decided it was time to
give someone else an "opportunity to excel" in that position. As an Army Chief Warrant Officer
Five in the SIGINT field, there is generally no requirement for periodic PCS*, which accounts for
the long tenure.
(U//FOUO) I asked MG Quirk if I could come to work for him in SID. After all, the Army's
definition of a CW5 is that he or she is a technical advisor to a policy-level officer. MG Quirk's
response was, "Sure." And that was about the extent of my job description! I always assumed
that this assignment was a personal one, that would go away whenever I did move on, but when
I told the SID Director that I was retiring, he told me that he wanted a replacement, that he felt
the job was an important one that should be continued.
(U//FOUO) When I began working for MG Quirk, my "charter" was primarily to help him work
special projects with a focus on military matters, so I adopted the title "Special Assistant for
Military Affairs." The position has always been a little vague, but I have tried to build it into a
personal "bridge" between the SIGINT Directorate, and the SCEs*, the local SCE unit
commanders, and the Services, but without co-opting and roles, responsibilities, or authorities
from any of the existing SID and NSA organizations, and relationships with those entities. That
was a tall order, and perhaps I've not been as successful as I (or others) would have liked, but
hopefully I helped in some small way.
(U//FOUO) MG Quirk's initial marching orders were for me, his then-Military Exec Lt Col
,
and the SID Senior Enlisted Leader SGM
to help "improve civilian-military relations in
SID." He told us that he did not want us to work up a detailed study that might brief well, but
would quickly become "shelfware." Consequently, we interviewed dozens of people in SID, in the
SCE offices, local units, and at two Cryptologic Centers, in order to identify areas that could be
improved, and have worked behind the scenes since then to take concrete steps toward that
improvement. For example, I believe that SGM
has made great strides in improving the
military assignment process within SID for military personnel, and continues to work in that
area.
(U//FOUO) Perhaps one of our greatest victories came when a DOD Validation and Assessment
Board came to NSA to examine all military billets. Their stated mission was to identify positions
and jobs that could be done by civilians rather than people in uniform, with an eye towards
freeing up military end-strength towards new combat and combat support units. At first glance,
one could easily argue that jobs being done in air-conditioned offices do not need to be done by
someone in uniform, and it was apparent that the DOD VAB might well take that stance. But we
successfully explained to them that excluding military service members from serving at the Fort
Meade Headquarters would cripple our partnerships and enterprise. The result was that the
Board validated almost all SID billets with only a few minor exceptions.
(U//FOUO) Such activities are things that SID and SCE leadership certainly would have achieved
great success with or without my participation. But I hope that my work from this position
helped to enable even better communication between SID leadership and SID's military
partners, be those the SCE offices, our local commanders, or the "big Services." And I always
tried to be an "open ear" for our deployed SIGINTers, civilian and military alike, when they
needed help finding a solution to a thorny problem, or just a bit of encouragement when things
looked bad. Perhaps the most important, if sad, thing was to help alert NSA leadership to the
passing of two SIGINT Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, so they could be properly
commemorated on the Wall of Honor.
(U//FOUO) The fact that MG Quirk now feels the position is important enough to keep is reward
enough to me. We re-dubbed it "Military Cryptologic Advisor," and CW4
will
assume that position this week. He has a great deal of unique experience working within SID
and its predecessor organization the Directorate of Operations on Support to Military Operations,
and comes most recently from a tour in CSG Baghdad. I know that he will work even harder to
keep those communications going, and facilitate MG Quirk's goal of a Global Cryptologic
Integration Center.
(U//FOUO) Meanwhile, I will hang up the uniform after 35 years, and reflect on the great SID
team that it has been my honor to serve with at the end of my career.
*(U) Notes:
SCE = Service Cryptologic Element
PCS = Permanent Change of Station
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108