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(U//FOUO) CSE Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary
FROM:
Country Desk Officer for Canada (DP15)
Run Date: 12/07/2006
(U//FOUO) On 22 September 2006, the Chief of CSE (Canada's Communications Security
Establishment), John Adams, visited NSA to celebrate CSE's 60th anniversary. The NSA event,
held in the Canine Suite Annex, was one of several anniversary celebrations, to include
proceedings held in Canada and the UK. The NSA festivities culminated with speeches by John
and DIRNSA and the presentation of a letter from DIRNSA to the CSE workforce. The event was
well attended and reflected NSA's commitment to and enjoyment of our partnership with CSE.
(U) John Adams, Chief CSE, addressing the CSE workforce
(U) A brief history of CSE follows:
(U) Origins in WWII
(U//FOUO) Formal Canadian SIGINT activity began during the Second World War when the
Royal Canadian Navy established a Discrimination Unit to exploit Operational SIGINT. The Army
and Air Force followed suit and by the War's end the military units joined to form the Joint Royal
Canadia Unit (JDU) under Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Drake. Drake also promoted the creation
of a civilian cryptologic centre for Canada, and so in June 1941, the Examination Unit (XU) was
established, headed first by the famed American cryptologist Herbert Yardley and then the
legendary Briton Oliver Strachey.
(U//FOUO) "Comms Branch" Stands Up in 1946
(U//FOUO) Following the end of the war, Canada retained a small peacetime SIGINT effort. On
13 April 1946, an Order in Council authorized 179 classified positions for the "essential"
continuation "of work of great value not only to Canada but also to the United Kingdom and the
United States." On 3 September 1946, Lieutenant-Colonel Drake and his military staff
exchanged their uniforms for civilian dress and reported to work at the newly created
Communications Branch of the National Research Council (CBNRC).
(U//FOUO) The CSE complex
(U//FOUO) ...and Becomes CSE in 1975
(U//FOUO) In 1974, the Canadian Broadcasting Company aired a television program, "The
Espionage Establishment," that exposed CBNRC's involvement in SIGINT. As a result of the
unwelcome publicity, the government transferred CBNRC, on 1 April 1975, to the Department of
National Defence as the Communications Security Establishment.
(U) The Canadian and CSE flags.
(U//FOUO) This article is reprinted from the Foreign Affairs Digest , November edition.
"(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