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NEWS AND EVENTS

NCMF Receives a Major Donation (posted 4/11/12)

Earlier this year Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, donated $100,000 to the NCMF.  This donation resulted from a 2010 visit to the NCM at which time he was introduced to the work of the NCMF.  A ceremony commemorating his generous donation was held on 15 March.  Some photographs from the event are provided below.

Dr. Schweitzer was born in Evanston, Illinois, where he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and became an electrical engineer and inventor.  He graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1968.  From 1968-1973 he was assigned to NSA as an ELINT analyst on strategic radar systems. He returned to Purdue under NSA sponsorship in 1970 to finish his Masters degree. He spent 1971-1973 at NSA planning and managing ELINT collection and data processing systems.  

In 1973 Dr. Schweitzer moved to California for a year, and then attended Washington State University to pursue a PhD in electrical engineering.  His dissertation applied microprocessor technology and digital signal processing to the protection of electric power systems.   Upon graduating in 1977 he joined the electrical engineering faculty of Ohio University.  In 1979, he returned to Washington State University, this time as a faculty member in electrical engineering.  In 1984 he founded Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) in Pullman and invented the world’s first fully digital protective relay for electric power systems.  Today, SEL serves over 140 countries making electric power safer, more reliable, and more economical.  Born "a teacher" Dr. Schweitzer continues to support scholarships, professorships, internships, public and private schools, and universities and colleges throughout the world, including the Palouse Discovery Science Center in Pullman, Washington which provides hands-on science and learning experiences to people of all ages.        

From a very early age Dr. Schweitzer had an interest in cryptologic history. In 2010, during a visit to the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Schweitzer became reacquainted with his former NSA supervisor, Mr. Richard Bernard, who provided a tour of the National Cryptologic Museum and introduced him to the work of the Foundation. Dr. Schweitzer believes the museum honors the many people who have kept us safe thru their diligence and silence, and provides a way to share the vital roles of signals intelligence, once time and judgment allow.

In 1994 SEL, Inc. became a 100% employee-owned company that now employs over 3,000 people worldwide.  Dr. Schweitzer is the author of over 70 professional papers and holds the patents to 30 inventions.

 

Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer and his wife, Mrs. Beatriz Schweitzer

Dr. Schweitzer's Executive Assistant, Ms. Adina Bielenberg, Dr. Schweitzer's friend and colleague, Mr. Richard Bernard, Mrs. Beatriz Schweitzer, Gene Becker, and Dr. Schweitzer.

Photos by John Garcia   

New NSA/CSS Cryptologic Center opened in Georgia (posted 3/7/12)

"The National Security Agency/Central Security Service officially opened the new NSA/CSS Georgia Cryptologic Center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony where officials emphasized how the $286 million complex will provide cryptologic professionals with the latest state-of-the-art tools to conduct signals intelligence operations, train the cryptologic workforce, and enable global communications."    The complete NSA press release is available on the NSA/CSS website.

Chaocipher Donor Passes Away (posted 2/7/12)

Patricia (Neway) Byrne, daughter-in-law of Chaochipher inventor John Byrne Sr. died on 24 January 2012. She was 92 years old. Patricia (Pat) was an accomplished opera singer who won a Tony award in 1960 for her role as the Mother Abbess in the original Broadway production of "The Sound of Music." She was one of relatively few singers of her era to move seamlessly back and forth between the opera house and the Broadway stage. In 2010 Pat donated an archive of Chaocipher documents to the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation. Chaocipher was a cipher method invented by Pat's father-in-law John F. Byrne Sr. in 1918, and described in his 1953 autobiographical book, "Silent Years". Chaocipher was on the list of supposedly unbreakable ciphers until 2010 when the archive was donated to the Foundation. Documents from the archive were shared with international scholars which ultimately led to the disclosure of the Chaocipher algorithm shortly thereafter.

Cold War Spy Satellites Declassified (updated 2/2/12)

"Twenty-five years after their top-secret, Cold War-era missions ended, two clandestine American satellite programs were declassified Saturday (Sept. 17) with the unveiling of three of the United States' most closely guarded assets: the KH-7 GAMBIT, the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and the KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellites.

The vintage National Reconnaissance Office satellites were displayed to the public Saturday in a one-day-only exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, Va. The three spacecraft were the centerpiece of the NRO's invitation-only, 50th Anniversary Gala celebration held at the center last evening." (Article by Roger Guillemette for Fox News)

Update: On December 26, 2011, an article by Helen O'Neill of the Associated Press was published about a group of individuals living in Danbury, Conn that worked at Perkin- Elmer and developed the cameras and optics system for the Hexagon satellite.

Update:  The three once-secret U.S. spy satellites, KH-7 Gambit 1, the KH-8, Gambit 3 and the KH-9 Hexagon, built to look down on the Soviet Union were unveiled in Ohio on Thursday, January 26, 2012 in a rare public display by the United States Air Force.  They are on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and will eventually be installed in a new wing for space relics and other aircraft.  Pictures of the satellites are available on the space.com web site.

James Pryde and George Lucas' Movie "Red Tails" (posted 1/25/12)

Jim Pryde, past member of the NCMF Board of Directors and one of the Documented Original Tuskegee Airman (DOTA) previewed the movie Red Tails by George Lucas at the White House with other DOTA's.   Jim commented that the movie "is a good movie and displays the facts that the airmen could accomplish what the powers that be at the time asserted that they could not and that strong leadership and a dedication to the mission will result in success."

New Regional Operations Center in Hawaii (posted 1/25/12)

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service recently marked the completion of a new regional operations center in Wahiawa, Oahu, HAWAII,, officially named the CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony where officials emphasized how the $358 million project will help to further integrate national security efforts. The NSA web site provides the complete press release.

Bletchley Park Post Office (BPPO) (posted 1/19/12)

The BPPO has produced a set of four Royal Mail postage stamps, based on paintings by Mr. Steven Williams – the artist with whom we are discussing commemorative artwork to be created for the NCM. Principals of the BPPO visited NCM a few years ago. Interested philatelists should contact BPPO directly.

Block C at Bletchley Park to be Preserved (posted 1/13/12)

Bletchley Park, where the Germans' Enigma code was broken (photograph: Andy Hall/Channel 4)

Block C is 'a uniquely important site' according to English Heritage.  To look at, it is a distinctly undistinguished and desolate-looking piece of utilitarian 1940s architecture. There is a failed concrete roof, water seeping in, pigeons nesting and vegetation growing through the cracks in the brickwork.

But in context, the long overlooked and derelict Block C at Bletchley Park, the second world war codebreaking headquarters in Buckinghamshire, may be one of the most significant buildings of the 20th century and on Friday the UK government gave it Grade II listed status to preserve it for posterity.

Hall of Honor – 2011, NSA Press Release (posted 11/30/11)

FORT MEADE, MD - Four pioneers of American cryptology were inducted into the NSA/CSS Hall of Honor on 28 November at the National Cryptologic Museum. In his keynote remarks during the induction ceremony, John C. Inglis, Deputy Director, National Security Agency, highlighted the distinguished achievements of each of the inductees:

  • Mr. William Coffee: A civil rights pioneer who proved what minorities could achieve in cryptology when given the opportunity. He served as one of the first African-American cryptologists elevated to a supervisory position in the Army Signal Security Agency.
  • Mr. Joseph Desch: Selected among all other engineers at the National Cash Register Company to design the Bombe, a vital cryptanalytic machine in the war against Germany's U-boats, thus saving countless lives and helping to achieve Allied victory in Europe in World War II.
  • Colonel Parker Hitt: Authored The Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers. Published in 1916, this was the first work of its kind in the United States in 100 years and laid the foundation for the nation's impressive cryptologic achievements during the 20th century. His cryptographic and cryptanalytic principles were used for decades to protect U.S. military communications.
  • Ms. Laura Holmes: A career cryptanalyst who inspired and motivated her students and colleagues with her patience and persistence in solving some of the most difficult cryptanalytic problems in the late 20th century. Her remarkable qualities and legendary ability to remember facets of different systems were often the difference between success and failure.

Members Only Passwords (posted 8/2/11)


When we were developing the Members Only section of the NCMF web site we decided that since Members Only would not contain any significant personal information that a full blown security system was not necessary. By doing so, we unknowingly limited the special characters that could be used in passwords. When a member used one of these unacceptable special characters it caused “strange” results in the emails sent to the Webmaster for membership verification. Now that we know the cause of these strange results, we have decided that rather than pay the cost to modify the system to accept these special characters or to identify and list those special characters that are acceptable, we have decided to limit Passwords to numbers and upper and lower case letters.
Therefore, beginning shortly, under the password fields on the Members Sign Up form in Members Only will be a notation that reads, in red, "Passwords can only contain numbers and upper and lower case letters."
It is likely that some might find our solution inadequate but we believe a password that is secure enough for our purposes can be created by our criteria. I found password testers on the Web and ran a few tests on the strength of passwords using just numbers and lower or upper case letters and I got a rating of very strong with lengths of 8 to 15 characters.

Special Note: if you already have a password that contains special characters registered in Members Only you can continue to use it.

Maryland History Day and Milt Zaslow Award (posted 7/1/2011)


On April 30, the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation (NMF) was pleased to join the Maryland Humanities Council (MHC) in its ceremony to recognize students from around the state who were selected as winners in the annual Maryland History Day competition in preparation for the National History Day events.

The MHC is a private, educational nonprofit organization that stimulates conversations that explore issues in Maryland communities. In 2010, the NCMF created an annuity for the MHC in honor of Mr. Milt Zaslow, which would fund the awards in the Junior and Senior Divisions that would focus on cryptology. The award is known as the Milt Zaslow Award in Cryptology, and it is scheduled to be awarded for the next ten years. This is one of the major efforts of the NCMF in furthering education in cryptology.

While many of the student papers looked at Civil War themes, several papers involved a wide variety of topics.   Of interest were the winners of the NCMF Milt Zaslow Award, Alex Snouffer and Aiden Jensen of the Springfield Middle School for their exhibit on Public Security vs. Personal Privacy:  The Debate Over the Key Escrow Program and Katie McRae of Wooten High School for her exhibit on Wiretapping.  Pictured below is John Garcia, representing the NCMF, presenting the plaque to Alex and Aiden.  Katie was not able to be present for the ceremony.



Members Only News


The NCMF members news is only available to Members of the NCMF. Currently available are excerpts from past Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings as well as the full text of the recently signed MOU between NSA and the NCMF and the call for nominees for the 2010 Hall of Honor.

To access current and historical news, log into Members Only, click on Member News and scroll down to the News Archives where you will see all news items that are available. An alternative is to log into Members Only, scroll down to the Archives and do a search on the subject you are interested in.