Technical Intelligence Bulletins July

Technical Intelligence Bulletins July - August 1998

Vol. 3 No. 4 July-August 1998

A non-profit publication about the veterans of Technical Intelligence in war and peace,the current operations of the

National Ground Intelligence Center, the Technical Intelligence Unit at Aberdeen Proving Ground and news items

of interest to the technical intelligence community.

Changes in the 203rd M.I. Bn

Captain Dave Matthew recently visited the William L. Howard Ordnance Technical Intelligence Museum. He plans to depart the service in August and will start work "Behnd the Fence" with the field element of what used to be FSTC. Sorry to lose a good officer but glad he will be staying with technical Intelligence. Good luck in your new job, Mr Matthew.

LTC Kevin McGrath has advised that the unit is now officially a subordinate unit of the NGIC. The unit is preparing for conversion to a Mixed unit, Reserve and Active forces. I keep an open mind but think it might be a good move. A TECHNINT Team from the USAR will soon deploy to Bosnia.

SFC Matthew W. Hanne will depart for Ft Benning (enroute to Sarajevo) on Jul 12. He said" I'll also pass my new email when I get one"...Good Luck

Lt. Rebecca Lash has returned and Captain Mary Dillon is due back by the end of July.

JOURNAL OF MILITARY ORDNANCE

The July 1998 issue (Vol. 8, Number 4) of the JOURNAL OF MILITARY ORDNANCE, devoted to armor and artillery equipment and warfare of the 20th century and beyond, contains:

M93A1 FOX BLOCK 1 MODIFICATIONS, by Foster Powell. (Photos from the rollout ceremony for the US Army' new NBC six-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle, based on the German Henschel vehicle. Some 92 vehicles will be made for the Army, some as upgrades to existing Foxes, the others as new builds.)

NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR, by Dr. William Atwater. (From the US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds; news on new equipment rehabs. Look for preserved battle damage.)

THE T8 AND T8E1 RECONNAISSANCE VEHICLES, by Adam Geibel. (US turretless modifications of the M5A1 light tank, 1944. After testing, the Armored Board only ordered that Theater Commanders be made aware that conversion kits could be made available.)

TIGER FLANKS AND OTHER ACHILLES' HEELS, by Richard Cox. (Data on Allied gun penetration of German Tiger tanks, from British 1943 tests and US surveys in 1945. For instance, in the the 1945 survey, 1/3 of hits on Tiger and Panther fronts penetrated. 2/3 of side hits succeeded in penetrating. The 1943 tests showed Tiger susceptibility to petalling, plugging, and flaking on the interior of the tank, even when not penetrated.)

JORDANIAN M47 ARMORED RECOVERY VEHICLE, by Jeffrey McKaughan. (New tracked vehicle based on M47 chassis, to replace the much disliked Chieftain ARVs.)

SOUTH AFRICAN ARMOUR MUSEUM, by Jeff McKaughan. (Report on visit to the School of Armour at Tempe, South Africa, with many WWII and modern vehicles on display.)

Plus classified ads, book reviews, and intelligence notes. New Darlington publications include ROMMEL'S FUNNIES, PANZER TRACTS: FLAK SELBST FAHRLAFETTEN AND FLAK PANZER, and DEFENSE AFFAIRS OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA. 30 pages, very well produced; color and B&W photo reproduction quallity is excellent. Six times a year from Darlington Productions, Inc., PO Box 5884, Darlington, MD 21034. (410) 457-5400. $24/year US, $30 foreign surface. Back issues available. Sent in by Mark Conrad

T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 4

July-August 1998

For those of you who have an interest in WW II code breaking operations, Bletchly Park has a newsletter, web site,etc. I checked on one of them and found a map and tour guide. Here are the addresses:>////////////////////// Bletchley Park Email list //////////////////////

To send mail to the list: BletchleyPark@Cranfield.ac.uk // To (un)subscribe: Majordomo@Cranfield.ac.uk // > >// To reach a human: : BletchleyPark-Approval@Cranfield.ac.uk //// Archive: http://www.FindMail.com/listsaver/bletchleypark/ //

Website: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/ccc/bpark/ //

It is with deep regret that I report the death of, Frank Byron Rowlett, an important, if little known, figure in the history of WWII, and also an important figure in the Cold War. Frank Rowlett died Monday, 29 June, aged 90, of heart failure, at the Wilson Health Care Center in Gaithersburg, MD. "Rowlett supervised the half-dozen Army codebreakers who, after 18 months of effort, cracked the chief Japanese diplomatic cipher machine called PURPLE by US officials, in September, 1940. Though the solution gave no warning of the Pearl Harbor attack - since no messanges alerting anybody to the attack were sent - it paradoxically helped the United States in the European theater during hostilities."

"Rowlett, a soft-spoken, courteous Viriginan who had been a mathematics teacher, joined what was then the Army's Signals Intelligence Service as a junior cryptanalyst on April 1, 1930."

The European theater benefit was due to the frequent habit of Japan's ambassador to Berlin during WWII to send long messages home describing much of the German war effort, defenses, strategy, etc. Some details omitted from the article as I saw it: Frank Rowlett was approached by the founder of the Signals Intelligence Service, William Friedman, as the first or second person he hired. Frank thought cryptology would have something to do with death statistics! Apparently Frank Rowlett himself came up with the mechanism used to build the American PURPLE decrypt machine, telephone dialing stepper switches. Rowlett was interviewed for and appeared in a show, THE CODEBREAKERS, which appeared on PBS's NOVA a few years ago. I believe he was placed on active US Army duty at Colonel's rank during WWII.

Frank Rowlett also contributed to the design of US encryption equipment, to prevent enemies from reading our messages during WWII, including the design of the 'SIGABA' machine.

Rowlett appears as a notable figure in David Kahn's definitive work THE CODEBREAKERS (recently republished with an additional chapter to update developments since the first publication.) After WWII, Frank B Rowlett stayed in the field of cryptology, going to the National Security Agency. He is apparently considered an important founding father in this very secretive organization. When he retired in 1966, he was voted a special award of $100,000 by the US Congress and given a medal by President Johnson for special contributions to the national security of the United States, the nature of which was still classified at the time!

Since the end of the Cold War, it has been revealed the Frank Rowlett was a major contributor to the 'VENONA' decrypts, which revealed much about Soviet Espionage in the United States in late WWII and through the end of the 1940's. Among other things, these decrypts, which could not be revealed at their trial, confirmed that Julius Rosenberg at least was indeed guilty of espionage, and that apparently his wife Ethel, if not an active participant, was at least aware of the fact of his involvement. It is not publicly known if this effort was the one referred to by the Congressional and Presidential awards, or if other still classified contributions in the 1950's and early 60's were also part of this award. The newspaper obituary says Frank is survived by his son, who I believe is Frank Jr. I do not know when Frank's wife would have passed away.

T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 4

July-August 1998

Information about Frank Byron Rowlett on the internet: Profile of Frank B Rowlett (frequently unavailable) http://www.gsa.gov/irms/ki/rowlett.htm

Genealogy for Frank B Rowlett:http://synapse.cs.byu.edu/~randy/gen/www/D0005/I2255.html

Most frequently requested Cryptology Documents in US National Archives

http://www.nsa.gov:8080/programs/opendoor/narafindaid.html

Information about the VENONA intercept documents.

http://www.nsa.gov:8080/docs/venona/monographs/monograph-5.html

Information about US Encyphering gear tested by Frank Rowlett:

http://fn2.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~jsavard/ro0205.html

Sent in by his cousin, Brooks A. Rowlett who pronounces the name Row'lett, such that the 'Row' rhymes with 'how'.

I received a phone call from Lt. James Taylor, who is really a retired Major these days. He was with the 510th Ord Det(T.I.) during Korean War. He commented that the only way to get anything done was to be out in the front lines.We spoke about old times. He was leaving the Service as I was arriving. He gave me the address of MSG Leroy Carpenter who now lives in North Carolina. MSG Carpenter got involved in Technical Intelligence about 1953. I suggested that Major Taylor give some thought to writing down some of his experiences in Technical Intelligence. We will see what develops. He is now 82 years old and still running a business. Hope I am that good at that age.

I received a short note on August 1st, from SFC Hanne. He has been in Sarajevo now a week, CPT Dillon is back in the S3 shop in APG. His new e-mail address is: (matthanne@hotmail.com). He said he passed Captain Dillon at the airport but did not see her. As to Bosnia, quite a lot has been cleaned up in the past two years- at least from what he used to see on overheads and saw on the news shows. He said his first mission was to recall the deployed teams for redeployment back to APG, and train the incoming reservists to assume the TECHINT role. He hopes to be on the road doing the TECHINT things by mid-late August!

Captain Dillon wrote that "It does feel good to be back here. I missed a lot of the conveniences I normally take for granted. My tour was actually a great one. It was a good mission and the living conditions weren't too bad (a little cramped but I'm not complaining).

Bosnia was certainly an eye opener. We don't realize how good we have it. They are definitely making a lot of renovations, though. They're trying to restore a lot of the cities/towns to their pre-war condition. That's not easy task and it will take a long time. SFOR will be over there indefinitely. They are making a lot of the work/living spaces more permanent. Should be interesting to see what we're doing in 5,10, and 15 years from now." CPT Dillon

Saving Private Ryan

The new movie by Steven Speilberg was released and generated much traffic on the internet, e-mail and in the newspapers. I went to see it, it is a good war movie for the action adventure fans. I don’t think it contributes much to military history as it is a fictional story but it is well done. Even the nit pickers said the film was technicaly accurate. My usual sarcastic comment was "For a few dollars more, they could have made a good movie", so would somebody please send Speilberg a copy of the book on the ALSOS Mission!

T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 4

July-August 1998

The July-August issue of "Field Artillery" one story is particullary interesting. COL.(R) Robert B. Partridge,FA wrote "Big Gun Vignettes" "Fun and games in WWII." He writes about the 179th Field Artillery's cat and mouse game with the German apx. 10 inch caliber rail car mounted "Big Bertha" hiding in a RR tunnel and sneaking out now and again to shell his outfit. The 179th's 240MM and 8 inch howitzers kept sending it back in it's hole. Another game he described was the FO.s looking for German troops saluting while passing a certain building, thus determining that was the HDQ and pounding away at it. Great Stuff - also many other interesting articles including the German "Paris Gun" used during WWI to hurl 264 pound shells 60 miles to bombard Paris. The address for the Redleg Bulletin is FIELD ARTILLERY (USPS309-010) P.O.Box 33311, FORT SILL, OK 73503-0311 I

Major Chris Winne has checked in and said he was getting setted in Florida, working on his new house and taking some leave but was called in early off leave and have been tied up in crisis action planning as a cell OIC. Hours have been long, but the crisis appears to have fizzled off for the time being. He was hoping to get up to see my museum but it may be difficult for him to get up here before November 20th, as he is basically TDY between now and then up at ACOM in Norfolk, VA off and on for three stints.

The weekly Spotlight , which arrived in late August, had a front page article which was about Gen Colby, former Dir, CIA, who was found floating in Chesapeake Bay, near his sailboat. It seems this is a favorite Mossad technique for disposing of opposing individuals. Colby fired Angleton, Dir of Opns, CIA, for being an outright Mossad asset. The Congressional & Cabinet "dual-loyalists" were able to get Colby removed, but the Mossad didn't forgive, or forget, that he had messed up their playhouse. So, even being retired didn't save him.

Lewis Powell died in his home in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 90. He was renowned for his 17 year service on the U.S. Supreme Court, a time in which he wrote many landmark case decisions, and he was known as a consensus-builder and organizer of compromises. His tenure on the Court earned him much respect. He had a patrician background, but his immediate family was not wealthy. His maternal grandfather accompanied Robert E. Lee to the Civil War surrender at Appomattox Court House. His father eventually became financially solid as

the manager of a factory which made wooden boxes and furniture. Powell became a lawyer and rose steadily. He volunteered for military service in WWII, spending more than three years in Europe and North Africa as a combat and staff intelligence officer with the Army Air Forces. He rose in rank from 1st Lieutenant to Colonel, earning the Legion of Merit, Croix de Guerre, and Bronze Star. He spent the last half of his tour in an intelligence unit known as the Special Branch, helping to analyze decoded German messages. ( he was assigned to Bletchley Park.) He presented many detailed briefings to senior officers, including Eisenhower, who used the top-secret information to select allied bombing targets. Powell eventually had several dozen officers under his command.He received a Richmond, Virginia head-of-school-board appointment at the time of the first Supreme Court desegregation rulings. Firebrands working for him wanted to massively resist desegregation. He felt the opposite, but in the long term, desegregation in his district was slow. Nixon appointed him to the Supreme Court. He retired for reasons of health after 17 years.Sent in by Bill Carmody

T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 4

July-August 1998

Iraq has precipitated yet another crisis over U.N. weapons inspections, but the response from Washington has been: Crisis?! What crisis? The Clinton administration's strategy of denial is the most obvious sign yet that Iraq is winning a battle of wills that has lasted most of this decade. If so, the lesson will not be lost on other outlaw governments and terrorist groups. In the years since the Persian Gulf war, Saddam Hussein has manipulated the United States into spending billions of dollars to mobilize and demobilize forces in response to a succession of manufactured crises. Hussein also has gained the upper hand in a battle of attrition that has gradually eroded international support for serious sanctions against Iraq. Earlier this year, the United States mobilized another massive military force in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf after Iraq denied U.N. inspectors access to several so-called presidential palaces. During that standoff, it became obvious that the United States had little international support for a new round of military reprisals against Iraq. In that climate, the Clinton administration seemed eager to accept the deal brokered by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in which Hussein agreed once again to give inspectors unfettered access to all suspected weapons sites. At the time, then-U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson insisted that the new U.N. resolution gave the United States renewed authority to use military force if Iraq again abrogated its commitments. With that veneer of vndication, U.S. forces were pulled back once again. But earlier this month, when Iraq predictably abrogated the latest agreement and froze the work of U.N. inspectors, the U.S. reaction was remarkably muted. In fact, it is reported that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright personally pressured chief U.N. inspector Richard Butler to cancel surprise inspections of sites at which Iraq was believed to be hiding chemical and biological weapons. Six months ago, the Clinton administration responded with a massive military mobilization when Hussein declared only a few Iraqi sites off-limits to inspectors. This month, Iraq shut down the inspection program entirely, and Washington shrugged.

Unless there is much more going on than meets the eye, the Clinton administration's passivity represents a potentially disastrous abdication of responsibility. Some cynics accused President Clinton of ordering missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan last week to divert attention from his ethical problems. The more disturbing truth is that the president's ethical problems have been diverting the White House's attention from our larger foreign policy obligations. The Clinton administration and its loose Persian Gulf alliance have never had much stomach for the difficult diplomatic and military effort required to force Iraq to live up to its postwar commitments. The cloud hanging over the presidency appears to have drained whatever will remained. The vicious cycle of empty military threats, inadequate weapons inspections and misdirected economic sanctions isn't worth repeating, but Washington and its allies haven't come up with any better ideas. Instead, the White House seems to think the Iraq problem will go away if it ignores it long enough. Hussein is winning. And other rogue leaders, such as Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, have noticed. As the New York Times' Thomas Friedman put it, "If the Clintonites walk away from their responsibilities on Iraq, it is the end of their foreign policy."

The above was an Editorial from the St. Petersburg Times(8/27/98) which I thought was right on the mark.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The chief U.N. weapons inspector insisted Thursday that the Security Council's will to disarm Iraq is unshaken, but he also expressed understanding for an aide who resigned in frustration at the international body's lack of resolve. Richard Butler, head of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), which carries out the inspections, said he was satisfied with the support he has received from the council since Iraq froze cooperation with inspectors on Aug. 5. ``The Security Council wants this organ of the council, UNSCOM, to continue to do its work in the full,'' he said. But Butler also praised Scott Ritter, who wrote a scathing letter of resignation Wednesday accusing the council, the United States and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of not retaining pressure on Iraq.

Butler called Ritter ``a man of integrity,'' and added: ``Scott and I agree that there is still work of disarmament to be done.'' Ritter's resignation Wednesday provided fuel for claims that the council had lost its appetite for inspections. And it raised questions about the future of UNSCOM,

T. I. B.Vol. 3 No. 4

July-August 1998

which was created in 1991 following the Persian Gulf War in an effort to destroy Iraq's weapons program. Ritter charged in an interview Thursday that the unwillingness of the United States, Britain and the Security Council to enforce U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq's disarmament undermined the commission's work. ``The price that's going to have to be paid to bring Iraq back in line with the resolution is a very high price,'' Ritter said. ``Both Washington and London realize that perhaps they are not willing to pay that price.'' Iraq is capitalizing on the council's perceived lack of unity, apparently expecting that the political agendas of individual member states will eventually fracture support for the weapons inspections. In Washington, senior administration officials brushed aside suggestions the United States was backing off its campaign to disarm Iraq.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Washington had been the foremost supporter of UNSCOM. ``We believe that it is absolutely essential for Saddam Hussein to come clean in terms of the weapons of mass destruction,'' she said. The Washington Post reported Thursday, however, that the United States on at least six occasions persuaded Butler to rescind orders for surprise searches in an effort to avoid confrontation with Baghdad. The report undermines the threat of military action from Washington that in the past has forced Iraq into compliance with the arms searches. Butler and Ritter have taken the toughest stance on demanding that Iraq turn over its banned weapons — a position that could jeopardize Butler's position if council support for confrontational inspections erodes further. Since Iraq suspended cooperation, the special commission has been paralyzed, conducting only limited monitoring of sites already searched. Inspectors must certify that Iraq has destroyed its long-range missiles and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons before the council will lift sanctions imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The Remembering Project, a volunteer World War Two organization, is presently looking for articles for our October and November updates.Our site located at:http://www.interlog.com/~lui/rp/welcome.html

We invite you to browse around our site, check out our veteran postings and our Historical Reference Libary, take part in our policy and World War Two discussions, join our mailing list, and even arrange a live chat with your World War Two contacts! We recently reorganized our forums and our continuing to proceed with completing the work, so we apologize for the lack of policy articles in our RPBBS. However, see if you can help out any current tangents in our WW2BBS or perhaps you would like to post your own! Perhaps you would also like to join the project! All associates are not required to commit. You may wish to read our Vision Statement to find out who we are. In fact, the site will also help to give you a better idea as we have expanded from our core vision.

This month we have also added an interactive monthly poll! There is also a technical intelligence article by William Howard, a frequent poster to these group. Thank you once again! We invite all feedback and revisions. A few other members of this discussion list have

already expressed their interest and are in the process of preparing articles. I would like to say, on behalf of the project, thanks again!

Articles are added monthly to our growing collection in Our Historical Reference Library. If you choose to contribute, your article can come in any form, naval, air, or even army. You may choose to write a summary of the Pacific War or even go into the details of the Italian

campaign against France. We are particularly lacking in army-related articles, so if any of you would like to help improve this area in our library, feel free to! We hope you will find our site to be a good World War Two resource on the World Wide Web. With your help, we'd like to make it one of the best! Thanks in advance for visting and for any articles you wish to contribute for postings. Regards,Albert Lui * Remembering Project Webmaster ******************************************************

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