On May 13, 1961, the Army Security Agency’s (ASA) Third Radio Research Unit arrived in Saigon to provide support to the South Vietnamese military. Its location was the first of many conventional sites that US. cryptologists would establish in South Vietnam.
Communist attacks on the destroyer USS Maddox (DD 731) in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 and the killing of American service personnel in South Vietnam later in the year and in early 1965 convinced American military leaders that the outbreak of war was imminent. It was apparent that rather than buckling under U.S. military pressure, Hanoi had decided to take the offensive. CINCPAC noted in March 1965 a “shift of communist tactics” intended to “bring about the disengagement of the U.S. in South Vietnam.” In a prescient statement, Admiral Sharp concluded that the North Vietnamese felt that “if they can kill Americans, harass U.S. personnel, and destroy U.S. facilities the American people will, in time, become so tired of the war that we will abandon our efforts there.”
Continue reading “Preparations for War in Southeast Asia, 1965”
In the spring of 1975, as the South Vietnamese military crumbled under North Vietnamese attacks, a relative handful of NSA employees m Saigon continued to provide SIGINT support to the Americans still m country, mostly m the U.S. embassy.
Continue reading “Bittersweet Departure: The Final Days of NSA in Saigon”
PIRAZ (Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone), more commonly known by the callsign “RED CROWN,” was the most important station given to ships of the Cruiser/Destroyer force and was responsible for control of Navy airstrikes against North Vietnam. RED CROWN frequently controlled Air Force strike packages as well, and many USAF pilots preferred working with RED CROWN, a testament to the professionalism of whatever ship was assigned such duties.
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Station HYPO 