United States Air Force Security Service

The United States Air Force Security Service (commonly abbreviated USAFSS) was basically the United States Air Force's cryptographic intelligence/Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) division; its slogan was Independence through Vigilance. It was made in October 1948 and ran until 1979, when the division was re-designated the Electronic Security Command.

USAFSS intelligence was frequently examined in the area, and the results transmitted to other intelligence receivers to the National Security Agency for additional evaluation and distribution.

Some airmen were. Others - known as morse intercept operators, or "ditty-boppers" - tracked Soviet and other countries' military Morse code programs. Others, including non-morse intercept operators, were participated in tracking other kinds of radio signals including multi and single -station radio printer signs and facsimile transmissions. Analysts reviewed and interpreted all communications.

That goal could then be plotted on a board and this would give a triangulation repair on a target and the coordinates subsequently forwarded to take appropriate actions on the goals.

Some were delegated to covert missions to track telephone exchanges.

The information gathered in the field was generally sent via encrypted land-line radio and systems into a co-located group of USAFSS analysts who'd interpret the data, format reports and send them on to other receivers or the National Security Agency. The NSA shared these reports with all the government agencies associated with intelligence, including every division of the CIA, the FBI, and the Armed services. Many believe that if this type of inter-agency co-operation had existed in 2000, the plans for the 9/11 assaults would have been discovered and the strikes prevented.

These occupations, which demanded top secret codeword clearance, were incredibly high pressure and were considered vital to U.S. Cold War attempts. Members of the USAFSS weren't permitted to discuss their occupations with outsiders— USAFSS members cannot talk about their jobs unless they were in a place that is safe. Many embraced "cover occupations" to more readily hide their actual work.

The USAFSS had two important regions of operations: earth-based and airborne. Earth-based units gathered advice from rigid sites with big antenna arrays and were scattered through the entire world. Airborne units flew all over the world from bases, surrounding sensitive places and gathering data in a number of aircraft, including C 47s, RB 47s C130s, EC-121s, and RC-135s. A main occupation of USAFSS linguists that are airborne and Morse Intercept Operators aboard SAC reconnaissance aircraft was to supply self protection early warning of missile response or imminent fighter by the air defense system of a goal country. Of equal worth were the "ferret missions" flown into Soviet Bloc nations to collect intel on their air defense systems.

The order also kept a cadre of TRANSEC (Transmission Security), afterwards known as COMSEC (Communications Security) staff. Their assignment consisted of tracking and assessing US military radio and phone communications to identify individual communications that endanger and could undermine classified or sensitive operations and practices. TRANSEC/COMSEC teams used in both tactical and strategic environments, using both given places and deployed (TDY) teams, and their reports were often supplied right to field commanders associated with the targeted operations. Many USAFSS staff were dedicated to the assignment throughout their Air Force careers, while others went between the more conventional intelligence operations and TRANSEC/COMSEC. The TRANSEC/COMSEC assignment was sometimes used as a cover story by the intelligence. Also, USAFSS SIGINT components were sometimes used by deployed TRANSEC/COMSEC teams for his or her assignments as cover.

The actions of the USAFSS were declassified in 1997.

Country music star Johnny Cash was Morse code intercept operator stationed in Germany and an USAFSS member. Cronauer, in a radio-TV support squadron, was unlike Cash. Robin Williams in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam depicted the life of Cronauer.

His design was chosen from a command-wide competition of entries.