1960s

Major General Millard Lewis assumed command of USAFSS effective 21 September 1959, replacing Major General Gordon A. Blake who was reassigned to HQ Pacific Air Forces as Chief of Staff effective 5 August 1959. 1960. The 6917th Radio Squadron, Mobile, became the first USAFSS unit in Italy when it was activated at San Vito on 1 November 1960.

1961 - As the tempo of the Vietnam War increased, USAFSS became involved in a program which eventually became known as the Airborne Radio Direction Finding program. That year, General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, ordered several experimental aircraft, equipped with radio homing equipment, into Southeast Asia.

1962 - In December 1961, PACAF asked USAFSS to send an Emergency Reaction Unit to Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, to support a Tactical Air Control System that was being set up there. USAFSS deployed the unit in early 1962. Intelligence processed by the USAFSS Airborne Reconnaissance Program provided the first significant intelligence data concerning the extent of Soviet involvement in Cuba. The United States Air Force Security Service deployed an Emergency Reaction Unit (ERU) to Key West, Florida, to provide tactical support. Also, the command increased its Cuban Airborne Reconnaissance Program coverage from one to three aircraft. Strategic Air Command operated RC-135 aircraft began flying reconnaissance missions in the Arctic. Major General (later Lieutenant General) Richard P. Klocko assumed command of USAFSS effective 1 September 1962, replacing Major General Millard Lewis who retired from active duty.

1963 - USAFSS activated three Emergency Reaction Units, the 6948th Security Squadron, Mobile, at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas; the 6926th Security Squadron, Mobile, at Clark AB, the Philippines; and the 6911th Security Squadron, Mobile, at Darmstadt, Germany. The following USAFSS communications functions were transferred to AFCS: (1) operation and maintenance of the Critical Communications relay stations; (2) operation and maintenance of terminal station technical control; and (3) terminal station maintenance. In response to the Air Force problem of how to reduce or eliminate intermediate echelons and separate units, USAFSS initiated the “Operational Wing Concept.” Under this concept, the mission unit was discontinued and a support squadron was organized. The functions of the mission unit were absorbed into the wing structure. The concept was implemented in Europe late in 1963 and in the Pacific in 1964.

1964 - The motto “Freedom Through Vigilance” was adopted in January 1964.

The Operational Wing Concept was implemented in the Pacific. In early 1964, the USAFSS commander, Major General Richard P. Klocko, asked the Air Staff and the Strategic Air Command to support the addition of six RC-135s to the airborne effort.

1965 - In June 1965, after many months of intense negotiations, the Office of the Secretary of Defense approved the addition of six RC-135s to the airborne effort. But even then, a debate arose over where to base the RC-135s, and it took 18 more months of negotiations before a base of operations was finally selected. With the air war in Vietnam heating up, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as Da Nang, South Vietnam, and Kadena, Okinawa, were all considered. On 26 March 1965, USAF headquarters issued instructions to USAFSS to transfer all Air Force Special Security Officer functions to the using commands effective 1 July 1965. This resulted in the transfer of 811 USAFSS personnel at some 50 locations around the world to the consumer commands. The Gold Flow problem, an Air Force-wide program to reduce overseas manning, resulted in the reduction of 302 USAFSS personnel overseas. The loss of an RB-57 over the Black Sea on 15 December 1965 resulted in a Government of Turkey ban on Airborne Reconnaissance Program flights from their country. The RB-57 was one of two aircraft in the Little Cloud project which were manned and maintained by the Pakistan Air Force at Peshawar. United States Air Force Security Service Airborne Reconnaissance Program missions in Southeast Asia increased from one to two daily, using four RC-130s instead of two. The first AN/FLR-9 systems became operational — at Misawa Air Base, Japan, in March 1965 and Clark Air Base, the Philippines, in April 1965.

United States Air Force Security Service Airborne Reconnaissance Program aircraft (C-130s) began participating in tactical operations in Southeast Asia, supporting both USAF and Navy strike forces by providing alert warnings. This was the first time the command became involved in a regular program of providing tactical support to combat operations. The USAFSS Airborne Reconnaissance Program unit in the Pacific area performed the command’s first airborne transmission security monitoring mission on a test basis. On 28 September 1965, the Air Force Chief of Staff approved the release of communication security violators’ names in transmission security reports. This was a first in transmissions security reporting. The approval granted release of names down to division level. Major General Louis E. Coira assumed command of USAFSS effective 16 October 1965, replacing Major General Richard P. Klocko who was reassigned as commander of the Air Force Communications Service.

1966 - The USAF Airborne Radio Direction Finding Program was nicknamed Phyllis Ann. The first Phyllis Ann EC- 47 Airborne Radio Direction Finding Program aircraft arrived at Tan Son Nhut, Air Base, Vietnam, in April 1966 for use by the newly activated 6994th Security Squadron. The first AN/FLR-12 antenna system became operational. In 1966, Office of the Secretary of Defense requested USAF to provide an objective evaluation of its electronic warfare system effectiveness. Later that year, the Chief of Staff, USAF, directed the establishment of an Electronic Warfare evaluation function in USAFSS. CSAF assigned this task to USAFSS because: (1) USAFSS was a disinterested command — it neither built nor operated electronic warfare systems; (2) USAFSS had the necessary core skills; (3) it had access to the critically needed intelligence data; and (4) it had a close working relationship with NSA as the Air Force component of the service’s cryptologic system. The task was to assess the effectiveness of protective electronic countermeasures employed by U.S. aircraft during air strikes against North Vietnam.

United States Air Force Security Service Airborne Reconnaissance Program units began performing airborne transmissions security monitoring on a time available, non-interfering basis. In consonance with a USAF program to increase the use of women in the Air Force, USAFSS assigned women to its units in Karamursel, Turkey; Iraklion, Crete; Chicksands, United Kingdom; Misawa, Japan; and Shu Lin Kou, Taiwan; as well as at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. This was the first time enlisted women were assigned to USAFSS operational sites overseas. On 16 January 1967 the Air Force Special Communications Center established a 24-hour/7-day per week function to provide direct support to any agency needing information. This data base was the culmination of several years of developmental effort by the Center. It proved increasingly valuable in permitting rapid response to complex queries for technical and intelligence data. The 6990th Security Squadron was organized at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, to receive the six RC-135 aircraft assigned to the Pacific Airborne Reconnaissance Program effort. The first RC-135 Airborne Reconnaissance Program mission, named Combat Apple, was flown on 12 September 1967. The Iron Horse system was put into operation at Da Nang AB (6924th Security Squadron) and Monkey Mountain, South Vietnam.

In 1967, USAFSS assigned its new electronic warfare evaluation mission to the Air Force Special Communications Center (later AF Information Warfare Center) at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. The USAFSS assigned the mission to the Air Force Special Communications Center because the Center had a cadre of experienced analysts. In addition, the Center’s analytic task was phasing down which made the necessary office space available. This new mission was the first major change in the command’s mission in many years. The initial evaluations were disseminated electrically in Comfy Coat reports. Later, the effort was expanded to cover evaluation of Navy and ground electronic warfare, and Army, Navy, and Marine personnel were assigned to the Air Force Special Communications Center. As the years passed, general usage of the term Comfy Coat came to mean all operational electronic warfare effectiveness evaluations being conducted by the Air Force Special Communications Center.

1968 - The Government of Pakistan refused to renew the lease for the USAFSS site at Peshawar (6937th Communications Group). The unit closed by the end of 1969. The 6990th Security Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, won the Travis Trophy for its highly significant contributions toward the fulfillment of both national and tactical cryptologic objectives.

1969 - The Department of Defense decided to reduce forces in Turkey and realign the intelligence posture there. This realignment caused the subsequent closure of the USAFSS sites at Trabzon and Samsun and the establishment of a USAFSS squadron (6934th Security Squadron) at Sinop. Operations site of the 6924th Security Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1966.

The 6994th Security Squadron, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam, received the Travis Trophy for outstanding contributions to the cryptologic efforts of the U.S. Major General Carl W. Stapleton replaced Major General Louis E. Coira as commander effective 19 July 1969.