Abstract

This article examines the impact of the National Security Act of 1947 on signals intelligence (SIGINT)’s organization and activities in the early Cold War. Although mostly a blind spot, the study of how the legislation relates to SIGINT serves to underscore the influence that the armed services exerted on the design and operation of the Intelligence Community (IC). SIGINT activities were impeded by the flaws of the legislation, which failed to unify the armed forces and created instead a decentralized national security apparatus. Although SIGINT was eventually centralized within the Department of Defense, it was to remain outside the Central Intelligence Agency’s purview, thus turning the nascent IC into a diarchy led by both the director of central intelligence and the secretary of defense.

摘要

本文探讨了 1947 年国家安全法对冷战早期信号情报 (SIGINT) 组织和活动的影响。虽然主要是一个盲点，但研究立法如何与 SIGINT 相关，有助于强调武装部队对情报界 (IC) 的设计和运作的影响。SIGINT 活动受到立法缺陷的阻碍，立法未能统一武装部队，而是建立了一个分散的国家安全机构。尽管 SIGINT 最终集中在国防部内，但它仍处于中央情报局的职权范围之外，从而将新生的 IC 变成了由中央情报局局长和国防部长共同领导的二元制。