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U.S. Air Force Security Service
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Image:Usafss_emblem.jpg right|frame|The USAFSS emblem. The globe symbolizes worldwide influence, the lightning bolt symbolizes transmissions, the wing symbolizes the Air Force itself, and the sword symbolizes protection and security.
The '''United States Air Force Security Service''' (often abbreviated '''USAFSS''') was essentially the
United States Air Force's
military intelligence intelligence branch; its motto was ''Freedom through Vigilance.'' It was created in October of
1948 and operated until
1979, when the branch was redesignated the
Electronic Security Command (now the
Air Intelligence Agency).
Composed primarily of airmen culled from the cream of the Air Force's enlisted recruits, the USAFSS was a secretive and tight-knit branch of Air Force
Cold War cold warriors tasked with monitoring and interpreting military voice and electronic signals broadcast by former
Eastern Bloc countries, primarily the
Soviet Union,
Poland and
Czechoslovakia. Often, USAFSS intelligence was funneled to agents at the
National Security Agency.
Individual airmen — stationed at locations scattered across the globe, ranging from
Alaska to
Pacific Islands to
The Far East to
Mediterranean Countries to
The Middle East to
Western Europe to
North Africa — did a variety of jobs, almost all of them related to listening to and interpreting Eastern Bloc, Communist Chinese, and North Vietnamese military communications. Some airmen were linguists who listened to Russian and Polish radio broadcasts, then translated them and evaluated them for their intelligence value. Others monitored Russian and Polish and other nations' military
Morse code broadcasts. Still others were
cryptography cryptographers.
These jobs, which required top secret clearance, were extremely high pressure and were considered essential to U.S. cold war efforts. Members of the USAFSS were not allowed to discuss their jobs with outsiders — in fact, USAFSS members could not talk amongst themselves about their jobs unless they were in a secure location. Because of their value as targets (in Cold War Berlin, the capture of a USAFSS member was worth several thousand dollars), while stationed overseas their off-base travel was severely restricted. Many adopted "cover jobs" to more easily conceal their real work.
The activities of the USAFSS have only recently been declassified.
{{USAF-stub}}
Category:Commands of the United States Air Force Security Service
Category:United States intelligence agencies
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