[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 02/01/12
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 16:48:21 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:28:08 -0500
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 02/01/12
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2012, Issue No. 8
February 1, 2012
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** AN OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES, AND MORE FROM CRS
** SOME HISTORICAL INTELLIGENCE SATELLITE IMAGERY DECLASSIFIED
** RAVEN ROCK AND CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT
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AN OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES, AND MORE FROM CRS
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Over the past decade, the number of U.S. special operations forces (SOF)
personnel has nearly doubled, while budgets for special operations have
nearly tripled, and overseas deployments have quadrupled, according to a
newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service.
"Special Operations Forces are elite military units with special training
and equipment that can infiltrate into hostile territory through land, sea,
or air to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified," the CRS
report explains. "SOF personnel undergo rigorous selection and lengthy
specialized training. The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) oversees
the training, doctrine, and equipping of all U.S. SOF units."
Following an overview of the structure of U.S. special operations forces,
the CRS report discusses the implications for special operations of recent
legislation including the 2012 defense authorization act. See "U.S. Special
Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress," January 11,
2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21048.pdf
A copy of the new "U.S. Special Operations Command Fact Book 2012," prepared
by USSOCOM Public Affairs, is available here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/socom/factbook-2012.pdf
Other noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that
have not been made readily available to the public include the following:
"Arms Sales: Congressional Review Process," February 1, 2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL31675.pdf
"The Nunn-McCurdy Act: Background, Analysis, and Issues for Congress,"
January 31, 2011:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41293.pdf
"Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues," January 12,
2012:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL32369.pdf
SOME HISTORICAL INTELLIGENCE SATELLITE IMAGERY DECLASSIFIED
A handful of historical intelligence satellite images were declassified last
month to coincide with a new display of the GAMBIT and HEXAGON spy
satellites at the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123287508
The GAMBIT and HEXAGON satellites were formally declassified last September
on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the National Reconnaissance
Office. At that time, the NRO released voluminous documentation on the
development of those satellites. But the associated imagery, which is held
by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, was not released. Now a
small number of satellite images have been made public.
However, the newly disclosed images are not originals, but are embedded in
"posters" published by the NRO. As such, they do not lend themselves to
detailed analysis, complained Charles P. Vick of GlobalSecurity.org. Nor
are the original negatives of the declassified photos available for public
inspection.
http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/GAMBHEX%20Posters.html
There is an annotation on the released images indicating that they were
declassified on January 13, 2012 by the Director of National Intelligence,
which would be consistent with the provisions of the 1995 executive order
12951.
"The images have undoubtedly been degraded, because GAMBIT and HEXAGON's
best imagery capabilities remain classified," wrote Dwayne Day in The Space
Review. "These photographs are hopefully the first in many yet to come, and
will help us better understand the battles in the shadows of the Cold War."
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2013/1
Among other things, the NRO also released a new edition of the 1973
histories of GAMBIT and HEXAGON written by Robert L. Perry.
http://www.nro.gov/whatsnew.html
"Perry's histories... serve as exemplars of the art and craft of historians.
They are rich in detail, well-sourced, and written with engaging prose,"
according to an informative introduction by James D. Outzen of the Center
for the Study of National Reconnaissance.
Unfortunately, the new edition, while handsome, is not exemplary because it
obscures the redaction of material that is still considered classified:
"With respect to redacted material, we have edited the volumes to smooth the
flow of language in the volume, rather than indicate where material was
redacted." This was a mistake.
Remarkably, the NRO initiative to declassify GAMBIT and HEXAGON program
information, including imagery, dates back to 1997. At that time, a
seven-month implementation schedule was optimistically anticipated.
"I would like to hiqhliqht this declassification effort with a National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO) ceremony (including the release of selected
declassified imagery from both systems) in October 1997," wrote NRO Deputy
Director Keith R. Hall in a March 1997 memorandum that was obtained by
Jeffrey Richelson of the National Security Archive.
http://www.fas.org/irp/nro/hex-declass.pdf
As it turned out, the declassification process took 14 years, not seven
months.
RAVEN ROCK AND CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT
A newly revised U.S. Air Force directive on continuity of operations under
emergency circumstances refers matter-of-factly to Raven Rock Mountain
Complex, a largely restricted U.S. government facility in Pennsylvania. See
"Air Force Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program," Air Force Instruction
10-208, 15 December 2011:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/usaf/afi10-208.pdf
Raven Rock, also known as Site R, has been operational since 1953 for
purposes of emergency communications, disaster relocation and recovery. But
most operations at the facility have been classified, and the facility
itself was rarely mentioned in official publications during most of the past
half century. A previous edition of the new Air Force Instruction that was
issued in 2005 made no reference to Raven Rock.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/raven_rock.htm
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_______________________________________________
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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
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OR email your request to saftergood@xxxxxxx
Secrecy News is archived at:
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Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
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_______________________
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Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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Other related posts:
- » [net-gold] Secrecy News -- 02/01/12 - David P. Dillard
