FOIA: SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Expanded - Gulf of Tonkin - August 1964

relea00135.pdf
SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Expanded
This memo is a declaration of SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern established and extended to USM-626
Document date: 1964-08-04
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Document type: Memo
pages: 1


Archivist's Notes: The extension of SIGINT Readiness Brava Lantern was extended to include USM-626 which is the 3rd Radio Research Unit that began sigint patrols on 13 May 1961 which were called DeSoto Patrols and this was off China and North Korea.

One page memo from August 1964 stating that the original readiness signal was expanded to include more units.

Only one is readable..others white boxed out.

The memo states “reflections or reactions to the current US/North Vietnamese encounter as well as indications of Chicom actions or intent with regard to southeast asia will be reported in established vehicles at immediate precedence.”

A very interesting read in regards to the SIGINT documents is the following:
Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish:

The Gulf of Tonkin incidents of 2 to 4 August 1964 have come to loom over the subsequent American engagement in Indochina. The incidents, principally the second one of 4 August, led to the approval of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by the U.S. Congress, which handed President Johnson the carte blanche charter he had wanted for future intervention in Southeast Asia. From this point on, the American policy and programs would dominate the course of the Indochina War. At the height of the American involvement, over a half million U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines would be stationed there. The war would spread across the border into Cambodia and escalate in Laos. Thailand assumed a greater importance as a base for supporting the military effort, especially for the air war, but also for SIGINT purposes of intercept and direction finding.

This document is closely related to FOIA: SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Established - Gulf of Tonkin - 2 August 1964





[edit on 19-3-2008 by frozen_snowman]

This document is a teletype stating the expansion of SIGINT or Signal Intercept under the name Red Lantern, which was conducted by the NSA to monitor communications in the area after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. As everything has already been covered there is not much to add except some relevant links.

Related FOIA Document:
FOIA: DRV attack on US Ships in Gulf of Tonkin; 2 - 4 August 1964
FOIA: Gulf of Tonkin Situation Report No. 2

Not much else to add to the above.

Further reading/comparisons on the gulf of tonkin incident can be found ...

navy mil faq version

gwu edu version

webcom version

wikipedia version