SECRECY NEWS

from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2012, Issue No. 8
February 1, 2012

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/


** AN OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES, AND MORE FROM CRS
** SOME HISTORICAL INTELLIGENCE SATELLITE IMAGERY DECLASSIFIED
** RAVEN ROCK AND CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT


AN OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES, AND MORE FROM CRS

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

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.

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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@fas.org
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twitter: @saftergood