CHCSS

Central Security Service

Emblem of the Central Security Service
Agency overview
Formed	1972
Headquarters	Fort Meade, Maryland, U.S. 39°6′32″N 76°46′17″W / 39.10889°N 76.77139°W / 39.10889; -76.77139
Agency executives	Admiral Michael S. Rogers, USN, Chief, Central Security Service Brigadier General D. Scott George, USAF, Deputy Chief, Central Security Service
Website	www.nsa.gov

The Central Security Service (CSS) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, which was established in 1972 to integrate the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Service Cryptologic Elements (SCE) of the United States Armed Forces in the field of signals intelligence, cryptology and information assurance at the tactical level. In 2002, the CSS had about 25,000 uniformed members.

After World War II had ended, the United States had two military organizations for the collection of signals intelligence (SIGINT): the Army Security Agency (ASA) and the Naval Communications Intelligence Organization (OP-20-G). The latter was deactivated and reorganized into the much smaller Communications Support Activities (CSA) in 1946, leaving ASA as the main US SIGINT agency. Additionally, the air force established its own US Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) for the collection of communications intelligence in 1948.

On May 20, 1949, the Secretary of Defense created the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), which became responsible for the direction and control of all US communications intelligence (COMINT) and communications security (COMSEC) activities. However, at the tactical level these tasks continued to be performed by the respective army, navy and air force agencies, which were not willing to accept the authority of the newly created AFSA. In trying to get control over the military SIGINT elements, AFSA was replaced by the new and more powerful National Security Agency (NSA) on October 24, 1952.

Tactical military intelligence was traditionally collected by specialized soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen deployed around the world. For example, during the Vietnam War, each of the military services deployed its own cryptologic units, supported by the NSA, which set up a number of SIGINT Support Groups (SSGs) as merging points for signal intelligence. With increasing cryptologic requirements, the military SIGINT systems had to be updated and unified and therefore, it was planned to integrate NSA and the Service Cryptologic Agencies (SCAs) into a new unified command, with NSA absorbing SCA functions.