Vietnam War POW/MIA National Security Agency Files

Description

Vietnam War POW/MIA Investigations: NSA Intelligence

Timeline of Main Events:

• 1960s-1975: Vietnam War era, during which United States service personnel were captured and listed as Prisoners of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA).
• August 2, 1991: The United States Senate establishes the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs to investigate unresolved cases of Vietnam War-era U.S. service personnel still listed as MIA.
• July 13, 1992: The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs requests that the National Security Agency (NSA) review its records for information and signal intelligence related to unresolved POW/MIA cases.
• 1992: The NSA produces a report titled “B51 Technical SIGINT Report 002-92 NSA SIGINT Correlation Study – POW MIA.” This report represents an analytical effort to correlate available Vietnam War-era Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) to specific POW/MIA cases, utilizing various sources of SIGINT reporting.
• January 2, 1993: The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs concludes its existence.
• 1996: The NSA completes a special study, SIGNIT Report “NSA SIGINT Correlation Study – POW/MIA.” This five-year effort aimed to correlate all available Vietnam War-era SIGINT to specific Vietnam War POW/MIA cases.
• September 2014: Some material within the NSA files related to Vietnam War POW/MIA cases, previously classified, was declassified and made available.

Cast of Characters:

• United States Servicemen (Vietnam War POW/MIAs): The principal subjects of the NSA files and the Senate Select Committee’s investigation. These individuals were captured or went missing during the Vietnam War, and their status as POWs or MIAs remained unresolved for many years.
• Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs: A special committee created by the United States Senate in 1989 (in existence from August 2, 1991, to January 2, 1993) to investigate Vietnam War-era United States service personnel still listed as missing in action. The committee sought information from various sources, including the NSA.
• National Security Agency (NSA): A United States intelligence agency responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). In response to the Senate Select Committee’s request, the NSA reviewed its vast archives of SIGINT related to the Vietnam War to find potential information regarding POW/MIA cases, resulting in reports like the “NSA SIGINT Correlation Study – POW/MIA.”

Vietnam War POW/MIA National Security Agency (NSA) Files

3,420 pages of National Security Agency (NSA) files related to Vietnam War POW/MIA United States Servicemen.

A collection of National Security Agency (NSA) field reports, finished reports, studies, summary reports, memoranda, watch officers’ notes, and analyst communications related to Vietnam War and Southeast Asia POW/MIA cases. Some material remained secret until September 2014.

On July 13, 1992, the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs requested that the NSA review its records for information and signal intelligence related unresolved POW/MIA cases.

The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs was a
special committee created by the United States Senate in 1989, to investigate Vietnam War era United States service personnel still listed as missing in action. The committee was in existence from August 2, 1991 to January 2, 1993.

Highlights from the collection include:

A 1996 NSA special study, SIGNIT Report “NSA SIGINT Correlation Study – POW/MIA.” This signal intelligence (SIGINT) correlation study was the result of a fiveyear effort by the NSA staff to correlate all available Vietnam War-era SIGINT to specific Vietnam War Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) cases.

A 1992 report, “B51 Technical SIGINT Report 002-92 NSA SIGINT Correlation Study – POW MIA.” This SIGINT correlation study is an NSA analytical working aid attempting to correlate all available Vietnam War era SIGINT to specific POW/MIA cases. The correlations are based on NSA field site reporting, NSA end product and summary reporting, US forces summaries introduced into SIGINTJ reporting channels, and (SIGINT) reporting.