NASIC looks back 50 years at predecessor's role in Cuban Missile Crisis

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class James Jacobs
  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Fifty years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy informed the American public that the Soviet Union was constructing missile installations on Cuba, and demanded the Soviets remove these missiles. The days surrounding the historic announcement became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Long before the President's announcement, the men and women of the Foreign Technology Division, here, were playing a critical role in providing detailed intelligence assessments on the specific capabilities of these weapon systems to the nation's senior defense leaders.

FTD would later become the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. NASIC historian, Rob Young, describes FTD's involvement in this historical event.

"As the Air Force Systems Command's foreign technology experts, the analysts at FTD studied the aircraft the Soviet Union shipped to Cuba," Young said, "as well as the ballistic missiles at the center of the incident."

At the time, the Soviet's missile capability was not on par with the United States, which had the ability to strike the entire Soviet Union. Russian missiles could only reach Europe.

This lack of long range capability compelled Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to place intermediate-range missiles in Cuba, well within striking distance of the United States, and close enough to launch with little warning.

However, FTD's analysis started well before equipment arrived in Cuba. Their work involved in-depth foreign systems capabilities assessments as well as the little-known intelligence analysis discipline known as "crate-ology," said Young.

Crate-ology provided intelligence assessment of what equipment was being shipped, based on the size and shape of the crates being transported, in this case across the Atlantic Ocean.

"The Foreign Technology Division produced intelligence on the Soviet MiG-21 fighters, SS-4 and SS-5 ballistic missiles the USSR fielded in Cuba during the crisis," said Young. "Not normally focused on operational intelligence reporting, FTD made the required changes to get its analysts to operational bases that needed their expertise."

Along with the intelligence that FTD analysts provided during the missile crisis, they used the incident as an opportunity to use information gathered during the Soviet's deployment of the weapons to create a better understanding of Soviet operational capabilities.

"By observing the manner in which the missiles were employed, FTD analysts could better understand how they were intended to be used," Young said. "This helped shape our analysis of Soviet missile systems for many years following the Cuban Missile Crisis."

Following the event, Maj. Gen. Harold Watson, former FTD commander and then Deputy Chief of Staff of Foreign Technology at Air Force Systems Command, highlighted some of the challenges and successes of FTD to provide current operational intelligence reporting.

In a memo dated Dec. 4, 1962, Watson outlined some of FTD's difficulties including slow distribution of photo imagery, caused by security restrictions and distribution delays of intelligence information.

Watson also highlighted FTD's importance during the crisis.

[FTD provided] "AFSC commanders with immediate detailed information relative to the performance characteristics of opposing weapons and weapon systems," said Watson. "This support was extended to and utilized by the entire intelligence community and all operational and support elements."

Fifty years later, creating and providing up to date, predictive intelligence for the defense community remains a central component of NASIC's mission.

"The FTD response during the Cuban Missile Crisis mirrored the type of current operational analysis that NASIC does today, long before it was the unit's responsibility to do so," Young said. "It demonstrated the important role scientific and technical intelligence plays in the strategic and operational defense of the nation."