American Signal Intelligence in Northwest Africa and Western Europe

Introduction

Production of signal intelligence during World War II for use by American armed forces was a process more elaborate than the creation of a set of oriental rugs. Looking back today, patterns are recognizable but variations abound. The interdependence of different participants in production is as evident as that of the shepherds, spinners, loom-makers, dyers, and weavers, whose common product, like SIGINT, might end up in an office with a parquet floor under a handsome chandelier or in the tent of a nomad, or in something in between those extremes. But in any setting, it would be highly prized.

During World War II, Americans preferred the term "communications intelligence" (COMINT) as a near equivalent to the British term "signal intelligence," ...