Silent Warriors: The Naval Security Group Reserve, 1945-2005

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Adequate funding had brought new equipment

to its units and renewed vigor to its operations.

Thanks to inspired leadership and the willingness

of sailors of all ranks to work hard and innova-

tively, NSGR had matured into a valued partner of

both active duty NSG and DoD/IC. It had 440 offi-

cers and 2,000 enlisted sailors on strength, drilling

at eighty-five units located at seventy-eight Naval

Reserve centers in nearly forty states. Its units were

supervised by five regional commands, and every

unit supported SIGINT in some capacity. This was

remarkable progress in only a decade and stood in

marked contrast to the NSGR of the mid-Cold War

when cryptologic units lacked operational mis-

sions. Now NSGR sailors performed COMSEC and

SPECOPS missions of real value to the Navy and

the nation, at modest cost. The program had blazed

a new path, demonstrating what part-time cryp-

tologists could do if given the funds, equipment,

and support. In the mid-1980s, the future of Naval

Reserve cryptology had never appeared brighter.

Cold War Victory and Its Aftermath (1985-

1995)

Confident in its capabilities, the NSGR of the

mid-1980s looked to the future and saw nothing

but opportunities. In 1986 the program embarked

on an ambitious Fleet Support initiative to supple-

ment active duty NSG support to U.S. naval activi-

ties worldwide. This effort aimed to bring the skills

of the NSGR to the fleet, using seagoing direct sup-

port assets as training — and ultimately operational

— platforms for the reserve.

In October of that year, NSGR leadership gath-

ered in Washington, DC, to discuss the program’s

future. The two-day meeting, held at NSG head-

quarters, involved some eighty senior officers dis-

cussing where the program had been and where it

was going. RADM Miles led a panel on the NSGR’s

future, including discussion of the operational

possibilities ahead. The conference’s highlight was

Naval Reserve Security Group leaders from around the nation attended the innovative

1986 Planning Conference in the historic building where Navy cryptologists helped win

World War II.