Bøger af Peter J Azzole

Vol. 2 of 2.The NCVA Oral History Program has its roots in a program presented to the Commander, Naval Security Group Command (COMNAVSECGRU) in April 1982. The program goal was to collect oral histories of Navy and Marine Corps personnel that performed cryptologic operations in WWII. Oral history collection began in September 1982 at the annual reunion of the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NCVA). Several years of collection efforts ensued at these reunions and other locations until all volunteers were interviewed. Subsequently, the recordings and transcripts languished in NAVSECGRU archives. Upon the disestablishment of Naval Secruity Group Command in 2005, the oral history files were transferred to the Cryptologic Command Display (CCD), now located aboard the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), Corry Station, Pensacola, FL. The CCD is a repository of historic naval cryptologic documents, equipment, artifacts and photographs. It is administered by volunteers, members of the NCVA, under the auspices of the CIWT.In January 2018, an Oral History Project planning meeting at the Cryptologic Command Display resulted in the implementation of a project to publish a compendium of the cryptologic oral histories, in paperback and also searchable electronic media. This compendium is the result of over a year of effort to accomplish the goal of the project.

The NCVA Oral History Program has its roots in a program presented to the Commander, Naval Security Group Command (COMNAVSECGRU) in April 1982. The program goal was to collect oral histories of Navy and Marine Corps personnel that performed cryptologic operations in WWII. Oral history collection began in September 1982 at the annual reunion of the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NCVA). Several years of collection efforts ensued at these reunions and other locations until all volunteers were interviewed. Subsequently, the recordings and transcripts languished in NAVSECGRU archives. Upon the disestablishment of Naval Secruity Group Command in 2005, the oral history files were transferred to the Cryptologic Command Display (CCD), now located aboard the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), Corry Station, Pensacola, FL. The CCD is a repository of historic naval cryptologic documents, equipment, artifacts and photographs. It is administered by volunteers, members of the NCVA, under the auspices of the CIWT.In January 2018, an Oral History Project planning meeting at the Cryptologic Command Display resulted in the implementation of a project to publish a compendium of the cryptologic oral histories, in paperback and also searchable electronic media. This compendium is the result of over a year of effort to accomplish the goal of the project.

The Navy and the CIA desperately needed unique, critical intelligence about hints of Soviet anti-ship and ballistic missile threats being brought to Cuba. Putting a radio-intercept operator into Cuba was one way to gain insights, otherwise unavailable, into Soviet activities there. U.S. Navy Communications Technician First Class Salvador Conte had the long list of skills to pull it off, and he volunteered without hesitation. Salvador quickly learned that it was an arduous mission and became exhaustively challenging, especially when his future in Cuba teetered on the worst outcomes. The risks to his life became all too real! Come along on this mission and share his experience. It remains to be seen whether he will survive.

Commander Tony Romella takes a small team on what is expected to be a routine one month trip to Casablanca, Morocco. Their mission is simply to provide a temporary Top Secret special intelligence communications center to support U.S. members of a high level Allied war planning meeting. An easy mission quickly goes awry. Only two months after the Allied assault and occupation of Casablanca (Operation TORCH), the city remains a hotbed of Vichy and German sympathizers and spies. One unexpected event leads to another. Things get dicey, with life threatening situations, shots fired and dead bodies. Tony is diverted from Casablanca on a brief classified fact-finding mission to a neutral country's island. That mission gets complicated and ultimately results in spy catching and another death. Returning to Casablanca, events result in Tony meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Between "Casablanca's" covers are communications intelligence, counter-intelligence, military politics, diplomatic tension, WWII history, family dynamics, and in the final analysis, a very exciting, twisting and fast moving story.

July 1943 - Navy Captain Tony Romella is deployed to Sweden with several Morse and voice radio intercept operators. The mission is to collect signals from the Peenemunde Army Research Center on the northeast tip of Germany. There is a sharp focus on a version of Hitler's harrowing V1 vengeance weapon being developed and tested as an aircraft-launched anti-ship flying bomb. Hitler wants the V1 operational in time to thwart an Allied landing through a massive rocket bombing of ports in southeast England and London. The anti-ship version would be a critical threat to Allied ships poised to deliver troops to French soil. Tony's challenge is to gather technical intelligence urgently needed to develop countermeasures. Unexpected impediments to the mission are military politics, international diplomatic entanglements, zealous Gestapo officers, and thorny technical challenges. These lead to several intriguing branches and twists in the story. There are times when a communications intelligence officer does not lead a quiet life in a secure office. Step into Tony's shoes once more and see how they fit.