History of NIOC Pacific
The history and heritage of Navy Information Operations Command Pacific, with an extended span from the Outback to the Rockies, draws from the rich heritage of cryptologic operations within the Pacific theater. Today’s Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Pacific is vast and consolidates many historic commands within the Pacific theater, and others that support Pacific operations. This history will discuss the heritage of Pacific Navy Cryptologic Operations, to include the Navy’s first cryptologic operations, early cryptologic operations under OPNAV OP-20G and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT), the history of Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Pearl Harbor, Kunia, and Hawaii, and the history of NIOC Hawaii and today’s NIOC Pacific.
The Navy’s Cryptologic operations began in the Pacific theater.[1] In 1921, Chief Radioman Harry Kidder began intercepting and decoding Japanese morse radio communications from the Philippines. He passed his intercepts to the Naval Communications Department in Washington, D.C. who recognized the significance of his work. By 1933, these intercepts led to compilation of a 115-page report on the Japanese naval order of battle by then-Lieutenant Joseph Wenger.
Kidder would become selected as one of the first instructors of the famed On the Roof Gang in Washington, D.C. This school was designed to teach radio operators to intercept the adversary’s radio signals for use in intelligence. The first group of graduates from this school would go to establish the Navy’s first radio intercept post in Guam. Similar outposts were established in the Philippines and Oahu, Hawaii by OP-20-G, the Code and Signal section within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV).
Yet the most striking story in all of Navy Cryptology is that of Station HYPO, which was housed in the “dungeon” or basement of the historic Building One within today’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. It was at Station HYPO where the then-Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort and deputy Officer in Charge Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Dyer led a team to the successful decryption of portions of Japan’s JN-25(b) code while using their understanding of Japanese personas to gain a deep understanding of the Japanese fleet’s intentions. HYPO’s work and Rochefort’s key insights reached CINCPACFLT Adm. Chester Nimitz thanks to Rochefort’s colleague from an extended study abroad in Japan, intelligence officer and then-Lt. Cmdr. Edwin T. Layton. Rochefort’s career embodies the pinnacle of excellence in cryptology, which critically included technical aspects of cryptology, a depth of Japanese studies, and the operational experience to integrate his team’s insights into operations.
After World War II, the NSGA Pearl Harbor began as an interpretive detachment assigned to CINCPACFLT. In 1976, the control of the detachment shifted from CINPACFLT to COMNAVSECGRU. The position of Officer in Charge was dual-hatted by the Assistant Chief of Staff for Cryptology at CINCPACFLT. On April 1, 1982, the two positions were separated, and an Officer in Charge took up full time duties and residency in building 324. NSGA Pearl Harbor was officially commissioned on July 9, 1982.[2]
Separately, an advance party of Naval Security Group personnel was established with the stand-up of the Kunia Field Station at the “Kunia Tunnel" in January 1980 under control of the U.S. Army. Operations began in November, 1980, and NSGA Kunia was established and commissioned on November 14, 1980.[3]
The idea for the "Kunia Tunnel" came after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a $23 million, approximately 250,000 facility constructed from 1942 through 1944. Fear of a repeat-attack prompted the Army and Navy to plan a less vulnerable, under-ground complex, designed as an aircraft assembly and repair plant. The facility is not a true tunnel, but a free-standing three-story structure that was later covered with earth. Called "The Hole" by locals, this huge complex was built in the pineapple fields south of Wheeler Field and Schofield Barracks. The tunnel facility was kept in a reserve status until 1953, at which time the Navy assumed control and used it for ammunition and torpedo storage. According to an article published in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, the Navy announced on June 28, 1953, it would convert the bunker into a secret facility. A local construction team was awarded the contract for $1.7 million to revamp the facilities.
When the initial renovations were completed in the early 1960s, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Forces, used the complex as a command center. In 1966, the facility was hardened against chemical, biological and radiological attacks. In 1976, the Fleet operations center was moved to another location and the tunnel was turned over to the General Services Agency for disposition. Construction of the modern air conditioned barracks and dining facility was completed in 1986. By April, it was occupied by the soldiers and administrative offices of the two battalions. In order to reflect the change to a more “joint” mission, Field Station Kunia was redesignated the Kunia Regional Security Operations Center (KRSOC) in August, 1993.[4]
The field station changed hands once again in October 1995, when possession of the tunnel was again handed over to the Navy. Although it is still referred to as the KRSOC, it was in the hands of the Naval Security Group Activity, Kunia. While required renovations have continued throughout the last 20 years, the KRSOC is an aging facility, built in 1945 and renovated for cryptologic operations in 1979.
U.S. NSGA Kunia and the U.S. NSGA Pearl Harbor merged commands in a ceremony Sept. 30, 2004 at the USS Nevada Memorial, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. NSGA Pearl Harbor was officially disestablished, and the U.S. NSGA Hawaii was commissioned. On Sept. 30, 2005, NSGA Hawaii was administratively closed and was re-established on Oct. 1, 2005 as the NIOC Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
On Aug. 30, 2007, the National Security Agency, Central Security Service (NSACSS) located in Kunia, Hawaii, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hawaii Regional Security Operations Center (HRSOC) at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific (NCTAMS PAC), located in Wahiawa, Hawaii. The HRSOC state-of-the-art facility is approximately 250,000 square feet, constructed on 70 acres, and costed approximately $318 million dollars. At the time, the facility was the largest contract in the history of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFACENGCOM).
On Nov. 5, 2019, NIOC Hawaii began work on building 261 in earnest with ground being broken December of that same year. Building 261 would eventually become the Command Quarterdeck at NCTAMS PAC located in Wahiawa, Hawaii. The building was updated from the previous NCTAMS Pacific headquarters and refurbished to allow for approximately 70k square feet of additional space. This building will house the Command Suite, Data Analysis Section, Mission Planning Areas, administrative offices and video teleconferencing centers.
In late 2023, Fleet Cyber Command reorgaznied NIOC Hawaii as NIOC Pacific, assuming responsibility for Navy Information Operations Detachment (NIOD) Colorado and NIOD Whidbey Island. On Nov. 29, 2023, NIOC Hawaii was sunsetted and the name Navy Information Operations Command Pacific was entered in the Navy records. In June 2024, Building 261 commissioned and was named for cryptologic pioneer Agnes Driscoll, known as “Madame X”, who had a deep impact on the history of cryptology in the Pacific theater.
With a new name, a new Quarterdeck, and a broadened mission, NIOC Pacific embodies the cryptologic heritage of the Pacific theater and stands ready for the challenges of the future.