FOIA: SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Established - Gulf of Tonkin - 2 August 1964, page 1

relea00134.pdf
SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Established
This is a memo which outlines the establishment of SIGINT in Northern Vietnam in August 1964.
Document date: 1964-08-02
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Document type: Memo
pages: 1

---

Archivist's Notes: On 2 August 1964 SIGINT Readiness Level Bravo Lantern was established. The cause for this was the attack of South Vietnamese on a radar station at Hon Me island on night of 30/31 July 1964. So, the result to this attack was the establishment of SIGINT Readiness Level Bravo at USN-27 - San Miguel, Philippines; USA-57- 6922d Security Wing; USM-626J and USN-414T - Phu Bai; USM-9 - Clark AB, Philippines; USA-32 - (appears to be) Technical Support. SIGINT is to report on activities as information becomes available. There are also a number of "operating signals" like the one at the top of the memo which is ZYH. This is a high precedence indicator and usually activates some sort of alarm upon receipt of Flash, Critic or Immediate messages.

---

One page memo from 2 August 1964 signalling that US forces are on alert as a result of hostile Vietnamese (DRV) reaction to the continuing Desoto Patrol.
Some information is white boxed out.

There is not much information in this document. My fellow Archivist has everything coverd in the initial notes.

I would like to ad the following website from the National Security Archive

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 40 Years Later
Flawed Intelligence and the Decision for War in Vietnam
Signals Intercepts, Cited at Time, Prove Only August 2nd Battle, Not August 4;
Purported Second Attack Prompted Congressional Blank Check for War
Johnson-McNamara Tapes Show Readiness to Escalate, Even on Suspect Intel;

Top Aides Knew of Mistaken Signals, but Welcomed Justification for Vote

This document is linked to the FOIA: SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Expanded - Gulf of Tonkin - August 1964

There is not much to add since everything has been covered about this document. Again, it is a teletype stating the establishment of SIGINT or Signal Intercept under the name Red Lantern, which was conducted by the NSA to monitor communications in the area after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. As my fellow archivist has brought up, some of the intercepts showed the attacks did not happen as reported, as well as other misinformation, which probably helped build a case for war. Sound familiar?

Related FOIA Documents:
FOIA: DRV attack on US Ships in Gulf of Tonkin; 2 - 4 August 1964
FOIA: Gulf of Tonkin Situation Report No. 2

Not much else to add to the above.

Further reading/comparisons on the gulf of tonkin incident can be found ...

navy mil faq version

gwu edu version

webcom version

wikipedia version