posted on Jun, 8 2013 @ 03:15 PM
Glad that you made this thread. In terms of agencies, I like to use this analogy as far as their public roles go--the FBI is the "good cop", CIA is
the "bad cop", and the NSA is the "cop behind the one way glass". Most of the time, people forget about them but they are probably one of the most
interesting (and secretive) agencies that there is. They are big on cryptology, intelligence collection and they even recruit high school seniors
from the Gifted and Talented program to work for them during the summer. No kidding:
www.nsa.gov...
My youngest is in the G&T program in the 5th grade and this year, they were learning all about prime numbers, perfect numbers, mersienne prime numbers
and more using tools such as pattern seeking and the sieve of erasthosthenes to sift these numbers out along with classic number riddles and games.
These types of numbers are important for cryptography. Considering the recruitment into the cryptography agency during the summers from these
programs, these lessons make sense for a specialized education program like G&T. It's just kind of weird to know that the NSA may have had something
do with my 10 year olds number games this year. Still not sure how I feel about that.
As a quick rundown on general history, the first incarnation of the NSA--the Armed Forces Security Agency--was formed in 1949. In 1952, President
Truman authorized the formation of the NSA. I remember reading that the first headquarters for the NSA was Randolph/Lackland outside of San Antonio,
Texas but can't find that information again to confirm. However, the NSA still has a hub in San Antonio called the Texas Cryptology Center at
Lackland AFB. Lackland and Randolph are part of the Joint Base San Antonio. Another "fun fact" about this base is that this was where many
Operation Paperclip scientists were stationed.
Anyways, that's what I knew of the NSA before they hit the news big time. They are pretty peculiar.
edit on 8/6/13 by WhiteAlice because:
clarity
edit on 8/6/13 by WhiteAlice because: i'm an idiot.