Defense Information Systems Agency

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency. It is composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA provides information technology (IT) and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the Department of Defense, the combatant commands, and any individual or system contributing to the defense of the United States.

DCA was established May 12, 1960, with the primary mission of operational control and management of the Defense Communications System (DCS).

The initial headquarters for 34 DCA members was Wake Hall, one of a complex of three buildings (which included Midway Hall and Guam Hall) on the site where the parking lot of the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C., stands today. Navy Rear Admiral William D. Irvin became the first DCA director in July. In September, Rear Admiral Irvin moved his staff to office space in Building 12 at the Naval Services Center, 701 Courthouse Road, Arlington, Va., the site of the U.S. Navy's old Radio Arlington Station.

DCA's first major tasks were to identify the DCS elements and develop an implementation and management plan. The DCS was essentially a collection of communications systems turned over by the military departments with considerable restrictions. Key among these responsibilities was the establishment of three common-user, defense-wide networks that would be known as the Automatic Voice Network (AUTOVON), the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN), and the Automatic Secure Voice Communications Network (AUTOSEVOCOM). For each, DCA sought to determine its overall system configuration and prepare the technical specifications necessary for the equipment for switching centers, interconnecting transmission media, and subscriber terminals.

With the arrival of the space-age, DCA was designated as the “strong focal point” for development, integration, and operation of the space and ground elements of a number of satellite-based communications initiatives. The most important of these would be the DCA-managed Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS).

DARPA began planning for a truly strategic geosynchronous communication system in 1958, assigning the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division responsibility for the booster and spacecraft and the Army Signal Corps the communications element. Initially consisting of three repeater satellite programs, in September 1959 the secretary of defense transferred responsibility for communications satellite management from DARPA to the Army. In February 1960, the three programs were combined into Project Advent, which was assigned to the Army in September that year. However, the Army would not have operational responsibility for military satellite communications, as the Defense Department was unifying the strategic communications systems of the Army, Navy, and Air Force as part of the Defense Communications System, operated by the Defense Communications Agency, which was established on 12 May 1960. Project Advent was considered to be a very ambitious program, with the first tranche of satellites launched into 5,600 mile inclined orbits by Air Force Ballistic Missile Division Atlas-Agena launch vehicles, with the second tranche launched into geostationary orbits by AFBMD Atlas-Centaurs. Given cost overruns and technological breakthroughs in smaller satellites, Project Advent was cancelled on 23 May 1962.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 showed the need for direct, timely, and private communications between the leaders of the world's two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. A duplex cable circuit (later augmented by a satellite hookup) between the two capitals known as the Moscow–Washington hotline or "Red Telephone", became operational August 30, 1963. Program management and engineering for the “Hotline” was assigned to DCA. The system continues intact today with direct links to more than 40 foreign leaders. Another direct result of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the creation of the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) to enable national command authorities to exercise effective command and control of their widely dispersed forces.

While DCA dealt with the communication crises of the Cold War, a “hot war” was waging in Southeast Asia. America's commitment to South Vietnam led to the creation of a DCA Southeast Asia Region unit in 1964. DCA developed a plan to integrate the region's communication systems into a single modern network. The system would extend the commercial-quality communications provided by satellites and cables to the battlefield.