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• 1960-1970

1960-1970

1960-1965

DCA experienced rapid growth with the addition of several major missions during its first five years. In an effort to consolidate communications management in DoD, the Air Force Office of Commercial Communications Management, the White House Signal Agency, and the Operational and Management Division of Civil

Rear Admiral William D. Irving, First Director of DCA

Defense communications functions were transferred to DCA. DCA continued to grow when it established six Regional Communications Control Centers and two area centers for operational control of the DCS; received responsibility as the focal point for the interaction of space and ground elements of the Communications Satellite System; and established the Defense Communications Engineering Office to perform systems engineering functions, with emphasis on Automatic Voice Network/Automatic Digital Network.

Wake Hall, DCA (DISA) Headquarters, May to September 1960

The establishment of these new organizations resulted in augmentation and transfer of 470 positions to DCA. New missions assigned to DCA included engineering and technical support for the National Military Command System (NMCS) and automatic data processing (ADP) support for the operation of the NMCS and for war gaming. The Director, DCA gained two additional hats during this period: Chairman of the Military Communications Electronics Board and Manager of the National Communications System. The organizations that accompanied these responsibilities were separate organizations under the Director, DCA.

DCA was augmented with additional positions to form the Comptroller Office, Chief of Staff, Contract Management Office, and the Communications Services Industrial Fund. These offices were formed in a major reorganization of the Headquarters. At the end of the five year period, DCA was authorized about 2,400 positions.

1966-1970

A DSCS heavy terminal with an 18.3 meter diameter antenna used at major communication nodes. (DoD photo)

DCA continued to expand between1966 and 1970 with the assignment of responsibility for development and planning for the Defense Special Security Communications Systems; technical support for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Special Assistant for Strategic Mobility; technical support for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the military departments in developing and maintaining the World-wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) standard ADP system (Joint Technical Support Agency).

During this time, DCA established the System Engineering Facility to perform system engineering for the overall DCS to include test bed validation. America's commitment in Vietnam led to the creation of DCA-Southeast Asia Region with its concomitant antecedent manpower requirements. Additionally, DoD designated DCA as the "manpower carrier" for the Defense Communications Planning Group (DCPG), a separate organization supporting then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's effort to establish an electronic barrier along the border of North and South Vietnam.. Also, DCA enlarged its support to the NMCS. While the additions to DCA reflected an increased strength of over 1,600 positions during this period, they were offset by numerous factors. This resulted in DCA having an end-strength of approximately 3,600 positions by the end of 1970.