WHAT HAPPENS AT GCHQ

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96B01172R000300020014-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2005
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: February 5, 1984
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP96B01172R000300020014-3
 Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP96B01172R000300020014-3
Iri ' a- word; ?? be is-. a' civil
servant - like the 10,000 of
his kind employed at "GCHQ,
Cheltenham, and at other
Government. listening posts
in Britain and overseas.
law - abiding family man,
drying : homerafter' work to,
wife 'arid. children;. and.
n ver going 'Within 'a thou
sand miles : of enemy, terri-
tory.
By -,R -1k,, GREEN-FIELD, Defence
CONTRARY to popular International Institute 'for
. iaythplogy; the. typical Strategic Studies. "It would
inoderns-intelligence agent not surprise me if up to 70
is not->a seedy figure .im: a' per. cent. of useful military
trench-", c6at haunting the intelligence was now derived
c from this source" he said,
gates ,,of:, naval dockyards;? "A satellite may tell you
or. tappii g : otit . encyphered, that Russian troops have
reports.,each'.-; night:. on a moved into an area, but it
short =wave radio'set'in his cannot .tell, you that they
attic. He is far more likely 'belong' to the Second Shock
to; be ??a-, highly, respectable, Army, or their chain of com-
?uuueu on missile test
known to' its practitioners
three-quarters ~tans
Correspondent
tions, here and overseas, are
of particular importance. i
Between them they cover the I
Middle East, Africa, the Rus-
sian military districts border-
ing Greece and Turkey, China
and Eastern Siberia,
Meanwhile, other stations
in Scotland and Northern Ire-
land are recording Russian
naval and long-range mari-
time"aircraft activity in the
north-eastern Atlantic.
Nor is it only messages and
conversations that a r e
monitored. The intelligence
authorities need to 'know the
frequencies used by Russian
military radar sets' so as to
be able to devise electronic
counter-measures, and are
keenly interested in inter-
It may be a dull
task . but almost
of their work
important source of military. Clearly, it is absolutely
intelligence in the world is believed to essential for such monitoring
today. Even space satellites, work to go on day and night,
for all their sophistication, be of operational week in week out, without
cannot match` the degree of the least possibility of union
detail -to be' gleaned from significance'... disruption. With military
listening ' in to the, radio. analysts estimating that the
transmissions. of o t her Russians are now capable of
countries. launching a " standing start,
The aerials are every- your first indication of out-of-the-blue " attack at as
where: over. the rooftops of changed patterns of activity little as 48 hours' warning,
Cheltenham, on the masts or inactivity. Even silence the listening stations can
and deck-houses of Russian can be informative." never afford to be off the air.
"fishing. trawlers, on the " Such information is of Furthermore, the nature of
tops of embassies,, in the abvJously vital sign~ifficance their work makes such sta-
fuselages of A.m,e r,i :c a n in time of crisis: it may tions themselves a major
RC-135 ,.'reconnaissance air- well be the level and pattern target for more old-fashioned
craft. Pace ? the thriller of,'radio traffic that indicates types of spying- hence the
writers;?it.is'hardly,an excit- whether "routine military Americans' insistence on the
ing,:job -;the'monitoring of exercises" are being used introduction of the of < rah
everything' from a,tank com-. as a cover for troop deploy-
or p ~'~ p
mander on ' manoeuvres to ments. Well before the Rus "lie-detector " as part of
the chatter of a taxi driver, sians invaded Afghanistan, ;British security vetting
follonwed.,rpy:' chher pa+nstalStrg, the " A,mericars , kne-,k ? front procedures, in, the wake of
collation. o# &~eryjnippet inti aheir monitoring stations the Geoffrey Prime spy-
search of something new or that troops in the Soviet scandal at Cheltenham.
significant. Asian republics were being Useful intelligence may be
~..~.~ mobilised, and fired off no defined as what you know
fewer than six diplomatic about the enemy, that lie
But, while?it.may be a dull notes to the Kremlin the doesn't know you know ";
task; i,t-is..vitally,,i?ritportant- autumn before the troops once a potential adversary
Indeed, Ti'. iunderstand- that moved in. discovers that plans, proced-
one reason for the Cabinet's The Swedes, for their part, ures, c y p h e r s or radio
decision, finally. to clamp were able to monitor little- frequencies have been com-
dow?n on?-union activity at publicised Red Army exerci promised, he will alter them.
El-int -establishments (a move ses at-the height of the last Whether or not the Cal)-
seriously considered by polish, crisis, and deduce that met is judged to have mis-
earlier. 'Administrations) was they were being used to put handled -the sensitive issue.
-the' increased sensitivity of overwhelming pressure on the of union -membership, its
the :?material., they handle. beleaguered Polish re im?e. It concern for the security and
Almost three-quarters of is from such radio intercep- undisrupted operation of its
their work is now, it is tions that governments can electronic listening stations
believed, " of operational sig- hope to gain early warning is entirely understandable.
nificance." of whether tlieii' enemies are It is on their round-the-clock
The importance of ' the preparing for a sneak attack vigilance that every British
monitor's role was stressed - or, equally important, Government ultimately de-
last week by ,. C-o 1 o n e 1 whether they are merely pends to ensure that this
Jonathan ? Alford, Deputy rattling sabres. country can never b r144
t
Duct ie ai e!I a 286o4a108~03noG;t,~rrr P~468QAak~a ?Q~OOO Q
nand, or what radio fre-
quencies they are using.
'"It is the Elint stations
that will tell you of new t-ac-
tica!1 'transmissions showing
t'ha'tiheadquarters are on the
move. They will give you
 Approved For Release ~01~108/03'P'f
.2-
U S demand for,
introduction
of lie-detectors. blame
i l
d
n
ea
ers continued, d,:To,w;,.. --, tam, Sir Robert A.4 ., strong, cttedthe
last night branded,e Govein #1,000 must suggest that it is im lications ofthe len
merit's proposed u~yy out, of l unpatri dew,! ICY 1'91 x?
un
m
o
s
i
n
ember
h ipat GC u: ' A
__ ii :Judas
money" and predicted ,ous downright lie. Trade union Mr Sheldon said: "This is a'
that it would ,be. rejected- by,,, members are just as patriotic. cover-up, The, real reason for.
3,000 nlcixihers r and loyal as any other :civil the
s annouac$atent is ,that they
They said. that the,, Foreign ervants. ?.._
Secretary s `reasons were"a lie i are h a v o i g pt ifte P -oil them
and the official version a cover Union leaders it lied to tot tntrorhuCa?!h'e polygraph rto.
upfor American pressure on the . the" Cabinet ?ofliceye terday 1 which we are opposed" on the,
Cabinet to break union resist- afternoon; to be; told of the grounds -of interference with
ante to the introduction-of lie- Foreign 0ice'move. ' civil, 'liberties. It: is';the! USA .
detectors into sensitive defence The head of the civil'service; putting the pressure on the.
installations. Government about its security
The Council of Civil Service
Unions is demanding an early
meeting with Mrs 'Thatcher in
her'role' As. ;head of the Civil
Service. to try, to... dissuade the'
Government "from going ahead
with' dc-recognition of'the five
,
unions.
The TUC will be.'brought'into
the dispute today, '
Mr John 'Sheldon,' ,gene'ral
secretary of, the Civil.'Service'
Union.. which. has ',the, largest
number of GCHQ . members,'
described the ex-gralia'paymen.t
offered by Sir Geoffrey as "an
offensive bribe". `They already,
have the loyalty of these people.;
It was. proved iri,.1981, when
despite the' ..pay .'.dispute all:
security, work 'at , Cheltenhaixi
Mr , Alastair?.Graham, ;general')
secretary of the largest White= .
half union; the Civil:andPublie..
Services Association, said:.,-"I
would have expected;this;from,
General: Jaruzelski! in Boland;',
but - not-from- a i Prime. .Minister,
of a democratic state. ?I,do not,
believe : that; people's, civil and
trade, union; liberties, can : be.
bought for-1,000,
The union; believes. that
ministers. think;,..the.? access..
enjoyed,,.by.,: full-tune ?,sunon-
oflicials to yieir ;members ; at
GCHQ. is, a potentia},,.egunty
hazard as &v; are not positiv
l
e
y
vetted.' But, nearly tlireq
M,0; union le4' ders,were w
that trio i.T,..an't'Q'.'..::... -!~ !!?!_4
- -- : ` Continuedoa aF, agtco 1r
?
GCHQ union ban lam ed
on pressure .front . U&'
Continued from page 1 an appalling and unacceptable
Nato allies were unhappy that a denial ofbasic?rights.
national one-day stoppage and "Civil servants, whatever
further industrial sanctions at their work, deserve and require
Cheltenham and the tracking the Protection of the, union and
station at Rude in Cornwall proper, union representation
would damage strategic'cover of just as much. as other workers.
signals traffic and hamper the It is grossly offensive for the
surveillance of Soviet warships. Foreign Secretary to imply that
In their announcement on the fact of trade union member-
March 8, 1981, the unions said: ship poses any .threat to
"There will be a range of national. security.?If there are or
selective and disruptive action. may be.pfoblems of any sort the
which will affect Britain's secret Foreign 'Secretary should spell
communications surveillance out what they: are and. discuss
network. There will be both them with unions concerned,
national and international re- not jump to the most extreme
percussions." measure possible.
Mr Len Murra , The offer* of a tame, state
-
Y general controlled union; backed up by'
secretary of the TUC, is to meet #1,000; bribes; is no alternative
leaders of the civil service to the right : of genuine trade.
unions this morning. Last night, union membership ?
he said: "This decision by the , The Government has set a
Foreign Secretary, made with- deadline of March 1 for GCHQ
out consultation- -or ;advande' employees `to "aeeewpt .the,
notice to unions whatsoever, is gratia payments. . .. g~?'
Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP96B01172R000300020014-3