Annual Meeting - October 14, 2009
The 11th annual General Membership Meeting of the NCMF was held as scheduled on October 14, 2009 at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Kossiakoff Center in Laurel, MD.
0900-0915 – Mr. Eugene Becker, President, NCMF – Welcome and Opening Remarks
General comments:
- In June the BOD approved putting the new museum project on temporary hold due to the state of the economy and our inability to obtain funds to launch the fund raising campaign. The decision will revisited at the December meeting of the BOD.
- In September the BOD approved a new structure of the Foundation Executive Committee. The new structure consolidates some existing committees and makes the overall structure more in tune with our current priorities.
Strategic Plan
- The Foundation BOD has approved a new strategic plan drafted by Barbara McNamara in consultation with foundation officers and committees and NSA elements.
- The Plan has four goals:
1. Deepen and strengthen the interaction between NSA, in particular the Museum staff, and the foundations management and committees.
2. Provide the infrastructure and innovate technology to assure a world-class museum.
3. Develop a coordinated public affairs program involving the appropriate foundation committees and NSA elements with the aim of increasing awareness of membership in and contributions to the foundation.
4. Provide improved methods of acquiring financial support for the foundation's objectives. This would involve a two-tired approach.
Tier 1 – establish funding levels for maintaining and/or improving the current museum and;
Tier 2 – funding and building a new museum.
- Owners for each of the goals have been designated and they are responsible for drafting implementation plans to be completed for approval by the BOD at the March 2010 meeting.
Budget and Finance
- Income for fiscal year 2009 (ending June 30, 2009) was $119,166 which was a decrease of 17% from FY2008. Primary sources of income were membership dues and proceeds from the annual Eagle Alliance golf tournament.
- Expenses were $128,000 which was 10% less than our budget but still exceeded our income.
- Income and expenses for the first quarter of FY2010 were $34,316 and $50,000 respectively. A major expense on behalf of the NCM was the purchase of two computer kiosks for the museum’s education outreach program.
Acquisitions
- The acquisition committee was successful in acquiring a number of significant artifacts, to include a Colossus Computer, WW-II Super-Pro Receiver, Vietnamese Command Motorcycle, Army Security Agency Battalion Flag, Rosetta Stone replica, and a number of books and periodicals for the NCM library. More detail is provided on the Current Acquisitions link.
Membership
- The number of active members of the NCMF has been running about 1000 which most believe is far less than it should be. Any help you can provide in promoting membership would be deeply appreciated.
- Membership chairman Denny Eshoo has established liaison with the cryptologic associations of the army, navy, air force and marines in a effort to improve information exchange and, hopefully, membership.
- A new Foundation brochure has been designed for use in membership drives.
Public Affairs
- John Garcia, in coordination with the assistant museum curator, Jennifer Wilcox, arranged for the procurement of kiosks. These kiosks provide students an opportunity to play computer games that are centered on cryptologic themes and illustrate various cryptologic techniques and applications.
Facilities
- Completed the design and installation of the museum entry wall which is covered in detail on the web site. The recognition portion of the wall will be formally inaugurated early in 2010.
- The contract for the Acousiguide audio tour system which has served the Museum well has not been renewed but we are close to deciding on a replacement system which will be cheaper and more user friendly.
Programs
- The NCMF co-hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the museum’s purple exhibit on December 3, 2008. The ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the published work of NSA historians documenting the fact that there was no advance warning of the attack to the US government.
- The Spring program, held in June, featured professor Christie MaCrakis, a historian and lecturer at Georgia Tech whose specialty is the history of STASI, the East German intelligence organization.
0915-0945 - Opening Remarks
Maj. Gen. (Select) Tom Jones, Deputy Chief/Central Security Service, provided the opening remarks. He advised that Gen. Alexander is standing up the Cyber Command and that the Agency is going through dynamic and challenging times. Everyone should understand that although so much seems to have changed, the functions and missions of NSA remain the same. To this end he emphasized that both the Director and D/DIR are intent on keeping the Cyber Command and NSA as two separate entities.
0945-1015 – Keynote Speaker, Mr. Robert Lentz, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber, Identity and IA and Chief IA Officer, US Dept of Defense
Mr. Robert Lentz presented the keynote address. The Computer and Security Center was the U.S. Government’s first effort to address computer security. The evolution of cyber security has been simply amazing. Regardless of how fast it has developed, threats to security have kept outpacing our ability to deal with them. He pointed out that in the cyber world our adversaries are operating right alongside us, emphasizing that there are huge challenges to be worked out that we cannot wait for.
1030-1115 – Major General Barbara Fast, USA (Ret), Vice President, Cyber Solutions, The Boeing Company
Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, USA (Ret.) addressed the cyber security issue from a corporate point of view. She too stressed how far behind we are in this area and the enormous threat it thereby poses. Origins of these threats largely break down to 1) harassment and vandalism; 2) organized crime; and 3) sponsored espionage. While the U.S. is by far the most attacked nation, most such attacks emanate from within the country. Boeing pretty much mirrors what the U.S. Government is doing to protect its assets, especially its new 787 aircraft that will be fully networked. To do so they must build firewalls, protect the network and especially the integrity of the information that is on the network. There must be a public/private partnership to succeed in this challenging arena. Companies need to be part of this bigger partnership, and information must be shared. Risk management will be inherently necessary. She added that this will be costly, so we need to identify where we will get most bang for the buck.
1115-1135 – Patrick Weadon, Curator, National Cryptologic Museum
Curator Pat Weadon provided an update on Museum activities during the past year. It was a time of partnerships, specifically with Bletchley Park and the American Association of Museums. In the latter case, a number of Foundation and NSA officials benefited greatly from attending the AAM conference. The Museum has now joined that organization. The Museum’s library has become very extensive. In addition to the significant Kahn collection, it now also includes a number of children’s and other books. Finally, he announced that the Museum is getting a state-of-the-art fire detection system. And a fire suppression system will be in place as soon as a water line is installed.
1235-1315 – View of the National Geographic Film, “The Codebreakers”, featuring Drs. David Kahn and David Hamer
1315-1400 – Tony Stramella, Special Assistant to the Director, NSA/CSS, National Threat Operations Center (NTOC)
Mr. Tony Stramella began by providing some background on the establishment of what was originally known as Communications Security. He stressed that the threat to information is very serious and becoming more and more so. By 2015 the number of internet hosts will exceed the population. We are vulnerable now because good guys and bad guys exist side by side on the network.
1410-1435 – Lt. General Ken Minihan, USAF(Ret), Board of Directors, NCMF, provided an overview of future plans as regards support to the NCM.
Gen. Ken Minihan provided an update on the new Museum: Why we put it on hold, and why it so important that we either move on with a new museum or revamp the existing one. He emphasized that if we don’t do anything, people will lose interest in the Museum. It is vital to move ahead with our fund raising and plans to, preferably, build a new museum. If that is not possible, we should redo the current facility.
1435-1455 – Lt. General Linc Faurer, USAF(Ret), Chairman of the Board, NCMF, provided an overview of the MMG status and the NCMF Strategic Plan
Gen. Faurer speculated that the Strategic Plan devised by Miss Barbara McNamara will put new vigor and energy into the Board. With its implementation plan, the Board will focus on making progress towards meeting the Plan’s goals.
1455-1500 – Brigadier General Billy Bingham, USAF(Ret), NCMF Programs Chairman gave closing remarks.
GMM Silent Auction and Book Sale Results
The Foundation hosted its third annual silent auction and book sale at the 2009 General Membership Meeting. This years event was by far our most successful, raising over $1,400 from the auction and another $1,000+ at the book sale. The event generated many favorable comments from the GMM attendees. The most expensive items auctioned were a Minox Spy Camera ($200); a rare German language book on the history of espionage ($200); an 11x14 framed USS Liberty print signed by the surviving Liberty crew members ($155); and, an antique abacus from occupied Japan ($101). A sincere thank you to all who donated items for the auction and book sale. A special thanks to Sally Botsai, John Garcia, Bob Hunt and Dave D'Auria for their work at the sale. Two pictures from the event are included below.
Framed/Signed Liberty Print - $155 First Edition Books Sold at the GMM
