White House Communications Agency
Encyclopedia
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA), originally known as the White House Signal Detachment (WHSD), was officially formed by the United States Department of War
on 25 March 1942 under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
. The WHSD was created to provide normal and emergency communications requirements in support of the President. The WHSD provided mobile radio
, Teletype
, telephone
and cryptographic aides in the White House
and at Shangri-La
, now known as Camp David
. The mission of the WHSD was to provide a premier communication system that would enable the President to lead the nation effectively. As of July 29, 2011, the White House Communications Agency is commanded by COL Clinton Bigger (United States Army) and the Agency's Senior Enlisted Service member is CSM Willie Clemmons (United States Army).
under President John F. Kennedy
. Its duties were transferred to the auspices of the Defense Communications Agency under the operational control of the White House Military Office
, and reestablished as the White House Communications Agency.
, the Korean War
, the Vietnam War
, Panama
and Guatemala
, Operation Just Cause, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia
. WHCA was also a key player in documenting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
and the attempts on the lives of Presidents Gerald Ford
and Ronald Reagan
.
and consists of six staff elements and seven organizational units. WHCA also has supporting detachments in Washington, D.C.
and various locations throughout the United States. WHCA is organized into functional areas each with its own mission in support of the total WHCA mission of Presidential support.
s and related support to the President, Vice President
, Executive Office of the President
senior staff, National Security Council
, Secret Service
and others as directed by the White House Military Office
. This support includes non-secure voice, secure voice
, record communications, audio-visual
services, automated data processing support and photographic and drafting services both in Washington, D.C. and worldwide.
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
on 25 March 1942 under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. The WHSD was created to provide normal and emergency communications requirements in support of the President. The WHSD provided mobile radio
Mobile Radio
This article is about professional equipment. For mobile radios used in amateur radio, see amateur radio mobile operation. Mobile radio or mobiles refer to wireless communications systems and devices which are based on radio frequencies, and where the path of communications is movable on either...
, Teletype
Teletype Corporation
The Teletype Corporation, a part of American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Western Electric manufacturing arm since 1930, came into being in 1928 when the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company changed its name to the name of its trademark equipment...
, telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
and cryptographic aides in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and at Shangri-La
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
, now known as Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
. The mission of the WHSD was to provide a premier communication system that would enable the President to lead the nation effectively. As of July 29, 2011, the White House Communications Agency is commanded by COL Clinton Bigger (United States Army) and the Agency's Senior Enlisted Service member is CSM Willie Clemmons (United States Army).
Reorganization
In 1954, during the Eisenhower administration, the WHSD was reorganized under the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Army Signal Corps as a Class II unit and renamed the White House Army Signal Agency (WHASA). In 1962 WHASA was discontinued by order of the United States Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
under President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Its duties were transferred to the auspices of the Defense Communications Agency under the operational control of the White House Military Office
White House Military Office
The White House Military Office , an entity of the Executive Office of the President, provides military support for White House functions, including food service, Presidential transportation, medical support and emergency medical services, and hospitality services...
, and reestablished as the White House Communications Agency.
Role
WHCA has played an unremarked, but significant, role in many historical events: including World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Operation Just Cause, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. WHCA was also a key player in documenting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and the attempts on the lives of Presidents Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
.
Organization
The Agency evolved over the past 60 years from a small team of 32 personnel working out of the basement of the White House to a thousand person self-supporting joint service command. Headquarters for WHCA is at Naval Support Facility AnacostiaNaval Support Facility Anacostia
Naval Support Facility Anacostia is a United States Naval Base in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. and is conjoined with Bolling Air Force Base. NSF Anacostia falls under the command of Naval Support Activity Washington.-History:...
and consists of six staff elements and seven organizational units. WHCA also has supporting detachments in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and various locations throughout the United States. WHCA is organized into functional areas each with its own mission in support of the total WHCA mission of Presidential support.
Marine Corps Security Forces
An agreement between Marine Corps Barracks, Washington, DC and the White House Communications Agency states that the barracks will supply WHCA with a platoon from the Marine Corps Security Forces to provide security for the WHCA compound and for WHCA missions overseas. The Marines are hand picked infantrymen selected for this special duty as part of Presidential Support Duty.Current functions
WHCA provides telecommunicationTelecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s and related support to the President, Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, Executive Office of the President
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
senior staff, National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
, Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
and others as directed by the White House Military Office
White House Military Office
The White House Military Office , an entity of the Executive Office of the President, provides military support for White House functions, including food service, Presidential transportation, medical support and emergency medical services, and hospitality services...
. This support includes non-secure voice, secure voice
Secure voice
Secure voice is a term in cryptography for the encryption of voice communication over a range of communication types such as radio, telephone or IP.-History:...
, record communications, audio-visual
Audio-visual
The term Audio-Visual may refer to works with both a sound and a visual component, the production or use of such works, or to equipment used to create and present such works...
services, automated data processing support and photographic and drafting services both in Washington, D.C. and worldwide.