Bernard Ardisana

Brigadier General Bernard Ardisana (born 1924, died 1978) was the assistant deputy director for operations at the National Security Agency at Fort George G. Meade. During his tenure with the US Military he also commanded the USAF Security Service’s 6924th Security Squadron and went on to become the Vice Commander of the USAF Security Service. On January 14, 1978 he would die from a heart attack at Kimbrough Army Hospital at Ft. Meade.

Early Life and Schooling
Bernard Ardisana was born on October 27, 1924 in Tampa Florida. Immediately after completion of High School in 1943, he would enlist in the U.S. Army Signal Corps where he took up the position of radio engineer. He would only stay in the military for three years before returning to civilian life to go to school at the University of Illinois where he would graduate in 1949 with a bachelors of science degree in economics. In 1966 as an officer in the Air Force Reserve he would earn his master of arts degree in education from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. Between April and September 1961 he would attend and then graduate the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base. In 1972 he attended the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base.

Career
Bernard Ardisana would in his lifetime work for several U.S. military agencies including the Air Force, the NSA, and the Army Signal Corps. In March 1952 he was called to active duty to train at the Brooks Air Force Base as a student in traffic-analysis.

Upon completion of his training in August he was transferred to Washington, DC to work as a language officer for the Armed Forces Security Agency. In 1956 he was transferred to Fort Meade where he developed new analysis techniques that are still in use today. In 1958 he would be transferred to Zweibrucken, Germany where he would develop an operations communications system still used by the cryptography community today. Between 1963 and 1965 he would serve as chief of the Operations Inspection team at Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

In 1966 he would become head of the Operations Systems Evaluation and Management Branch at the U.S. Air Force Security Service Directorate of Operations. Between 1967 and 1970 he would serve in Vietnam as the under various positions before being sent to Frankfurt, Germany to act as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations for the European Security Region. He returned to the United States in 1972.

In 1973 he was assigned to Ft. Meade to serve as part of the National Security Agency. He stayed there for two years before becoming Vice commander of the U.S. Air Force Security Service. He retained that position for two years as well before returning to the NSA as their Assistant Deputy Director for Operations.

Death
Bernard Ardisana died on January 14, 1978 at Kimbrough Army Hospital at Ft. Meade from a heart attack while serving as the NSA's Assistant Deputy Director for Operations.

Legacy
Ardisana's expertise in cryptography allowed him to develop a number of important changes to USAF cryptologic operations and procedures. Much of his work in designing the Operations Communications remained the standard for 25 years within the US Air Force. His work was a "key concept" that allowed the development of the Critical Intelligence Communication System.