The
Defense Courier Service (DCS),is established under the
United States Transportation CommandThe United States Transportation Command is one of ten unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. The mission of USTRANSCOM is to provide air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense, both in time of peace and time of war.USTRANSCOM, located at Scott Air Force...
(USTRANSCOM), and is a global courier network for the expeditious, cost-effective, and secure distribution of highly classified and sensitive material. Operational control of global courier activities is exercised through USTRANSCOM's Defense Courier Division (TCJ3-C). The division oversees and synchronizes activity of 18 courier stations world-wide to service over six-thousand accounts. Major accounts include the White House, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, other federal agencies, authorized government contractors, and allied nations.
The DCS directly supports the President, Unified and Specified CINCs, joint military operations, the
Joint Chiefs of StaffThe Joint Chiefs of Staff is a group of military leaders in the United States armed forces who advise the civilian government of the United States...
, NSA, CIA, U.S. allies, Department of State, and other federal agencies.
The DCS was formerly the Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS) but was reorganized and renamed in 1985 after the
Walker spy caseJohn Anthony Walker, Jr. was a retired United States Navy Chief Warrant Officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985, at the height of the Cold War...
.
History
Before the establishment of the courier service, American ship captains and selected American travelers were used to carry sealed packages of mail. Later, these individuals, called "Bearers of Dispatches," augmented a small group of Foreign Service Officers and carried material to and from overseas areas.
With few modifications, this method of moving classified mail abroad continued until 1918 when the
War DepartmentThe United States Department of War, also called the War Office, was the cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the US Army...
established the Military Postal Express Service, consisting of 70 officers and enlisted soldiers, divided into an Overseas Service and a European Service. This continued until the early days of World War II when the War Department activated the Army Courier Service to move classified material between the War Department and various theaters of operation. Meanwhile, the Navy created the Officer Messenger Service and the Army Air Corps operated an Air Courier Service to move cryptographic materials. Frequently, couriers from all three services flew together on the routes.
In November 1946, the War Department discontinued the Army Courier Service and established a "Security Courier Service," which operated until 1949. At this time, certain courier stations were transferred to the newly created U.S. Air Force Security Courier Service. Then in 1952, the
Joint Chiefs of StaffThe Joint Chiefs of Staff is a group of military leaders in the United States armed forces who advise the civilian government of the United States...
directed a review of courier operations which resulted in the establishment of an organization consisting of Army, Navy, and Air Force courier elements. The Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS) was officially established on January 7, 1953. The military courier services were now consolidated. The ARFCOS charter was updated seven times over the next 30 years to reflect changes in the armed forces, military doctrine, and operational procedures.
In the aftermath of the Walker-Whitworth espionage case (1985), the Secretary of Defense established a Security Commission-often referred to as the Stillwell Commission to review DoD security policies and practices. As part of its findings, the commission recommended a review and restructuring of ARFCOS and the DoD courier function. This resulted in publication of DoD Directive 5200.33, the revised charter for a new joint-service military command. Thus, the Defense Courier Service (DCS) was officially established on September 30, 1987.
A revised concept for execution of the courier function emerged with the creation of the DCS. Key to this are the following major affiliations:
- Under the DoD, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
The Under Secretary for Intelligence or USD is a position within the United States government that acts as the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of Defense on matters relating to intelligence. The USD is also dual-hatted, serving as the Director of Defense Intelligence under the...
(USD(I)).
- Executive Agency responsibility for the DCS was transferred to the Air Force and, later, delegated to the Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....
(AMC).
- On December 5, 1994, the DCS became a Direct Reporting unit to the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). Later, on 1 October 1998, DCS was relieved from its assignment to the USTRANSCOM and assigned once again to AMC.
- More recently, on October 1, 2004, DCS was once again, reorganized under USTRANSCOM.
The
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
provided the first real-world contingency deployment test of the DCS. Eight days after Iraqi tanks entered Kuwait, a seven-man DCS station was deployed to HQ,
Central CommandCentral Command may refer to:* United States Central Command* AFP Central Command * Central Command...
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. By the end of the Gulf War, DCS couriers had provided over one million pounds of command, control, and intelligence material.
Since 2004, Defense Courier Service increasingly has been integrated into USTRANSCOM. This process began when Program Budget Decision (PBD) 410, dated December 5, 2003, directed the realignment of Defense Courier Service (DCS) from Air Mobility Command (AMC) to U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). On October 1, 2004, DCS was aligned as a Functional Component Command (FCC) under the USTRANSCOM Director of Operations (TCJ3). On 16 May 2005, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I)) approved a proposal to eliminate the DCS command billet and integrate the functions of the DCS headquarters staff into USTRANSCOM. On November 15, 2005, the Defense Courier Division (TCJ3-C) assumed operational control of worldwide defense courier stations and continues to synchronize the defense courier related activities of the USTRANSCOM staff.
External links