In
1996, NSA Director Lt Gen Kenneth A. Minihan, USAF, requested
an emblem be created which represented both the National Security
Agency
and Central Security Service. Although NSA had its own emblem,
one had not yet been made for CSS. As a result, the emblem
was designed and adopted in that year.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, enacted 28 December 2001, amended the National Security Act of 1947 and codified the USCG as part of the Intelligence Community. The new CSS seal was created in September 2002 to reflect the transformations taking place within the Intelligence Community and NSA/CSS, particularly the admission of the United States Coast Guard into the United States Cryptologic System.
The new seal now displays all five of the Service Cryptologic Elements, which are comprised of the United States Naval Security Group, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Army's Intelligence Security Command, the United States Air Forces' Air Intelligence Agency, and the USCG. Each are equally balanced around a five point star on which is centered the symbol of NSA/CSS, who provides the funding, direction, and guidance to all of America's SIGINT activities.
The House of Representatives recognized the USCG's national security objectives in the areas of maritime interception operations, port operations security and defense, military environmental response operations, and peacetime military engagement. The USCG is the only organization responsible for law enforcement, intelligence, and military activities simultaneously. Section 10 of the Authorization added the USCG as an element of the Intelligence Community and placed this organizational element on a par with those of other armed services and agencies.