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CIA declassifies documents on Soviet-era amateur radio

Posted: 27 Jan 2017 11:32 AM PST
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The 1/26 issue of the ARRL Letter reports:

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports relating to Amateur Radio in the
former Soviet Union (including the Baltic States) and Warsaw Pact countries
are among documents declassified to a new searchable online database, the
CIA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room. Documents
cover translations and assessments of Amateur Radio clubs; training;
monitoring Sputniks; technology and equipment; QSL cards, and ruminations
on a plan to monitor US ham radio transmissions for activities of interest
to the intelligence community. Searches on Amateur Radio or ham radio will
yield multiple documents, some heavily redacted.

Many of them are simply translations of articles from Eastern Bloc
magazines. For example, I found a translation of an article from Radio
magazine (No. 5, 1950) written by Col. Gen. V. I. KuznetzovÂ*titled, Radio
Amateurism Should be Encouraged in Every Way. In it, Kuznetzov writes,
Undoubtedly, the success of radio amateurs in short-wave amateur activity,
set building, radioficationÂ*of villages, etc., would be considerably
greater if the Dosarm committees and organizations gave more encouragement
to the development of radio amateurism. Dosarm, as far as I can tell, is
some kind of volunteer society whose purpose is to support the military.

Whats striking is that Kuznetzov, who was a decorated Hero of the Soviet
Union, saw the very real benefits of amateur radio and having a population
trained in radio techniques. He concludes his article with, Complete
development of radio amateurism is one of the most important tasks of the
Dosarm in reinforcing the economic and defensive strength of the soviet
state.

Now, where can we find a present-day Kuznetsov here in the U.S. toÂ*be our
champion?



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