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Byeman Control System

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The BYEMAN Control System, or simply BYEMAN, was a security control system put in place to protect information about the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and its operations.

History

The BYEMAN Control System was put in place in 1961.

Origin of Name

An individual inside the CIA's Special Security Center chose the name from a random list of four words drawn from the CIA's codeword file. A byeman is a man who works underground; it is unknown if the individual knew the word's meaning before its selection.[1]

Programs within BYEMAN

This is a small list of the publicly acknowledged programs that were held within the BCS:

  • CORONA (declassified 1995)
  • ARGON (declassified 1995)
  • LANYARD (declassified 1995)
  • GAMBIT (declassified 2011)
  • HEXAGON (declassified 2011
  • GRAB (declassified 1998)
  • POPPY (declassified 2004)

While many other NRO programs resided within the BCS, their codenames have not been made public through proper disclosure or official declassification.

Retirement

BYEMAN was retired in 2005. [1]

References

  1. ^ a b National Security Archive: "The Retirement of BYEMAN"
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