Mark Malinowski Contact
← All writing

The On-the-Roof Gang

Navy heritage essay, written at the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, .

A Navy chief radioman who was self-taught on radio interception, and his students, paved the way to vital code-breaking processes that swayed the outcome of World War II. Senior enlisted leaders should understand the significance of the On-the-Roof Gang because they changed warfare forever. This essay covers their background, evolution, and importance.

Background

It all started on top of a concrete roof in Washington, D.C. The On-the-Roof Gang classes started in 1928, but it all began with the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence’s covert acquisition of the Imperial Japanese code. The men of the On-the-Roof Gang pioneered code-breaking, gave birth to present-day signals intelligence, impacted the United States’ World War II victory, and embodied how the Navy trains its enlisted Sailors through on-the-job training and schoolhouses.

The On-the-Roof Gang were Navy and Marine Corps radiomen trained by chief radioman Harry Kidder to interpret Japanese radio transmissions and Morse code and to understand Japanese communications methods. Harry Kidder, a radio operator, enthusiast, and expert Morse code communicator, was selected by the Chief of Naval Operations to intercept and monitor Japanese communications through radio waves. Kidder taught himself Japanese katakana and Japanese Morse code, and demonstrated a keen ability to understand Japanese katakana at a level that no one had seen or attained before. After learning Japanese katakana and Morse code, he quickly began providing vital information to the United States Navy, which is why he was selected to develop and teach the On-the-Roof Gang radio interception curriculum. His work was the reason the Chief of Naval Operations required all fleets to copy Japanese broadcasts (Sykes, 2019).

During World War II, the members of the On-the-Roof Gang proved their value repeatedly. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other. Japan planned to attack Port Moresby in New Guinea. However, On-the-Roof Gang radiomen at sites in Australia and Hawaii intercepted Japanese transmissions. Both sites relayed those transmissions to Admiral Nimitz, who thwarted the attack (Zullo, 2022).

Additionally, the Battle of Midway was another example of radio interception’s contribution to the war effort. Station Hypo at Pearl Harbor played a significant role in this battle. Station Hypo communicated with radio intelligence units on USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown and provided direct intelligence updates to Admiral Spruance and Admiral Fletcher in the carrier strike group. Unfortunately, the Japanese sank USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway, but the intelligence units onboard managed to abandon the ship, regroup, and continue providing radio intelligence to USS Astoria (Antique Wireless Museum, 2022). The On-the-Roof Gang’s contributions to the war effort were invaluable, as were their contributions to the cryptologic community and the Navy’s future electronic warfare training. Knowledge of the background of the On-the-Roof Gang lays the foundation for their evolution.

Evolution

The On-the-Roof Gang’s training began in the 1920s and lasted two decades. Chiefs and first class petty officers taught the course of instruction to enlisted Navy and Marine Corps radiomen. The teaching modality was through on-the-job training techniques. Chief Kidder and other course instructors would teach the secretive curriculum on the roof of a Navy building in Washington, D.C. The way enlisted members teach other enlisted members led to how the Navy conducts “A” and “C” school instruction today. The cryptological community holds the On-the-Roof Gang in such high regard that it is part of the Navy cryptological technician (collection) “A” school curriculum.

Additionally, there is an annual Navy On-the-Roof Gang award, which awards cryptologists who exemplify leadership and initiative. Furthermore, the Navy teaches the history and heritage story of the On-the-Roof Gang in the Information Warfare qualification (Greene III, 2020). The evolution of the On-the-Roof Gang from self-taught tinkerers to world-changing and war-swaying experts signifies their importance to military culture.

Importance

The On-the-Roof Gang was a group of men who embodied U.S. Navy cryptology. Their efforts birthed signals intelligence, vital to mission success, and laid the groundwork for how the enlisted force received technical training. The Navy owes a great deal to the brave men of the On-the-Roof Gang for their contributions at each shore station and to those who operated forward onboard ships or with Marine platoons. The Navy’s victory at Midway, and in the Pacific war, owed a great deal to the vital intelligence they provided to leaders throughout the war.

The On-the-Roof Gang’s background, evolution, and importance are worth knowing. Senior enlisted leaders should understand the history and heritage of the On-the-Roof Gang because they changed warfare forever. Harry Kidder and his On-the-Roof Gang displayed hard work, leadership from the mess, and dedication from the deckplates. They built something from nothing and forever changed cryptology for the United States, the United States Navy, and the United States Marine Corps (Greene III, 2020).

References

← Back to all writing