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NSA Historical Figures

Charles L. Gandy

2008 Hall of Honor Inductee

From his first assignment to the National Security Agency in 1955 as an Air Force 1st Lieutenant until his retirement as a civilian in 1986, Mr. Charles Gandy made significant contributions to the fields of signals intelligence, information assurance, and counterintelligence. His work in research, development, and deployment of quick reaction capabilities greatly strengthened cryptologic community support to the highest levels of government.

Although most of the details must remain classified, Mr. Gandy's contributions enabled the NSA to anticipate key activities of foreign adversaries and determine where our own vulnerabilities existed. Much of this engineering work was in sensitive signals analysis and countermeasures development

Mr. Gandy's work in the field of remote control collection systems was applied during the Vietnam War, and helped save the lives of countless thousands of Americans.

After leaving the NSA in 1986, Mr. Gandy continued his research activities. He developed a special radar that detected breathing and heart rate for people trapped in rubble of collapsed buildings.

Mr. Gandy's lifetime of creativity and innovation in the use of advanced technology led to numerous successes. Many senior leaders, including Deputy Director Dr. Louis W. Tordella, frequently relied on Mr. Gandy to tackle mission issues that were both exceptionally challenging and exceptionally sensitive.