National Security Agency - The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is responsible for the centralized coordination, direction, and performance of highly specialized technical functions in support of U.S. Government activities to protect U.S. communications and produce foreign intelligence information. The National Security Agency was established by Presidential directive in 1952 as a separately organized agency within the Department of Defense. In this directive, the President designated the Secretary of Defense Executive Agent for the signals intelligence and communications security activities of the Government. The Agency was charged with an additional mission, computer security, in a 1984 Presidential directive, and with an operations security training mission in a 1988 Presidential directive. In 1972 the Central Security Service was established, in accordance with a Presidential memorandum, to provide a more unified cryptologic organization within the Department of Defense and appointed the Director, National Security Agency, as Chief of the Central Security Service. The Agency has three primary missions: an information systems security mission, an operations security training mission, and a foreign intelligence information mission.