In late 1963, the Central Intelligence Agency’s Executive Director sent a memo to Counterintelligence Director James Angleton asking him to review the Agency’s perceived overuse of cryptonyms and excessive security, resulting in a report that would remain classified SECRET for 39 years. Angleton’s conclusion? Not his problem.

In 1952, Allen Dulles, then Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, provided a copy of Winston Churchill’s recently-published World War II memo to establish some naming guiding conventions for his covert staff.