They&#x27;re also charged with ComSec. If your main source of info on the NSA are the Snowden leaks, you&#x27;re not getting the full picture.<p>If you&#x27;re really interested in the subject of the NSA&#x27;s history, and what it does, James Bamford&#x27;s work is pretty interesting. Very dry books, tinged with his politics (more so Body of Secrets [1] than the Puzzle Palace [0]), but interesting none-the-less.<p>[0] The Puzzle Palace <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or.." rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or...</a>.<p>[1] Body of Secrets <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec.." rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec...</a>.<p>Body of Secrets is an easier read, because it&#x27;s written more around historical events. The Puzzle Palace got a little too in the weeds for my liking. One of its primary sources were a ton of unclassified internal memos, newsletters, etc, and he goes into things like who ran grounds security at the NSA&#x27;s Fort Meade location.