"regulations for the armed forces does not apply to the NSA, because the NSA is a civilian rather than a military agency."
The NSA is not a 'civilian' agency controlled by Congress, but was established by executive order of President Truman.
"The National Security Agency was created in November 1952 and has provided timely information to U.S. decision makers and military leaders for more than 50 years. However, even before President Truman signed the memorandum establishing the Agency"
Link to the history of the NSA.
http://www.nsa.gov/history/index.cfm
That's such a huge misstatement that it calls into question all the other conclusions in the article. The NSA is a DoD agency, subordinate to the Department of Defense and takes its orders from the Secretary of Defense. It is headed by a uniformed military officer.