doing some more research, I don't think it's a shell level issue, I
believe is has something to do with the thin client I'm using. I'm
connecting to the Linux server thru something called DBC Smart Client
which is connecting thru TCP/IP running from a MS-DOS command prompt
window.

the command I used is:

cat .secret_pass_file | gpg --passphrase-fd 0 --output OUTPUT.TXT
--decrypt FILE.PGP > tmp 2>&1

the error I get is:

gpg: cannot open /dev/tty: No such address or device

any thoughts ???

thanks...