The Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda (ICC-B) is a campus in Brookmont, Maryland containing offices for several agencies of the United States Intelligence Community. The campus was created in 1945 and initially served as the headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and its predecessor organizations. In 2012, it was transferred to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and substantially renovated into an architecturally and functionally modern design.
The campus sits on an approximately 30-acre parcel standing atop a 150-foot bluff overlooking the Potomac River. The land was taken in 1945 by the government from a development firm in a condemnation action as an expansion of the Army Map Service's facilities adjacent to the Dalecarlia Reservoir. [1] The facility served as headquarters of a succession of agencies: Army Map Service, U.S. Army Topographic Command, Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Command, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). [2]
Erskine Hall, named for Robert Erskine, was completed in 1946 as a five-story brick building with an array of three flagpoles on a semicircular lawn to the east. [2] Abert Hall, named for John James Abert, was constructed in 1962. It was a five-story concrete and brick building with no windows on the upper three floors to aid in classified work. [3] The Emory Building, a two-story brick building named after William H. Emory, was constructed in 1963. [4] Roberdeau Hall, named after Isaac Roberdeau, was constructed in 1966 as two-story brick building with no windows. [5] Maury Hall, named for Matthew Fontaine Maury, was constructed in 1988 as a three-story building with no windows. [6] In 2004 the land was administratively part of Fort Myer. [2]
In 2004, Erskine Hall and the flagpoles were named as part of the Army Map Service Historic District by Maryland Historical Trust and determined to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. [2]
As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission process, NGA moved to a new facility in Fort Belvoir North Area near Springfield, Virginia. Originally, the General Services Administration and then the Navy planned to relocate functions there, but the campus was transferred to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2012. [7] [8]
The renovation involved demolishing Abert Hall and Emory Hall, constructing a new Centrum building that connected and integrated the remaining three buildings, and replacing the facades of the existing buildings with a modern design of glass and red-hued metal panels. [1] [9] The interiors were remodeled into open, light-filled workspaces. Additionally, 20 acres of paved surface parking lot were removed and replaced with a new six-story garage. [10] [11] The renovation cost 60% less than completely new construction would have. [12]
The architect for the renovation was Leo A Daly. [10] [11] The goal of the renovation was to create a shared space between all 17 agencies of the United States Intelligence Community, reflecting a call for increased collaboration between them by the 9/11 Commission. [10] The campus was built to the LEED Silver certification, [13] with attention given to energy efficiency including the use of LED lighting and solar panels; the renovated campus used 31% less energy than before. [12] The new campus won awards from Building Design+Construction, [10] [13] as well as the Design-Build Institute of America and the U.S. Green Building Council National Capital Area. [13]
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on October 8, 2015. As of 2015, the campus contained offices for about 3,000 employees of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, National Intelligence University, and Defense Intelligence Agency. [12]
In October 2019, a Wall of Spies Experience museum was opened within the facility, depicting 135 spies such as Benedict Arnold, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen, and Edward Snowden, as well as historical artifacts related to spying. Although the physical museum is not open to the public, a website version was developed for public consumption. [14] [15]
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, specializing in a discipline known as signals intelligence (SIGINT). The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems. The NSA relies on a variety of measures to accomplish its mission, the majority of which are clandestine. The NSA has roughly 32,000 employees.
Emory University is a private research university in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campus is in Druid Hills, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Downtown Atlanta.
Bethesda is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region and a national center for medical research. According to the 2020 census, the community had a total population of 68,056.
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Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, the Defense Courier Service, Defense Information Systems Agency headquarters, and the U.S. Navy's Cryptologic Warfare Group Six. It is named for George G. Meade, a Union general from the U.S. Civil War, who served as commander of the Army of the Potomac. The fort's smaller census-designated place includes support facilities such as schools, housing, and the offices of the Military Intelligence Civilian Excepted Career Program (MICECP).
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security. Initially known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) from 1996 to 2003, it is a member of the United States Intelligence Community.
Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" named in his honor, through generous financial support, and through service on the college's Board of Visitors and Governors. Washington College is the 10th-oldest college in the United States and was the first college chartered after American independence. The school became coeducational in 1891.
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The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), officially known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951, was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on 113 acres (46 ha) in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the United States Armed Forces. The center was named after Walter Reed, a U.S. Army physician and sergeant who led the team that confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct physical contact.
Dalecarlia Reservoir is the primary storage basin for drinking water in Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, Virginia. The reservoir is fed by an underground aqueduct in turn fed by low dams which divert portions of the Potomac River near Great Falls and Little Falls. The reservoir is located between Spring Valley and the Palisades, two neighborhoods in Northwest Washington, D.C., and Brookmont, a neighborhood in Montgomery County, Maryland.
John James Abert was an American soldier. He headed the Corps of Topographical Engineers for 32 years, during which time he organized the mapping of the American West.
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National Park Seminary — later called National Park College — was a private girls' school open from 1894 to 1942. Located in Forest Glen Park, Maryland, its name alludes to nearby Rock Creek Park. The historic campus is to be preserved as the center of a new housing development.
Lucien Emile "Lou" Conein was a French-American citizen, noted U.S. Army officer and OSS/CIA operative. Conein is best known for his instrumental role in the November 1963 coup against Ngô Đình Diệm and Diệm's assassination by serving as Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.'s liaison officer with the coup plotters and delivering $42,000 of the known cash disbursements.
The Old Naval Observatory is a historic site at 23rd and E Street in Northwest, Washington, D.C. It is where the United States Naval Observatory was located from 1844 to 1893, when it moved to its present grounds. The original observatory building, built 1839-40, still stands, and is a designated National Historic Landmark as of 1965. The Washington meridian of 1850 passes through the Observatory.
Battery Cameron was a Union Army defensive site during the Civil War. Battery Cameron was one in a chain of fortifications in the Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C., also known as the "Fort Circle". The battery was located atop a hill on Foxhall Road at what is now the intersection of Foxhall and Whitehaven Parkway, NW. The battery included two 100-pound Parrott rifles, placed in such a way as to sweep Aqueduct Bridge, and Virginia beyond.
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Chevy Chase Elementary School is an elementary school containing grades 3–5 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Founded in 1917, the school today occupies a much-renovated and -expanded 1930 building that has been designated as an Historic Site by the Maryland Historical Trust. The school is also said to have had the first school library in the county, established in 1939.
Leslie Prince Raimond is Director Emeritus, Kent Cultural Alliance in Chestertown, Maryland.