The Misawa Security Operations Center (MSOC), nicknamed Security Hill, is a U.S. military and National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence facility located on Misawa Air Base in Misawa, Aomori, Japan. [1] [2] [3] The center's history began in 1953, when the U.S. Air Force 1st Radio Squadron Mobile established a facility at the site. The center expanded in the 1970s, and by the 1980s it employed around 2000 people. [3] As of March 2009, [update] the center monitored “over 8000 signals on 16 targeted satellites”, according to the NSA. [2] As of 2003, [update] the center employed around 900 people. [3]
ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program operated by the United States with the aid of four other signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, also known as the Five Eyes.
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level 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 and domestic 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 existence of the NSA was not revealed until 1975.
Pine Gap is the commonly used name for a US satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the centre of Australia which is jointly operated by Australia and the United States. Since 1988, it has been officially called the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG); previously, it was known as Joint Defence Space Research Facility.
Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan. It is located 3 NM northeast of Misawa railway station, 4.8 km (3.0 mi) west of the Pacific Ocean, 16 km (9.9 mi) northeast of Towada, 29 km (18 mi) northwest of Hachinohe, and 684 km (425 mi) north of Tokyo at the "Tip of the Spear". It is a Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) facility with the 35th Fighter Wing as its host wing. It hosts both Japanese and American troops.
Misawa is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2020, the city had an estimated population of 39,093, and a population density of 330 persons per km². The total area of the city is 119.87 square kilometers (46.28 sq mi).
Royal Air Force Menwith Hill is a Royal Air Force station near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which provides communications and intelligence support services to the United Kingdom and the United States. The site contains an extensive satellite ground station and is a communications intercept and missile warning site. It has been described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world.
The Special Collection Service (SCS), codenamed F6, is a highly classified joint U.S. Central Intelligence Agency–National Security Agency program charged with inserting eavesdropping equipment in difficult-to-reach places, such as foreign embassies, communications centers, and foreign government installations. Established in the late 1970s and headquartered in Beltsville, Maryland, the SCS has been involved in operations ranging from the Cold War to the Global War on Terrorism.
The United States Air Force's 301st Intelligence Squadron is an intelligence unit located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
Vint Hill Farms Station (VHFS) was a United States Army and National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence and electronic warfare facility located in Fauquier County, Virginia, near Warrenton. VHFS was closed in 1997 and the land was sold off in 1999. Today the site hosts various engineering and technology companies, as well as two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control facilities.
Initially established as the Air Force (USAF) Security Group in June, 1948, the USAF Security Service (USAFSS) was activated as a major command on Oct 20, 1948
The AN/FLR-9 is a type of very large circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, built at eight locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could locate HF communications almost anywhere on Earth. Because of the exceptionally large size of its outer reflecting screen, the FLR-9 was commonly referred to by the nickname "Elephant Cage." Constructed in the early to mid 1960s, in May 2016 the last operational FLR-9 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska was decommissioned. It can be confused with the US Navy's AN/FRD-10, which also used a Wullenweber antenna.
Warrenton Training Center (WTC) is a classified United States government communication complex located in the state of Virginia. Established in 1951, it comprises four discrete stations located in Fauquier and Culpeper counties.
The Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion (MCSB) is a Marine Corps Intelligence battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion headquarters are located in Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
The European Technical Center (ETC) is a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence facility in Mainz-Kastel, Wiesbaden, Germany. Located in Building 4009 of the U.S. Army's Mainz-Kastel Storage Station, the facility serves as the NSA's "primary communications hub" in Europe. The center was known by the code name "GODLIKELESION".
The Alaska Mission Operations Center (AMOC) is a U.S. National Security Agency facility located on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. The facility is considered one of two "consolidated intelligence centers" and is supported by the 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group of the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing of the U.S. Air Force. Along with the Misawa Security Operations Center (MSOC) in Japan, AMOC provides combat intelligence to battlefield commanders, commands and U.S. Department of Defense leadership. The NSA operation at Elmendorf AFB was a suspected ECHELON ground station.
Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado (ADF-C) is one of three satellite ground stations operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the continental United States. Located within Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, the facility is responsible for the command and control of reconnaissance satellites involved in the collection of intelligence information and for the dissemination of that intelligence to other U.S. government agencies. The National Security Agency (NSA) Central Security Service (CSS) Colorado Cryptologic Center (CCC) is co-located with ADF-C and employs around 850 NSA personnel.
The Georgia Cryptologic Center (GCC) or NSA Georgia, codenamed "Sweet Tea", is a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) Central Security Service (CSS) facility located within Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. The 604,000-square-foot (56,100 m2) facility opened on March 5, 2012 at a cost of $286 million. The center may employ up to 4,000 NSA personnel. Its primary focus is on signals intelligence intercepts from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
The Hawaii Cryptologic Center (HCC) or NSA Hawaii is a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) Central Security Service (CSS) facility located near Wahiawa on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The facility opened on January 6, 2012, at a cost of $358 million. The center focuses on signals intelligence intercepts from Asia, and conducts cybersecurity and cyberwarfare operations.
Coordinates: 40°43′08″N141°19′19″E / 40.719°N 141.322°E