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United States Army Security Agency (USASA) Field Station Augsburg was the site of a Wullenweber AN/FLR-9 (V8) radio direction finder, established during the Cold War. Field Station Augsburg was located on Gablingen Kaserne, near the village of Gablingen just north of Augsburg in Bavaria, West Germany. It was one of nearly 20 field stations positioned strategically around the world by the U.S. Armed Forces during the Cold War. Field Station Augsburg opened in 1970 [1] and closed in 1998, at which time it was turned over to the German government.
The Station was owned and managed by the National Security Agency and staffed by the United States Army Security Agency (USASA), which later became U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), in conjunction with other branches of the U.S. Military and various allied forces. Personnel assigned to Field Station Augsburg were composed[ of individuals who scored high enough on the Army entrance exams to be classified as "ST" or a skilled technician, which is the Army's top-ranked job category. The Station was staffed 24 hours a day, by means of rotating shifts. [1] The Station's mission was to monitor the communications of Cold War enemy nations, their allies, and client states around the world. The information gathered was time-sensitive and, based on its importance and classification, that information was collected, analyzed and passed through intelligence channels on a "real-time" basis.
Personnel assigned to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Operations Battalions and the Support (Service and Maintenance) Battalion, and the successor Military Intelligence (MI) units (701st Military Intelligence Brigade - 711th, 712th, 713th, & 714th MI Battalions) at Field Station Augsburg served as Morse and non-Morse Cryptologists, Voice Intercept, and Radio Direction-Finding Operators, as well as Traffic Analysts, Equipment Repair and Cryptanalysis/Cryptanalytic Technicians.
A Company of the 204th Military Intelligence Battalion was assigned to nearby Augsburg in 1991 until U.S. operations at the station ultimately ceased in 1998.
With the end of the Cold War, Field Station Augsburg lost much of its strategic value. It is currently reputedly used by the Bundesnachrichtendienst. [2] The Wullenweber / Flair-9 antenna is still in place as of March 2022. 48°27′5″N10°51′43″E / 48.45139°N 10.86194°E
Arlington Hall is a historic building in Arlington, Virginia, originally a girls' school and later the headquarters of the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) cryptography effort during World War II. The site presently houses the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, and the Army National Guard's Herbert R. Temple, Jr. Readiness Center. It is located on Arlington Boulevard between S. Glebe Road and S. George Mason Drive.
Royal Air Force Menwith Hill or more simply RAF 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 Central Security Service (CSS) is a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense which was established in 1972 to integrate the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Service Cryptologic Components (SCC) of the United States Armed Forces in the field of signals intelligence, cryptology, and information assurance at the tactical level. In 2002, the CSS had approximately 25,000 uniformed members. It is part of the United States Intelligence Community.
A Wullenweber^ is a type of Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA) sometimes referred to as a Circularly Disposed Dipole Array (CDDA). It is a large circular antenna array used for radio direction finding. They are used by military and government agencies to triangulate radio signals for radio navigation, intelligence gathering, search and rescue, and enforcement of broadcasting laws. Because their huge circular reflecting screens looks like circular fences, some antennas have been colloquially referred to as "elephant cages". The term wullenwever was the World War II German cover term used to identify their secret CDAA research and development program; its name is unrelated to any person involved in the program.
Harry Edward Soyster is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General.
The United States Army Security Agency (ASA) was the United States Army's signals intelligence branch from 1945 to 1976. The Latin motto of the Army Security Agency was Semper Vigilis, which echoes the declaration, often mistakenly attributed to Thomas Jefferson, that "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."
Known as "INSCOM's Contingency Force", the 297th Military Intelligence Battalion is a battalion subordinate to the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, located at Fort Eisenhower, Georgia. Its mission is to provide operational, all source intelligence to the Commander, U.S. Army Central Command (CENTCOM). Battalion intelligence operations include all source analysis, collection management, battlefield damage assessment, imagery exploitation and dissemination. The battalion sustains itself and the Brigade Headquarters by providing food service, maintenance, military police and communications support.
Camp King is a site on the outskirts of Oberursel, Taunus, with a long history. It began as a school for agriculture under the auspices of the University of Frankfurt. During World War II, the lower fields became an interrogation center for the German Air Force. After World War II, the United States Army also used it as an interrogation center and intelligence post. The United States CIA used the site to test drugs including LSD on prisoners as part of Project BLUEBIRD, the predecessor to MKUltra. In 1968, it became the command and control center for the United States Army Movements Control Agency - Europe (USAMCAEUR). Today it has been rebuilt as a German housing area.
The 719th Military Intelligence Battalion, operates a partial strategic/partial tactical mission. The battalion is located at Zoeckler Station, a sub-installation of Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea. It is subordinate to the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade and has three subordinate companies, A Co, B Co and HHSC.
The 501st Military Intelligence Brigade is a United States Army unit, assigned to the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) under the operational control of United States Forces Korea (USFK) located in South Korea. The 501st MI Brigade conducts theater level multi-discipline intelligence collection and analysis, aerial Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR), and security operations in support of Eighth United States Army, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Forces Korea, and other national level agencies.
The United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) is a direct reporting unit that conducts intelligence, security, and information operations for United States Army commanders, partners in the Intelligence Community, and national decision-makers. INSCOM is headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The Bad Aibling Station (BAS), also known as the 18th United States Army Security Agency Field Station, Field station 81, and Hortensie III is a satellite tracking station operated by the German SIGINT agency BND from nearby Mangfall Barracks in Bad Aibling, Bavaria.
Gablingen Kaserne is a former military facility in Gablingen near Augsburg, Germany, which was closed in 1998. Its primary use was signals intelligence collection during the Cold War.
The 500th Military Intelligence Brigade is a unit of the United States Army and subordinate to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. Its mission is to provide tailored, multi-disciplined intelligence and intelligence capabilities in support of USARPAC and other Commands, to defeat adversaries, promote regional stability, support partners and allies, and protect US interests. The 500th is headquartered at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
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.
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.
The Dagger Complex is a US military base in Darmstadt (Germany), close to Griesheim and located at the Eberstädter Weg, south of the August-Euler-Airfield.
The 308th Military Intelligence Battalion is an active duty Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion of the United States Army assigned to the 902nd MI Group, an Intelligence & Security Command (INSCOM) subordinate.
The 311th Military Intelligence Battalion is an active duty Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion of the United States Army stationed at Camp Zama, Japan and assigned to the 500th MI Brigade. The 311th MI Battalion is equipped to continue to provide support and train alongside U.S. Army Japan partner units, and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force coalition partners. The 311th conducts continuous multi-discipline Intelligence operations in support of U.S. Army Pacific operations and national level requirements in the U.S. Indo-Pacific area of operations.
The 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion (Technical Intelligence) is the sole technical intelligence (TECHINT) collection and foreign material exploitation unit of the United States Department of Defense and a battalion in the United States Army Reserve. The 203rd obtains and exploits captured enemy materials, maintains one of the premier test and evaluation inventories of adversary equipment and weaponry in the US military, and supports specialized tasking including counter-terrorism, special reconnaissance, and direct action missions. Much of the units work is conducted in close collaboration with the National Ground Intelligence Center. The battalion's intelligence products provide TECHINT support to INSCOM, the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, the broader US Intelligence Community (IC), the Five Eyes, NATO, and foreign allies and partners.