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http://enlighten.eis.nsalcgi-binlnews/article?1996Aug14.19085

Subject: ESS - ESS1364: Center for Cryptologic HistoryDate: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 19:08:53 GMTFrom:I I

N e w s g r o u P S : g ~ 1 J 2 ~ : _ h ! 1 9 _ ! Y , ~ ~ _ ~ _ . _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Classification: TOr ~ r : C R T U ~ f B R A+--7-----------------------------------------------------------------------+I THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC POSTING FROM THE ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. I+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

MeSSage .... t o ~ i C . ESS13 64 Ceqte r fo r Crypto logic His tory (U)Posted bY: l JThis a rt i c le i s c l a s s i f i ed TOP SECK!:'! tfiIBR:A.) ( 3 ) -P .L . 86-36 CRYPTOLOGIC ALMANAC

Rosman Tracks on to the End' !(b) (1 ){ b ) ( 3 ) -50 USC 40 3(b ) (3) -18 USC 79 8Vb) (3 ) - P . L . 86 - 3 6

rPObe+ What can one say when a good th ing comes to an end?Ju s t th at it was good while it l a s t ed . Those who worked a t th e Rosman Research Sta t ion (RRS) in Transylvania County, North caro l ina ,agreed t h a t t h i s was t rue . The s i t e r ecen t ly c losed i t s doors a f t e rt h i r ty - two years of opera t ion . .

Contractors from Bendix, Ray th eon and All ied Signa l , Inc . ,; : l lcma with Nat iona l Secur i tv Aoency c iv i l i an s l

, (S f /S I lo The remote Rosman Research Sta t ion , the s i ze of a s m a l ii ndus t r i a l park . and having four huge s a t e l l i t e d ishes , was bU1lt on20 2 acres of na t iona l fo res t l and about 140 miles west of C h a r l o t t e ~The Nat iona l Aeronaut ics an d Space Adminis t ra t ion (NASA) bu i l t the s t a t i on in 1963 to t r ack s a t e l l i t e s . NASA o r ig in a l l y chose the R o s m ~ ns i t e because the mountains provided a "qu ie t zone" f r ee of i n t e r f e r ~ n c efrom unwanted radio s igna l s . They planned two d i f f e r en t opera t ions : ~ h f i r s t was a Mul t i-Mis sion Opera ti on, es tab l i shed to record and /o r . t r ansmi t da ta to the Goddard Space Fl igh t Center in Greenbel t , Maryland, from some t h i r t y - s ix d i f f e r en t o r b it in g sp ac e c ra ft . The. , second opera t ion was the Appl ica t ions Technology Sa te l l i t e , ba s i c a l l ya co l lec t ion of da ta fo r var ious t echnologies having wide a p p l i c a t i o n ~in space and space f l i gh t , including manned space f l t q : t . NjSA p u l l e d ~ou t of Rosman in 1981, and in Apr i l of tha t year the m i s s i o n .s t a r t ed with th e Department of Defense ' s (DoD) o f f i c ~ a 1 July t a k e o v ~ r .

(S//SI)_

~ A f t e r the DoD ta keo ver , th e work a t Rosman, even the number ofemployees, was a c lose ly guarded sec re t . Budget cu t s and the removal ofthe s t a t i on ' s pr imary funct ion forced the Agency to cease opera t ions on31 March 1995.1 \

[_RRS_.J ------II".pprO\iecJ for R e l e a ~ ; e by ~ \ J S , A . odJ9-2[1-2007 FCllA. Case # 5 2 0 C L ~ 03/22/2007 10:1

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http://mlighten.eis.nsa/cgi-bin/news/article?1996Aug14.1908

t ? e ~ o + I t had not been an easy t a sk to f ind tenan ts fo r the RRSf a c i l i t y . The Fores t Service d id no t want it and th e cos t of upkeep t ha twould be a pa r t of the t akeover . They knew they would have to give itaway s ince under f edera l law they could no t s e l l it. So the t r i ck wasf inding someone who would have an i n t e re s t in the exchange. The Fores tService was e v en tu a ll y a bl e to s t r i ke a dea l with Texas Jo in tven tu r es /Rosman Resea r ch Par tne r s . When NSA was no t i f i e d by Art Rowe,Dis t r i c t Ranger , United St a t e s Department of Agr icu l tu re , t ha t th es t a t i on had acqui red a new owner and was making a t r ade of $10-$15mil l ion in bu i ld ings and land, it was a sad t ime fo r many who had workeda t the s t a t i on . Never the less , it was a windfal l fo r the U.S. Fores tService . And, according to the former and l a s t NSA Chief of Sta t ion , thenew owners plan to "renovate the s i t e fo r two-way communi ca ti ons andcla im to have severa l "blue-chip" companies in te re s ted in us ing thef a c i l i t y . He goes on to say "any dea l of a new owner would be a gooddea l fo r NSA s ince complete turnover pr i o r to the end of our Care andCustody commitment on 30 September 1996 wi l l r e su l t in s ig n if ic an tsavings fo rour agency."

'- - . . . . l l ( ~ e ~ t ~ r fo r Cryp to log ic His to ry , 972-2893s ,

Derived From: NSA/CSSM 123-2Dated 3 September 1991Declas s i fy On: Source Marked "OADR" (b ) ( 3 ) -P .L . 86-36

(b) (1)(b ) (3 ) -50 USC 403(b ) (3 ) -18 USC 798(b ) ( 3 ) -P .L . 86-36

~ A . p p r o \ l ' e c l for R e l e a ~ 3 e t l ' ~ l [\JS,A, or(19-20-2007 FOI.A. Case # 52002

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