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(U//FOUO) SID Around the World: SIGINT from Paradise (Okinawa)
FROM:
Deputy Chief, NSA/CSS Japan Representative Okinawa
Run Date: 06/19/2003
(U//FOUO) Palm trees waving in the warm winds. Outlying islands
breaking the horizon of the East China Sea. Red hibiscus and
purple bougainvillea in glorious bloom. Slender white cranes finding
breakfast wiggling in the newly mown grass of the golf course. U.S.
Air Force F-15 STRIKE EAGLE fighter aircraft roaring off the
runway, blazing trails far away in the Carolina blue skies, followed
shortly by the black-tipped nose of the RC-135 RIVET JOINT
heading north to the Sea of Japan. What's SIGINT doing in a place
like this?!? It's making a difference, every day. That's what!
Konnichi-wa and greetings from the tropics, the southernmost
prefecture of Japan -- Okinawa -- and an outpost of the Extended
Enterprise.
(C//SI) The customer set for SIGINT here on Okinawa numbers in
the tens of thousands and represents every branch of the U.S.
armed forces as well as the State Department and other elements
of the Intelligence Community. At over 26,000, the U.S. military
personnel on Okinawa represent the largest number of American
combat forces regularly stationed anywhere outside the United
States. All of those forces require specific intelligence support from
national systems to complement their own tactical intelligence
capabilities. Now, start counting family members, U.S. government
civilians of all skills, school teachers, and others supporting those
combat forces and the total goes up to over 51,000 personnel!
(C//SI) That number of foreigners is bound to have an effect,
sometimes adverse, on the local and national economy, traffic
control and law enforcement. Those effects are frequently
magnified and end up as issues for discussion among policy
makers in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. who require even more
specialized SIGINT support. And did you know that the front end
for the majority of signals collected for exploitation at the Kunia
RSOC in Hawaii is located here on Okinawa? Formerly known as
NSGA Hanza, the site, just a stone's throw away from beautiful
Torii Station beach, is now known as the Defense Communications
Detachment Okinawa and is run by a handful of government
contractors and a couple of Agency civilians.
SERIES:
(U) SID Around the
World '03
1. Coming Soon: SID
Around the World!
2. SID Around the
World: Living High in
the Balkans
3. SID Around the
World: SIGINT from
Paradise (Okinawa)
4. SID Around the
World: A Country the
Size of Maryland
5. SID Around the
World: Life in the
Field
6. SID Around the
World: Washington,
D.C.
7. SID Around the
World: Peak
Conditions in Denver
8. SID Around the
World: The Rheinland
9. Spanning The
Globe...Misawa to
Menwith Hill: Part 1
10. Spanning The
Globe...Misawa to
Menwith Hill: Part 2
11. SID Around the
World: A TDY to
Guantanamo Bay
(U//FOUO) So, that's what SIGINT is doing on this island paradise.
We are making a difference in the security of U.S. interests 8000
miles away from the NSAW "flagpole." Consider taking a field tour
in Okinawa or making it a stop on your TDY itinerary to see how
important SIGINT is to the particular customer set here amidst the
palm trees! Check out our homepage for more information and
sights of Okinawa.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108