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(U) Spanning The Globe...Misawa to Menwith Hill: Part 1
FROM:
Software Development Team Menwith Hill Station
Run Date: 10/22/2003
(U) Note from SIGINT Communications: This is the first of a twopart article.
(U//FOUO) It took only one PCS and my husband announced that
he was officially a "field rat." This proclamation is even more
amazing given that our first PCS was to Misawa, Japan. We
completed four fabulous years in Misawa in May 2003 (yes, I said
"fabulous" and "Misawa" in the same sentence) and are now
stationed at Menwith Hill, in England. Misawa and Menwith Hill are
no doubt unique, but each has its advantages.
(U) Professional
(U//FOUO) By comparison, Misawa is a small site (fewer than 25
NSA civilians) while Menwith is a large site (several hundred NSA
civilians). Misawa offers the opportunity to take on added
responsibility well beyond grade expectations and to effect change
throughout the site. The advantage of a large site is the diversity of
the opportunities available, and Menwith is not lacking in its
breadth or depth of opportunities. As a computer scientist, there
are opportunities to develop operational or administrative software
solutions, tackle challenging problems in the emerging
development environment, work as a system engineer or project
manager, or lead teams of military, civilians and contractors doing
technology related jobs.
(U) Travel
(U) When it comes to travel (one of our passions), both locations
offer limitless possibilities that are as diverse as the professional
environments. Misawa and Menwith are both considered "remote",
Misawa being 450 miles from Tokyo and Menwith being 200 miles
from London, yet both locations are connected to their respective
capital by rail, air, and highway. The difference is in the cost and
availability of each.
(U) We found travel around Asia from Misawa to be expensive (the
cost of getting to and from Tokyo adds $300 per person to any
trip). Still, we vacationed in Guam, Alaska, Australia, Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia and Hawaii (5 times and 4 islands)! Within
Japan, we visited Tokyo (too many times to count),
Hiroshima/Miyajima (2 times), Sapporo (2 times),
Kyoto/Osaka/Nara (I wish more than once), Hakodate City, Oga,
and Sendai/Matsushima. This does not include our frequent day
trips to sites and locations within a couple hours drive of Misawa.
We truly enjoyed the unique and exotic activities (snowshoeing),
sites (Big Buddha), sounds (flutes, cymbals and drums at the
Nebuta Festival), and smells (drying squid and seaweed).
(U) In our first 6 months in England, we have gotten off to a
relatively slow start as we have just driven to Edinburgh, northern
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
Wales and the Lake District for weekenders. Fear not, we are
planning trips to London, Paris/Normandy and Rome before the end
of this year. So far we have found that travel in Europe is
significantly cheaper than in Asia as a result of the explosion of
low-cost airlines in Europe. The local travel around England,
Scotland and Wales is also a bargain when compared to Japan. The
challenge here is deciding where to go!
(U//FOUO) If you are thinking of applying for a field position, see
the Extended Enterprise Vacancy Announcements . Also, see the
NSA Daily article on Field Recruiting Events .
"(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