David Rosenberg - Inside Pine Gap

In another case at Lasseters, an American soldier was trying his luck at blackjack when he thought he might also get lucky with the ladies by divulging some of the secret work that was done at Pine Gap. This went on for several minutes until other Pine Gap employees around him hushed him up, but word of his ‘impressive’ discussion of classified information made its way back to Security. His military career was put on hold and he was immediately sent back to the United States to face disciplinary action. On this occasion, his luck had run out.

In yet another incident, a rather well-endowed American female soldier ran into some big trouble when she entered a wet t-shirt contest and went a bit too far in revealing her assets, which were captured on camera. The photos later appeared in a popular men’s magazine that somehow found its way to the mission director’s desk. She was given a verbal reprimand, but her photo had become so popular in Operations that she was asked to sign several issues of the magazine for her admiring fans, which included at least one mission director. Other similar incidents continued to occur, with almost all of them displaying one common factor—alcohol was usually responsible for loosening tongues at the wrong time and contributing to the inappropriate behaviour of security-cleared personnel. No doubt this is the bane of secret services/the intelligence community everywhere, and has been throughout the ages.

Like most towns, Alice Springs has many generous citizens who devote much of their time to some form of community service. After four years in Alice Springs, my social network grew rapidly when I joined the Alice Springs Australia Day Council (ADC). The United States Government encouraged all Americans to become involved in the town by joining local community service groups and charities. I was one of several Americans on the ADC, which was a charity that raised funds to purchase books for schools. I helped raise money through sausage sizzles, trivia contests, the annual fundraising ball, and strutting down the catwalk at two fashion shows. Through the ADC I became friends with several local Australians and business leaders. I eventually served on the ADC for eight years, making lifelong friends and becoming the elected vice-chairman, MC-ing the annual Australia Day Ball four times. I don’t think any of the Australians who were there expected to hear a Yank hosting the Australia Day Ball! As if this wasn’t enough, the Americans were so well integrated into the ADC that a good American army friend of mine who had sung backup for Barry Manilow led the audience in singing the Australian national anthem at two Australia Day Balls.

The ADC proved to be an effective way to meet with some of the most interesting and influential Australians when they visited Alice Springs. One of the highlights of my time on the ADC occurred in 2001 when I met Australian Lt Gen. Peter Cosgrove, Chief of Army, after he had been voted Australian of the Year and the ADC held a luncheon in his honour. I also had the privilege to meet with Bryan Gaensler, the astronomer and physicist who received 1999’s Young Australian of the Year award. He toured Alice Springs discussing his discoveries involving the alignment of supernova remnants within the Milky Way. In 2005, the Senior Australian of the Year, Antonio (Tony) Milhinhos, came to my home for a coffee over which we spoke about his philanthropic work. It was inspiring and rewarding to meet with many Australians who made an impact on so many people. I personally worked with and became good friends with a fellow Alice Springs ADC member, Mister Shaun (coincidentally born on Australia Day), who received the 1999 Young Centralian of the Year award. He was one of the most community-spirited individuals I had met and was devoted to improving the lives of many less-fortunate and disadvantaged people in Central Australia through his work with the Ngaanyatjarra Council as its Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) Coordinator. In Alice Springs, he was the state vice-president for the Northern Territory / South Australia community organisation Apex. He was also a stand-up comedian and hosted several children’s television shows on the Aboriginal television station, Imparja. A truly unique and talented individual, he changed his name to Mister Shaun (aka Shaun Rothwell) by deed-poll, convincing the authorities to allow him to do this after being told he could not legally change his name to a title. Unfortunately, he died tragically in 2011, his potential unfulfilled, leaving a void in the hearts of many who loved him and those who benefited from his community service.

After eight years on the Alice Springs ADC, including three years as vice-chairman, I resigned, believing it was someone else’s turn, and instead volunteered to be on the Green Gates drug rehabilitation charity. I was soon elected chairman of the Fundraising Committee, serving in that role from 2002 to 2006. Two of the most popular fundraising events in Alice Springs were the Green Gates Christmas in July Ball and the Robbie Burns Ball. Burns was the Scottish poet famous for writing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Alice Springs has a surprisingly large Scottish population, but the non-Scottish residents of Alice Springs also looked forward to the bagpipes, Highland dancing, and the rare opportunities to wear a kilt and eat a serving of haggis! I served on these two charities as the local American spokesperson for twelve years, MC-ing at least ten fundraising balls.

I found the charity work to be one of my most rewarding experiences while I was posted to Alice Springs as I was able to witness how community service helped those in my community, and how the active participation of the Americans from Pine Gap in local sports, community events and charitable work proved to be an effective way of bringing the Australian and American cultures together.

Outside of the ADC and Green Gates, social life for me in Alice Springs was typically very casual and laid-back. Owning a barbecue was practically de rigueur for everyone, and having friends over for a snag, a steak and a beer or two were daily occurrences for both Aussies and Yanks.

Within many American families, both husband and wife held security clearances, allowing both of them to work at the Base, which I thought was healthy for those who wanted to talk and debrief about work-related issues. In the eighteen years I was in Alice Springs I had observed that the strain of living in a small town with limited social activities was a factor in many failed marriages. With just one cinema, one bowling alley and not many more restaurants, the choices in Alice Springs soon became repetitive and new arrivals needed to make friends and participate in some of the local sports to help fill in their social calendar. Unfortunately, many marriages didn’t survive because of affairs within the Pine Gap community. The pressures of shift-work were often cited as a reason for many breakups. I knew of several married shift workers who had an affair with someone they worked with on shift. With the opportunity for close contact at work and with someone on crew always organising an after-work party or other crew event, many seemingly good marriages collapsed as new couples appeared. Although shift work provided additional income, the extended work hours meant that a married couple might cross each other’s path for only two hours per day over a four-day period. To survive as a couple in Alice Springs, your relationship needed a very solid foundation of trust and good communication.

While most employees at Pine Gap were married, there was still a large singles population, especially among the military. All in all, the singles found it easy to meet other singles. Some local women particularly wanted to pair up with American men as they liked the idea of having a ‘spy’ as a boyfriend, and it was common to see singles with more than one new ‘love’ interest each week.