David Rosenberg - Inside Pine Gap

There appears to be no clear, simple path to facilitate a security clearance citizenship waiver (in lieu of receiving a full clearance) to those who could be working as a contractor within and across the partnership. It is easier to grant a waiver when moving from one country’s government organisation to a partner country’s government organisation and there are reciprocal agreements in place to do this. However, the process of receiving a waiver when going from being a foreign government employee to being a contractor in a partner country is virtually impossible.

After I resigned from the NSA, I received several enquiries from major Defense contractors within the United States about my availability to work with them there, and since I was an American citizen I could have started work immediately. But my home was now in Sydney, and as time went on, it became very frustrating that I wasn’t putting my expertise to use helping the Australian Government on counterterrorism and counterintelligence cases, ELINT and SIGINT modernisation efforts, or improving training programs in various intelligence disciplines. Had there been an effective process in place to handle citizenship waivers, I believe my contributions would have been of immense value to Australia. Instead, I still haven’t been able to obtain a security-cleared position that would allow me to return to work in the Defence industry.

I was hopeful for the citizenship waiver to be pursued and approved by the contractor, but was told by my Australian SES government contact that I, not the contractor’s security office, needed to ask the current deputy chief at Pine Gap (another SES position) for this approval. I dutifully complied with this guidance, but the deputy chief refused to take my call. I was told that I needed to discuss this with Australia’s security chief at Pine Gap. This person then told me that, as I would not be directly supporting Pine Gap, they were unable to help me. Both deputy chiefs knew in advance, however, that I would not be returning to Pine Gap.

In spite of personal assurances of support, the deputy chiefs apparently didn’t know the process required to grant a waiver for a non-Australian citizen who isn’t currently employed and has never held an Australian security clearance. If either of the deputy chiefs had followed through with their support and helped me to process the citizenship waiver, I would have secured full-time employment as a contractor that would have benefited their organisation directly. And yet working in that way meant that I would have been employed full-time and would not have had the idea, or the time, to write this book. In the end this will hopefully prove a greater worth to the Australian and American public—rather than, specifically, its government or intelligence community.

While I was seeking full-time work, a friend recommended me for training as a youth justice conference convenor for the New South Wales Department of Juvenile Justice in Fairfield. I decided to do this as a way to broaden my experience and also because it gave me the opportunity to contribute to the community in a paid capacity by facilitating conferences between young offenders (aged eleven to seventeen) and their victims. This serves as an alternative to the young person appearing in court. The objective of conferencing is to develop an outcome plan that is agreeable to the young person and their victim(s) and repairs some of the harm to the victim caused by the young person. It is hoped that the conference will also help to prevent re-offending. This work was very rewarding as I was able to be part of the process that influences, and hopefully prevents, children from choosing a criminal path. This work allowed me to make a positive impact in my new community of Sydney, in a similar way to how I had worked as a volunteer on two charities in Alice Springs.

I also had a chance meeting with a former New South Wales police detective, Greg Locke, whose wife Deborah Locke is the author of Watching the Detectives and whose story was told in the television series Underbelly III—The Golden Mile . She is the police officer who exposed widespread corruption within New South Wales Police. While Greg and I were talking, he mentioned Deborah’s book. I told Greg that I had worked for the United States Government at Pine Gap and had contemplated writing about my career now that I had time on my hands. Greg offered to put me in contact with Deborah’s literary agent, Georg, who became intrigued with my (unclassified) history, and eventually became my literary agent.

At the time of writing, my efforts to find substantial Defence-related work in Sydney still haven’t been successful. Some of my friends have asked me whether it was worth it to leave the world’s most secure position and forfeit an excellent job, benefits and salary (equivalent to over $250,000 AUD/year in October 2008) at the time of the world’s worst economic crisis in modern times. The answer has always been easy for me: I wouldn’t do anything differently, even if I had known that I would not find full-time work for over two years. My family is the most important aspect of my life and I have experienced real joy over the last two years living with my wife and stepson. The relationship with Lou has deepened and neither of us can imagine being apart again. I feel blessed to be part of a true love story. Through these tough times, my wife has remained amazingly positive and has continued to support me in writing this book, despite being unable to read the text until completed and approved for publication by the PRB.

The controversial history of Pine Gap and the plethora of rumours about what actually happens within the walls of Operations have fuelled the imaginations of many Australians for decades. If you were to ask a thousand Australians who remember the protests and reports of alien contact to tell what they believe actually happens at Pine Gap, you are likely to hear a thousand different stories. The presence of Pine Gap on Australian soil is an important part of Australian history, and by writing this book I hope to provide more understanding of what Pine Gap does and the necessity of maintaining ever-vigilant eyes and ears that protect the lives of everyday Australians and Americans, including the soldiers who protect us, wherever they may serve (as well as share my story—of living the life of a hi-tech spy on the other side of the world).

Pine Gap has become not only a recognisable but also a necessary part of the Australian landscape. As communications technology evolves and weapon systems become ‘smarter’ and more technologically advanced, Pine Gap analysts and the satellites that enable Pine Gap to perform many complex functions will need to remain at least one step ahead of the advancements. We need to know today what our future capabilities must be to counter the very real threats that exist now and those yet to come. The Pine Gap satellites are truly an engineering marvel and have succeeded in this respect for forty years.

As the commitment to mutual defence between Australia and the United States has strengthened and the partnership between the two countries has continued to grow, the Base has certainly played a part in helping to bridge the gap between our technical capabilities and cultural differences. I hope my account will increase the acceptance within Australia of the continuing presence of the facility. Much of what has happened at Pine Gap over the last forty years has now been revealed, from the inside, but what does the future hold for Pine Gap? Will Pine Gap still be relevant ten or twenty years from now? Will it still be there in thirty years’ time? Only time will tell.