David Rosenberg: Inside Pine Gap

Another limitation imposed on authors was the restriction of disclosing exactly where they had served. In 1997, Duane C ‘Dewey’ Clarridge published A Spy for All Seasons . On its website, the CIA stated: ‘In reviewing the book, the Board relaxed a restriction previously applied during the Cold War in favour of allowing former officers to say where they served, so long as that fact alone is not damaging to national security—as it could be in some locales—and to describe in general terms what they did, so long as they do not reveal sources, cover arrangements, sensitive liaison relationships, or covert facilities.’ [6] ibid. Hence ‘the Clarridge precedent’, as it was dubbed, allows me to discuss my career at Pine Gap for the NSA since I neither reveal sources nor discuss cover arrangements. My presence in Alice Springs for eighteen years is also a matter of public record through phone bills, satellite television bills, affiliation with two local charities, appearing in the local newspaper on four occasions and acknowledgement by family and friends upon request. The liaison relationship that exists between the United States and Australia at Pine Gap was publicly acknowledged by both countries more than forty years ago when the treaty establishing Pine Gap was signed on 9 December 1966. [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Gap The association of certain government agencies with Pine Gap was discussed in detail more than twenty years ago in the book Pine Gap , published by Professor Desmond Ball. [8] Ball, Pine Gap , 1988. Almost thirty years ago, an additional open-source reference by Professor Ball stated, ‘NSA and DSD (Defence Signals Directorate) also have operations at North West Cape, Pine Gap and Nurrangar.’ [9] Ball, A Suitable Piece of Real Estate , p. 44. It is also important to emphasise that Pine Gap is not a covert facility as its presence, personnel and function are well known to all of the major government security services around the world.

A second, more recent open-source publication by a US ‘outside expert’ on the NSA, James Bamford, also detailed the presence of NSA personnel at Pine Gap, a part of the liaison relationship between the United States Government (NSA) and Australia, as well as the satellite program. [10] Bamford, Body of Secrets , Chapter 10. Bamford also authored the first major revelatory publication of the NSA in 1983, The Puzzle Palace: Inside America’s Most Secret Intelligence Organisation . [11] Bamford, The Puzzle Palace .

The only truly classified aspects of Pine Gap are those sources and methods that have not yet appeared in the public domain, either through publication or other open-source information. Some of the actual results of the intelligence collection efforts at Pine Gap have not been previously revealed, either officially or unofficially, but are made available to the general public in this book.

INDEPENDENT AGENCY

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA)

Army Military Intelligence (MI)

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA)

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

National Security Agency (NSA)

Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A)

Coast Guard Intelligence (CGI)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI)

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)

Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS)

Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO)

Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO)

Defence Signals Directorate (DSD)

Office of National Assessments (ONA)