13 May 2002
Sources:
Aerial photos and maps:
Mapquest.com
Other photos:
http://search.cetin.net.cn/internet/DSTI/FAS/irp/facility/scsfac.htm
http://search.cetin.net.cn/internet/DSTI/FAS/irp/facility/odell.htm
Jason Vest and Wayne Madsen
write of
the Special Collection Service (SCS):
According to a former high-ranking intelligence official, SCS was formed
in the late 1970s after competition between the NSA's embassy-based eavesdroppers
and the CIA's globe-trotting bugging specialists from its Division D had
become counterproductive. While sources differ on how SCS works— some
claim its agents never leave their secret embassy warrens where they perform
close-quarters electronic eavesdropping, while others say agents operate
embassy-based equipment in addition to performing riskier "black-bag" jobs,
or break-ins, for purposes of bugging— "there's a lot of pride taken
in what SCS has accomplished," the former official says.
Intriguingly, the only on-the-record account of the Special Collection Service
has been provided not by an American but by a Canadian. Mike Frost, formerly
of the Communications Security Establishment— Canada's NSA equivalent—
served as deputy director of CSE's SCS counterpart and was trained by the
SCS. In a 1994 memoir, Frost describes the complexities of mounting "special
collection" operations— finding ways to transport sophisticated
eavesdropping equipment in diplomatic pouches without arousing suspicion,
surreptitiously assembling a device without arousing suspicion in his embassy,
technically troubleshooting under less than ideal conditions— and also
devotes considerable space to describing visits to SCS's old College Park
headquarters.
"It is not the usual sanitorium-clean atmosphere you would expect to find
in a top-secret installation," writes Frost. "Wires everywhere, jerry-rigged
gizmos everywhere, computers all over the place, some people buzzing around
in three-piece suits, and others in jeans and t-shirts. [It was] the ultimate
testing and engineering centre for any espionage equipment." Perhaps one
of its most extraordinary areas was its "live room," a 30-foot-square area
where NSA and CIA devices were put through dry runs, and where engineers
simulated the electronic environment of cities where eavesdroppers are deployed.
Several years ago, according to sources, SCS relocated to a new, 300-acre,
three-building complex disguised as a corporate campus and shielded by a
dense forest outside Beltsville, Maryland. Curious visitors to the site will
find themselves stopped at a gate by a Department of Defense police officer
who, if one lingers, will threaten arrest.
John Pike/FAS writes of the
Special
Collection Service and State Department
Beltsville
Communications Annex:
Special Collection Service
Since the Special Collection Service is an unacknowledge agency, it has no
acknowledged facilities. However, we have identified several of their
unacknowledged facilities here in the United States. In addition, SCS has
collection stations in US embassies in a number of countries around the world.
This facility guide provides both ground level views of these facilities,
as well as overhead imagery of these facilities and their surroundings. This
is a pretty massive real estate operation, and we apologize in advance that
we are still working on collecting the set, so not all view are available
for all facilities.
State Department
Beltsville Communications Annex
This facility presents a bit of a puzzle. It is located right next door to
the joint CIA/NSA "CSSG" Special Collection Service facility on Springfield
Road, although there does not appear to be an obvious direct physical connection
between the two. While the Beltsville Communication Annex is listed in the
State Department telephone directory as State Annex SA-26, there is no indication
on the sign at the site of this affiliation, which is contrary to typical
State Department practice. It is also reported that SCS personnel use Consular
Service and Diplomatic Telecommunications Service cover when forward deployed,
so it would stand to reason that they might operate from a "State Department"
facility when in the United States in order to maintain the plausibility
of their cover. Of course, the robustness of their cover would be even further
enhanced if the facility actually was a State Department facility. So in
this case we are left with a Scottish "not proven" verdict.
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