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Raven Rock Mountain Complex

February 21, 2023

This article is about the 1953 nuclear bunker near the Mason–Dixon line. For the 1966 NORAD bunker, see Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

The Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC), also known as Site R, is a U.S. military installation with an underground nuclear bunker near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, at Raven Rock Mountain that has been called an "underground Pentagon".[3][4][5]: 2  The bunker has emergency operations centers for the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Along with Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center in Virginia and the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado, it formed the core bunker complexes for the US continuity of government plan during the Cold War to survive a nuclear attack.[6]

Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Liberty Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States
The Site R tunnel entrance with abutments (39°43′47″N 77°25′57″W / 39.729642°N 77.432468°W / 39.729642; -77.432468, white figure in illustration) now has a building that is visible from a public road intersection to the west, particularly when trees are bare. The tunnel's other (east) opening is near the military installation's above-ground support area near the Route 16 intersection with Jacks Mountain Road.
Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Coordinates39°44′02″N 077°25′10″W / 39.73389°N 77.41944°W / 39.73389; -77.41944[1] (mountain summit)Coordinates: 39°44′02″N 077°25′10″W / 39.73389°N 77.41944°W / 39.73389; -77.41944[1] (mountain summit)
TypeNuclear bunker
Site information
OwnerU.S. government
Site history
Built1951–1953
See also:

Description

The installation's largest tenant unit is the Defense Threat Reduction Agency,[7] and RRMC communications are the responsibility of the 114th Signal Battalion.[8] The facility has 38 communications systems, and the Defense Information Systems Agency provides computer services at the complex.

History

Raven Rock Mountain is adjacent to Jacks Mountain on the north while Miney Branch flows west-to-east between them in the Potomac River Watershed. The 1820 Waynesboro-Emmitsburg Turnpike with toll station for the 1787 crossroad was constructed between the mountains, where the Fight at Monterey Gap was conducted after the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg (Stuart's artillery at Raven Rock Gap shelled Federal troops.[9]) In 1870, copper ore was discovered to the north,[10] and the nearby Fountain Dale Springs House was established in 1874.[11][12] The scenic area's mountain recreation facilities to the west included the 1877 Pen Mar Park, the 1878 High Rock Tower, the 1885 Monterey Country Club, and several resorts (e.g., Blue Mountain House, Buena Vista Springs Hotels, & Washington Cliff House). The 1889 Jacks Mountain Tunnel on the Western Extension (Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway) was completed near Raven Rock Mountain, and nearby stations were at Blue Ridge Summit and Charmian. The Army's 1942 Camp Ritchie was built southwest of the resorts, and a local road was built[when?] eastward from Blue Ridge Summit and intersected the north-south Fountaindale-Sabillasville Road (the intersection now provides access to the RRMC main gate.)

Planning for a protected Cold War facility near Washington, D.C. began in 1948 for relocation of military National Command Authorities and the Joint Communications Service.[citation needed]

Army Unit

In 1953 the Army's Raven Rock unit[specify] was part of Joint Support Command, then in 1971 was redesignated as the Directorate of Telecommunications and placed under the garrison commander of Fort Ritchie, where Strategic Communications Command moved. The Directorate was redesignated USACC Site R Telecommunications Center in 1976,[citation needed] then simply USACC Site R in October 1981 (both under 7th Signal Command). Col. Humphrey L. Peterson was the 1983 commander of USACC Site R,[13] which was redesignated in May 1984 as United States Army Information Systems Command - Site R.[14] Operation of the center[who?] was removed from the mission when the unit was redesignated the 1111th U.S. Army Signal Battalion under the 1101st U.S. Army Signal Brigade in October 1988 (under the 1108th U.S. Army Signal Brigade in October 1993), and the battalion remained responsible for maintenance, upkeep and communications.[citation needed] The unit became the 114th Signal Battalion under the 21st Signal Brigade after the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.[15]

Underground communications center

The planned deep underground communications center was identified in the original 1950 federal petition to seize the Beard Lot, a 1,500-foot-high, mile-long hill located at Fountaindale and extending east and south along the Waynesboro-Emmitsburg road,[16] The "Declaration of Taking" for United States of America v. 1,100 Acres of Land was filed at the Adams County courthouse on 23 January 1951, and made the government the official owner of the 280-acre tract seized from four properties (17 total properties had been requested by 15 February—some only for temporary use).[17][18][19] South of and above the Carson service station on the Sunshine trail,[20] bulldozers began work on 19 January 1951; by 3 February a roadway to the site had been leveled behind a farmhouse;[21] and by 24 February underground work had commenced (40 men working "normally" on that date were only performing above-ground construction).[22] By 26 May the Army had named the landform Raven Rock Mountain ("Raven Rock" is a pillar landform to the north along the mountain range)[1] and listed its elevation as 1,527 feet.[23]

By 20 October 1951, there had been two deaths: one, Roland P. Kelly, of PenMar MD due to premature dynamite detonation in the Beard Lot tunnel, and a power shovel operator from Phillipsburg named Leroy Fleagle who suffered crushing injuries.[24][25] The S. A. Healy Company was working on the alternate Pentagon in November 1951, when the government announced a defense appropriations cutback that would affect the project.[26] On 16 January 1952, the government indicated that when completed, the bunker would have a standby group of approximately 100 personnel. Because of construction damage to the Sunshine Trail, the US said it would rebuild the trail in any fashion the state desired.[27]

By 29 March 1952, more than 100 workers were striking from building additional Raven Rock housing at Camp Ritchie, which was to be a supplemental installation for the underground Pentagon at Fountaindale. No work was going on in the Raven Rock (Beard Lot) tunnel at that time.[28] Local travelers having to bypass on the serpentine on the slope between Monterey and Fountaindale grew frustrated during the delay (the incomplete tunnel was derogatorily dubbed "Harry's Hole," for President Truman.) By 7 April 1952, United Telephone Company rights of way had been secured for four tracts, including one in Cumberland Township.[29] Easements for three additional private tracts were filed by the government in December 1953[30] (a 1954 lawsuit against the U.S. by Alfred Holt was seeking $2,000 an acre for his 140-acre woodlot atop the Beard Lot [after] turning down an offer of $2,800 from the government.)[31]

A 1952 Army history disclosed Raven Rock information.[32] Three underground buildings were completed in 1953,[33] the year a guard shelter burned on the installation.[34] By April 1954, "Little Pentagon" development had cost $35,000,000.[35]

Automatic activation

After the 1954 Air Defense Command blockhouse was built at Ent Air Force Base, where the joint 1955 Continental Air Defense Command was activated, in August 1955 OSD approved the automatic activation of Raven Rock's Alternate Joint Communication Center on declaration of air defense warning or notice of surprise attack[36] (SAC similarly completed a bunker in 1955). The AJCC was equipped with command and control (C2) hardware by the end of 1955.[37]

1956 War Room Annex

In July 1956 at Raven Rock, a joint War Room Annex was established and was operated by the Air Force, and Raven Rock's readiness was broadened in April 1957 [for] activation prior to emergency if JCS thought it necessary.[36] By 1959, the services as well as JCS regarded Raven Rock as their primary emergency deployment center. For the Air Force, it served as Headquarters USAF Advanced, capable of receiving the Chief of Staff and key officers.[38] After President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed concern about nuclear command and control, a 1958 reorganization in National Command Authority relations with the joint commands was implemented.[39] On 1 July 1958 Raven Rock's USAF facility, ADCC (Blue Ridge Summit), became one of the 33 NORAD Alert Network Number 1 stations (but with receive-only capability as at TAC Headquarters, Sandia Base, and the Presidio at San Francisco.) On 20 October 1960, the JCS instructed the Joint Staff to establish a Joint Alternate Command Element (JACE) for rotating[specify] battle staffs to Raven Rock for temporary duty.[36] In November 1960, consoles at the Pentagon's Joint War Room became operational,[40] and the Raven Rock JACE was activated on 11 July 1961 under USAF Brig. Gen. Willard W. Smith [with the 5] staffs permanently stationed in Washington and an administrative section at Ft. Ritchie—rotations began in October 1961[36] (Fort Ritchie also had the OSD Defense Emergency Relocation Site.)[5]: 2  An expansion project by the Frazier–Davis–McDonald Company was underway in December 1961 at the "little Pentagon",[41] and bunker personnel were evacuated during a 1962 fire.[42] Pentagon construction to provide an entire JCS center at the Joint War Room opened the National Military Command Center (NMCC) in early October 1962.[43] It was initially considered an interim center until a nearby Deep Underground Command Center (DUCC) could be completed after which Raven Rock would be phased out as superfluous, whichever version [50-man or 300-man DUCC] was chosen, but neither was built[44]—nor were SAC's similar Deep Underground Support Center or NORAD's Super Combat Centers.

1962 ANMCC

"ANMCC" redirects here. For the detailed National Military Command Center description, see Joint War Room § 1962 NMCC.

Raven Rock's joint War Room, USAF ADCC, and other facilities were designated the Alternate National Military Command Center (ANMCC) on 1 October 1962 when the Burroughs SS-416L Control and Warning Support System with the Semi Automatic Ground Environment had been deployed (Back-Up Interceptor Control began at North Bend AFS in December.) The term AJCC remained in use, only [for] the Army-managed communications complex.[45] On 17 October 1962, DOD Directive S-5100.30 conceived the Worldwide Military Command and Control System with five groups of C2 systems: the National Military Command System was the primary group (to serve the President/SECDEF/JCS) and was to contain the Pentagon NMCC, Raven Rock's ANMCC, 3 NEACP aircraft on 24-hour ground alert, 2 NECPA ships, and interconnecting communications[36]—the Raven Rock bunker was hardened further to about 140 psi blast resistance by 1963[39]: 315  when the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker was being completed for tbd psi. The USAF's subsequent IBM 473L Command and Control System with AN/FYA-2 Integrated Data Transfer Consoles and Large Panel Display Subsystem had equipment deployed at both the NMCC and ANMCC[46] (a 2nd IBM 1410 computer was installed by 15 December 1966.)[37]: 47 

1976 Telecommunications Center

The USACC Site R Telecommunications Center was designated in 1976, and the 1977 Alternate National Military Command and Control Center Improvement Program was worked on by the DoD Special Projects Office (later renamed Protective Design Center) for a new deep underground C2 center with >3 mi (4.8 km) of air entrainment tunnels (cancelled in 1979.)[citation needed] After the 2001 September 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney used Raven Rock as a protected site away from President George W. Bush.[47][48] The Raven Rock Mountain Complex was declared part of the Pentagon Reservation under 10 U.S.C. § 2674(g) and on May 25, 2007, DoD policy declared it is unlawful for any person entering or on the property ..."to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map or graphical representation of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex without first obtaining the necessary permission."[49]

In 1977, the bunker had an Emergency Conference Room, and the Current Action Center was a military intelligence unit (an Air Force general was responsible for overseeing the installation's communications).[50]

In popular culture

  • In the Fallout series of video games, it is home to the Enclave, a post-apocalyptic successor to the U.S. government. It was featured in the 2008 video game Fallout 3 and referenced in both Fallout 4 (in a Boston Bugle article readable on a RobCo terminal at the Bugle's offices in Beacon Hill), and Fallout 76 as having been in contact with the AI at the Whitespring Bunker (the real world Project Greek Island) until communications between them were deliberately cut. The games' developer, Bethesda, also used the name for a location in the Elder Scrolls series of video games.
  • In the TV series Jeremiah, Raven Rock is where the sinister Valhalla Sector survived the pandemic which killed almost all of the other adults on the planet before emerging with plans of conquest.
  • In Prison Break, Raven Rock is an identified location.
  • The complex has an important role in the 2013 sci-fi movie Oblivion, in which it is the headquarters of an underground resistance movement against an alien invasion.
  • In the third book of the One Second After series, Raven Rock is referred to as "Site R" and is used by the U.S. government to house highly important citizens and government officials.
  • In the TV series Salvation, Raven Rock is referred to as a site to house government officials in the case of an asteroid collision with earth.
  • In the book series Mitch Rapp, the president and his cabinet are moved to "Site R" multiple times throughout the series.

Further reading

External images
  1952 tunnel photo
  Locked gate and shack
  • Mcyntire, H. J. (2000) Department of Defense Freedom Of Information Act Inquiry 00-F-0019 Site R Civil Defense Site
  • Graff, Garrett M. (2017). Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-47673-540-5.

References

  1. ^ a b "Raven Rock Mountain (1184711)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
    "Raven Rock (pillar, 1211037)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 3 June 2014. 39°49′57″N 077°22′49″W / 39.83250°N 77.38028°W / 39.83250; -77.38028
  2. ^ Communications facilities at a National Level (Report). Defense Communications Agency. 1 March 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 24 October 2011 – via A Secret Landscape: America's Cold War Infrastructure. ...Hardened Emergency Command Post and Relocation site for the Executive Branch of the Government at Mount Weather (separate webpages for each report page)
  3. ^ "Life on the Newsfronts". Life. 1 March 1954. p. 40.
  4. ^ Cillizza, Chris (3 January 2018). "There's no such thing as a 'nuclear button'". CNN Politics. Retrieved 10 February 2019. Quoting Garrett Graff, Raven Rock: The Inside Story of the US Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself -- While the Rest of Us Die.
  5. ^ a b Communications facilities at a National Level (Report). Defense Communications Agency. 1 March 1961. pp. 2, 22 – via A Secret Landscape: America's Cold War Infrastructure.
  6. ^ Graff, Garrett M. (2017). Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-47673-540-5.
  7. ^ Weinberger, Sharon (11 June 2008). "How To: Visit a Secret Nuclear Bunker". Wired. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  8. ^ . 114th Signal Battalion, "Signal Masters of the Rock". Archived from the original on 26 November 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2005.
  9. ^ Conrad, W. P.; Alexander, Ted (1982). When War Passed This Way. Greencastle, PA: Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library. p. 199.
  10. ^ "Local Department: Copper Ore". Gettysburg Compiler. 1 July 1870. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  11. ^ "History of Adams County". The Gettysburg Times. 24 February 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  12. ^ "Chapter XXXV: Hamiltonban Township". History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. 1886. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via USGenWeb Archives.
  13. ^ "1st Lt. Banks takes command of Support Company at Ritchie". Frederick News-Post. 8 April 1983. p. 9. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  14. ^ "Site-R Raven Rock". Global Security.org. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  15. ^ "Site-R Raven Rock; Alternate Joint Communications Center (AJCC)". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Government To Begin Work on Fountaindale Ridge Monday". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 18. 20 January 1951. Retrieved 2 June 2014 – via Google News Archive Search. Plans of the government to begin work Monday at the "Beard Lot"... were revealed today [Saturday] by Attorney Charles W. Kalp, assistant U.S. attorney at Lewisburg. The "Beard Lot," a 1,500-foot-high, mile-long hill located at Fountaindale and extending east and south along the Waynesboro-Emmitsburg road, will be used, it is believed, as part of an underground world-wide communications center ... government had been granted ..."immediate possession" orders on four of 26 properties previously listed for condemnation in a [federal] petition ... A petition ... originally filed for the entire 1,100-acre area surrounding and including the "Beard Lot."... properties condemned were those of the heirs of Samuele Warren containing 47½ acres, the Hoy Martin property of 103 acres [E of the Fountaindale-Sabillasville road], the three-acre property of Harold M. and Sylvia Caron and the 87½-acre property of Robert and Vialo Kipe. ... super underground communications center [when] the "Beard Lot" is to be annexed, according to the government's original petition ... the Carsons had been told that the government wanted their land "for an entrance. ... the former [turnpike] Route 16, now returned to Hamiltonban township with the opening of the Sunshine Trail, would be used for regular vehicular traffic while the other [Route 16] highway is closed."
  17. ^ "Judge Refuses to give 'Bishop' Mineral Data". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 51, no. 197. 19 August 1953. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  18. ^ "More Land Is Obtained For Army Project". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 40. 15 February 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  19. ^ "More Land Is Obtained For Army Project". Gettysburg Compiler. 17 February 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  20. ^ "Government Starts Work on 'Beard Lot'". Gettysburg Compiler. 27 January 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  21. ^ "Say 'Second Pentagon' Being Built in County Hills; Road is Underway; Tunnel is Next". The Star and Sentinel. Vol. 151, no. 5. 3 February 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  22. ^ "Work Stoppage at Beard Lot". The Star and Sentinel. Vol. 151, no. 7. 24 February 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  23. ^ "Magazine Says 'Brass Hats' go Underground". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 128. 26 May 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search. 'Pentagon No. 2'...'Shadow Pentagon'...with a finished chamber ... 2,100 feet long [and] four suites for top officials [and space for] a staff of 1,200..in the underground center in peacetime and 5,000 in wartime.
  24. ^ "Young Father of Four Killed on Beard Lot". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 251. 16 October 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  25. ^ "Tunnel Project Worker Injured". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 42. 17 February 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  26. ^ "Work Goes on At 'Little Pentagon'". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 49, no. 267. 8 November 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 2 June 2014 – via Google News Archive Search.
  27. ^ "Will Rebuild Sunshine Trail". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 50, no. 16. 16 January 1952. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  28. ^ "Strike Continues at Camp Ritchie". Gettysburg Compiler. 29 March 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  29. ^ "Rights of Way Filed by Phone Company". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 50, no. 81. 7 April 1952. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  30. ^ "File Right of Way". Gettysburg Compiler. 26 December 1953. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  31. ^ "Countians Give Land Estimates". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 52, no. 30. 4 February 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  32. ^ "Emergency 'Pentagon' Still Secret". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Vol. XXVIII, no. 36. 8 November 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  33. ^ "Raven Rock Mountain Complex". About Camp David. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  34. ^ "Shelter Burns at Raven Rock". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 51, no. 43. 19 February 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  35. ^ "Shoulder of Raven Rock is Swept By Fire". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 51, no. 43. 14 April 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  36. ^ a b c d e Sturm, Thomas A. (August 1966). The Air Force and The Worldwide Military Command and Control System: 1961–1965 (Declassified 6/05/05) (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  37. ^ a b Sturm, Thomas A. (August 1967). The Air Force Command and Control System: 1950–1966 (PDF) (Report). USAF Historical Division Liaison Office. Retrieved 2 April 2014. The Army maintained that the Air Force command and control network was insufficiently reliable to permit proper control of Army weapons [e.g., Nike missiles] in a crisis, and as a result the two services were, from a practical standpoint, poles apart on the issue of single control of weapons.
  38. ^ Wainstein, L. (Project Leader) (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning, 1945–1972: Executive Summary (Report). Vol. Study S-467. Institute for Defense Analyses. pp. xi–xxviii.
  39. ^ a b Wainstein, L. (Project Leader) (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning, 1945–1972 (Report). Institute for Defense Analyses.
  40. ^ Moriarty, J. K. (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning: Part Two (1954–1960) (Report). Vol. Study S-467. Institute for Defense Analyses. pp. 139–266.
  41. ^ "Carpenter at 'Raven Rock' Dies Suddenly". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 59, no. 302. 21 December 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  42. ^ "Fire Sweeps Raven Rock Power Plant". The Gettysburg Times. Vol. 60, no. 34. 9 February 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Google News Archive Search.
  43. ^ Vogel, Steve (27 May 2008). The Pentagon: A History. Random House Publishing Group. p. 362. ISBN 978-1-58836-701-3.
  44. ^ Ponturo, J. (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning: Part Three (1961–1967) (Report). Vol. Study S-467. Institute for Defense Analyses. pp. 267–370. In February [1962], the Secretary of Defense approved a National Military Command System (NMCS) composed of four major elements: the National Military Command Center (NMCC), an evolution of the JCS Joint War Room; the Alternate National Military Command Center (ANMCC), a redesignation of the JCS installation at the AJCC; and two mobile alternates, the NECPA and the NEACP. The following October he issued a DoD directive on the Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) that outlined the NMCS in detail, to include the NMCC, ANMCC, NECPA, NEACP, and such other alternates as might be established, together with their interconnecting communications; and defined their relationship to the command and control "subsystems" of the service headquarters, the CINCs, and other DoD agencies. ...The fixed underground ANMCC would be phased out as superfluous, whichever version [50-man or 300-man DUCC] was chosen, and the other NMCS facilities would be cut back to some degree according to one or the other.
  45. ^ Citation 8 in Sturm 1966 on page 18.
  46. ^ Brown, C.B. (4 December 1962). (PDF) (Report). MITRE Corporation. Archived from the original (Technical Memorandum) on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  47. ^ Goldstein, Steve (20 July 2004). "Undisclosed location' disclosed: A visit offers some insight into Cheney hide-out". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  48. ^ Roddy, Dennis (16 December 2001). . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 4 January 2002.
  49. ^ "Rules and Regulations: Conduct on the Pentagon Reservation". Federal Register. 72 (101). 25 May 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via Federation of American Scientists.
  50. ^ Bertorelli, Paul (25 July 1977). "The Rock: Buried in the bowels of underground Pentagon a mountain waits for war". Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2014 – via About The White House Communications Agency from 1965 to 1974.......and Beyond. Half mile long tunnels were drilled into the center of the mountain and were curved gently to reduce effects of a blast. ... near Sharpsburg, A great field of giant poles 150 feet high has sprung up 10 miles south of this Western Maryland community a 1953 Washington Post report from Hagerstown said. That project along with a similar one near Greencastle Pa was built as a communication system for The Rock. Known as Site B and Site A respectively both were abandoned in the 1960s when communication improvement made the facilities obsolete.

February 21, 2023
raven, rock, mountain, complex, this, article, about, 1953, nuclear, bunker, near, mason, dixon, line, 1966, norad, bunker, cheyenne, mountain, complex, rrmc, also, known, site, military, installation, with, underground, nuclear, bunker, near, blue, ridge, sum. This article is about the 1953 nuclear bunker near the Mason Dixon line For the 1966 NORAD bunker see Cheyenne Mountain Complex The Raven Rock Mountain Complex RRMC also known as Site R is a U S military installation with an underground nuclear bunker near Blue Ridge Summit Pennsylvania at Raven Rock Mountain that has been called an underground Pentagon 3 4 5 2 The bunker has emergency operations centers for the United States Army Navy Air Force and Marine Corps Along with Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center in Virginia and the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado it formed the core bunker complexes for the US continuity of government plan during the Cold War to survive a nuclear attack 6 Raven Rock Mountain ComplexLiberty Township Adams County Pennsylvania United StatesThe Site R tunnel entrance with abutments 39 43 47 N 77 25 57 W 39 729642 N 77 432468 W 39 729642 77 432468 white figure in illustration now has a building that is visible from a public road intersection to the west particularly when trees are bare The tunnel s other east opening is near the military installation s above ground support area near the Route 16 intersection with Jacks Mountain Road Raven Rock Mountain ComplexShow map of PennsylvaniaRaven Rock Mountain ComplexShow map of the United StatesCoordinates39 44 02 N 077 25 10 W 39 73389 N 77 41944 W 39 73389 77 41944 1 mountain summit Coordinates 39 44 02 N 077 25 10 W 39 73389 N 77 41944 W 39 73389 77 41944 1 mountain summit TypeNuclear bunkerSite informationOwnerU S governmentSite historyBuilt1951 1953See also 1959 High Point bunker 2 Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center1959 Greenbrier nuclear bunkerProject Greek Island Contents 1 Description 2 History 2 1 Underground communications center 2 2 Automatic activation 2 3 1956 War Room Annex 2 4 1962 ANMCC 2 5 1976 Telecommunications Center 3 In popular culture 4 Further reading 5 ReferencesDescription EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it June 2014 The installation s largest tenant unit is the Defense Threat Reduction Agency 7 and RRMC communications are the responsibility of the 114th Signal Battalion 8 The facility has 38 communications systems and the Defense Information Systems Agency provides computer services at the complex History EditRaven Rock Mountain is adjacent to Jacks Mountain on the north while Miney Branch flows west to east between them in the Potomac River Watershed The 1820 Waynesboro Emmitsburg Turnpike with toll station for the 1787 crossroad was constructed between the mountains where the Fight at Monterey Gap was conducted after the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg Stuart s artillery at Raven Rock Gap shelled Federal troops 9 In 1870 copper ore was discovered to the north 10 and the nearby Fountain Dale Springs House was established in 1874 11 12 The scenic area s mountain recreation facilities to the west included the 1877 Pen Mar Park the 1878 High Rock Tower the 1885 Monterey Country Club and several resorts e g Blue Mountain House Buena Vista Springs Hotels amp Washington Cliff House The 1889 Jacks Mountain Tunnel on the Western Extension Baltimore and Harrisburg Railway was completed near Raven Rock Mountain and nearby stations were at Blue Ridge Summit and Charmian The Army s 1942 Camp Ritchie was built southwest of the resorts and a local road was built when eastward from Blue Ridge Summit and intersected the north south Fountaindale Sabillasville Road the intersection now provides access to the RRMC main gate Planning for a protected Cold War facility near Washington D C began in 1948 for relocation of military National Command Authorities and the Joint Communications Service citation needed Army Unit In 1953 the Army s Raven Rock unit specify was part of Joint Support Command then in 1971 was redesignated as the Directorate of Telecommunications and placed under the garrison commander of Fort Ritchie where Strategic Communications Command moved The Directorate was redesignated USACC Site R Telecommunications Center in 1976 citation needed then simply USACC Site R in October 1981 both under 7th Signal Command Col Humphrey L Peterson was the 1983 commander of USACC Site R 13 which was redesignated in May 1984 as United States Army Information Systems Command Site R 14 Operation of the center who was removed from the mission when the unit was redesignated the 1111th U S Army Signal Battalion under the 1101st U S Army Signal Brigade in October 1988 under the 1108th U S Army Signal Brigade in October 1993 and the battalion remained responsible for maintenance upkeep and communications citation needed The unit became the 114th Signal Battalion under the 21st Signal Brigade after the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission 15 Underground communications center Edit The planned deep underground communications center was identified in the original 1950 federal petition to seize the Beard Lot a 1 500 foot high mile long hill located at Fountaindale and extending east and south along the Waynesboro Emmitsburg road 16 The Declaration of Taking for United States of America v 1 100 Acres of Land was filed at the Adams County courthouse on 23 January 1951 and made the government the official owner of the 280 acre tract seized from four properties 17 total properties had been requested by 15 February some only for temporary use 17 18 19 South of and above the Carson service station on the Sunshine trail 20 bulldozers began work on 19 January 1951 by 3 February a roadway to the site had been leveled behind a farmhouse 21 and by 24 February underground work had commenced 40 men working normally on that date were only performing above ground construction 22 By 26 May the Army had named the landform Raven Rock Mountain Raven Rock is a pillar landform to the north along the mountain range 1 and listed its elevation as 1 527 feet 23 By 20 October 1951 there had been two deaths one Roland P Kelly of PenMar MD due to premature dynamite detonation in the Beard Lot tunnel and a power shovel operator from Phillipsburg named Leroy Fleagle who suffered crushing injuries 24 25 The S A Healy Company was working on the alternate Pentagon in November 1951 when the government announced a defense appropriations cutback that would affect the project 26 On 16 January 1952 the government indicated that when completed the bunker would have a standby group of approximately 100 personnel Because of construction damage to the Sunshine Trail the US said it would rebuild the trail in any fashion the state desired 27 By 29 March 1952 more than 100 workers were striking from building additional Raven Rock housing at Camp Ritchie which was to be a supplemental installation for the underground Pentagon at Fountaindale No work was going on in the Raven Rock Beard Lot tunnel at that time 28 Local travelers having to bypass on the serpentine on the slope between Monterey and Fountaindale grew frustrated during the delay the incomplete tunnel was derogatorily dubbed Harry s Hole for President Truman By 7 April 1952 United Telephone Company rights of way had been secured for four tracts including one in Cumberland Township 29 Easements for three additional private tracts were filed by the government in December 1953 30 a 1954 lawsuit against the U S by Alfred Holt was seeking 2 000 an acre for his 140 acre woodlot atop the Beard Lot after turning down an offer of 2 800 from the government 31 A 1952 Army history disclosed Raven Rock information 32 Three underground buildings were completed in 1953 33 the year a guard shelter burned on the installation 34 By April 1954 Little Pentagon development had cost 35 000 000 35 Automatic activation Edit After the 1954 Air Defense Command blockhouse was built at Ent Air Force Base where the joint 1955 Continental Air Defense Command was activated in August 1955 OSD approved the automatic activation of Raven Rock s Alternate Joint Communication Center on declaration of air defense warning or notice of surprise attack 36 SAC similarly completed a bunker in 1955 The AJCC was equipped with command and control C2 hardware by the end of 1955 37 1956 War Room Annex Edit In July 1956 at Raven Rock a joint War Room Annex was established and was operated by the Air Force and Raven Rock s readiness was broadened in April 1957 for activation prior to emergency if JCS thought it necessary 36 By 1959 the services as well as JCS regarded Raven Rock as their primary emergency deployment center For the Air Force it served as Headquarters USAF Advanced capable of receiving the Chief of Staff and key officers 38 After President Dwight D Eisenhower expressed concern about nuclear command and control a 1958 reorganization in National Command Authority relations with the joint commands was implemented 39 On 1 July 1958 Raven Rock s USAF facility ADCC Blue Ridge Summit became one of the 33 NORAD Alert Network Number 1 stations but with receive only capability as at TAC Headquarters Sandia Base and the Presidio at San Francisco On 20 October 1960 the JCS instructed the Joint Staff to establish a Joint Alternate Command Element JACE for rotating specify battle staffs to Raven Rock for temporary duty 36 In November 1960 consoles at the Pentagon s Joint War Room became operational 40 and the Raven Rock JACE was activated on 11 July 1961 under USAF Brig Gen Willard W Smith with the 5 staffs permanently stationed in Washington and an administrative section at Ft Ritchie rotations began in October 1961 36 Fort Ritchie also had the OSD Defense Emergency Relocation Site 5 2 An expansion project by the Frazier Davis McDonald Company was underway in December 1961 at the little Pentagon 41 and bunker personnel were evacuated during a 1962 fire 42 Pentagon construction to provide an entire JCS center at the Joint War Room opened the National Military Command Center NMCC in early October 1962 43 It was initially considered an interim center until a nearby Deep Underground Command Center DUCC could be completed after which Raven Rock would be phased out as superfluous whichever version 50 man or 300 man DUCC was chosen but neither was built 44 nor were SAC s similar Deep Underground Support Center or NORAD s Super Combat Centers 1962 ANMCC Edit ANMCC redirects here For the detailed National Military Command Center description see Joint War Room 1962 NMCC Raven Rock s joint War Room USAF ADCC and other facilities were designated the Alternate National Military Command Center ANMCC on 1 October 1962 when the Burroughs SS 416L Control and Warning Support System with the Semi Automatic Ground Environment had been deployed Back Up Interceptor Control began at North Bend AFS in December The term AJCC remained in use only for the Army managed communications complex 45 On 17 October 1962 DOD Directive S 5100 30 conceived the Worldwide Military Command and Control System with five groups of C2 systems the National Military Command System was the primary group to serve the President SECDEF JCS and was to contain the Pentagon NMCC Raven Rock s ANMCC 3 NEACP aircraft on 24 hour ground alert 2 NECPA ships and interconnecting communications 36 the Raven Rock bunker was hardened further to about 140 psi blast resistance by 1963 39 315 when the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker was being completed for tbd psi The USAF s subsequent IBM 473L Command and Control System with AN FYA 2 Integrated Data Transfer Consoles and Large Panel Display Subsystem had equipment deployed at both the NMCC and ANMCC 46 a 2nd IBM 1410 computer was installed by 15 December 1966 37 47 1976 Telecommunications Center Edit The USACC Site R Telecommunications Center was designated in 1976 and the 1977 Alternate National Military Command and Control Center Improvement Program was worked on by the DoD Special Projects Office later renamed Protective Design Center for a new deep underground C2 center with gt 3 mi 4 8 km of air entrainment tunnels cancelled in 1979 citation needed After the 2001 September 11 attacks Vice President Dick Cheney used Raven Rock as a protected site away from President George W Bush 47 48 The Raven Rock Mountain Complex was declared part of the Pentagon Reservation under 10 U S C 2674 g and on May 25 2007 DoD policy declared it is unlawful for any person entering or on the property to make any photograph sketch picture drawing map or graphical representation of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex without first obtaining the necessary permission 49 In 1977 the bunker had an Emergency Conference Room and the Current Action Center was a military intelligence unit an Air Force general was responsible for overseeing the installation s communications 50 In popular culture EditIn the Fallout series of video games it is home to the Enclave a post apocalyptic successor to the U S government It was featured in the 2008 video game Fallout 3 and referenced in both Fallout 4 in a Boston Bugle article readable on a RobCo terminal at the Bugle s offices in Beacon Hill and Fallout 76 as having been in contact with the AI at the Whitespring Bunker the real world Project Greek Island until communications between them were deliberately cut The games developer Bethesda also used the name for a location in the Elder Scrolls series of video games In the TV series Jeremiah Raven Rock is where the sinister Valhalla Sector survived the pandemic which killed almost all of the other adults on the planet before emerging with plans of conquest In Prison Break Raven Rock is an identified location The complex has an important role in the 2013 sci fi movie Oblivion in which it is the headquarters of an underground resistance movement against an alien invasion In the third book of the One Second After series Raven Rock is referred to as Site R and is used by the U S government to house highly important citizens and government officials In the TV series Salvation Raven Rock is referred to as a site to house government officials in the case of an asteroid collision with earth In the book series Mitch Rapp the president and his cabinet are moved to Site R multiple times throughout the series Further reading EditExternal images 1952 tunnel photo Locked gate and shackMcyntire H J 2000 Department of Defense Freedom Of Information Act Inquiry 00 F 0019 Site R Civil Defense Site Graff Garrett M 2017 Raven Rock The Story of the U S Government s Secret Plan to Save Itself New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 47673 540 5 References Edit a b Raven Rock Mountain 1184711 Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior Retrieved 3 June 2014 Raven Rock pillar 1211037 Geographic Names Information System United States Geological Survey United States Department of the Interior Retrieved 3 June 2014 39 49 57 N 077 22 49 W 39 83250 N 77 38028 W 39 83250 77 38028 Communications facilities at a National Level Report Defense Communications Agency 1 March 1961 p 2 Retrieved 24 October 2011 via A Secret Landscape America s Cold War Infrastructure Hardened Emergency Command Post and Relocation site for the Executive Branch of the Government at Mount Weather separate webpages for each report page Life on the Newsfronts Life 1 March 1954 p 40 Cillizza Chris 3 January 2018 There s no such thing as a nuclear button CNN Politics Retrieved 10 February 2019 Quoting Garrett Graff Raven Rock The Inside Story of the US Government s Secret Plan to Save Itself While the Rest of Us Die a b Communications facilities at a National Level Report Defense Communications Agency 1 March 1961 pp 2 22 via A Secret Landscape America s Cold War Infrastructure Graff Garrett M 2017 Raven Rock The Story of the U S Government s Secret Plan to Save Itself New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 47673 540 5 Weinberger Sharon 11 June 2008 How To Visit a Secret Nuclear Bunker Wired Retrieved 10 February 2019 Battalion Mission 114th Signal Battalion Signal Masters of the Rock Archived from the original on 26 November 2005 Retrieved 26 November 2005 Conrad W P Alexander Ted 1982 When War Passed This Way Greencastle PA Lilian S Besore Memorial Library p 199 Local Department Copper Ore Gettysburg Compiler 1 July 1870 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search History of Adams County The Gettysburg Times 24 February 1932 p 4 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Chapter XXXV Hamiltonban Township History of Cumberland and Adams Counties Pennsylvania Chicago Warner Beers amp Co 1886 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via USGenWeb Archives 1st Lt Banks takes command of Support Company at Ritchie Frederick News Post 8 April 1983 p 9 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via NewspaperARCHIVE Site R Raven Rock Global Security org Retrieved 29 November 2010 Site R Raven Rock Alternate Joint Communications Center AJCC Federation of American Scientists Retrieved 10 February 2019 Government To Begin Work on Fountaindale Ridge Monday The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 18 20 January 1951 Retrieved 2 June 2014 via Google News Archive Search Plans of the government to begin work Monday at the Beard Lot were revealed today Saturday by Attorney Charles W Kalp assistant U S attorney at Lewisburg The Beard Lot a 1 500 foot high mile long hill located at Fountaindale and extending east and south along the Waynesboro Emmitsburg road will be used it is believed as part of an underground world wide communications center government had been granted immediate possession orders on four of 26 properties previously listed for condemnation in a federal petition A petition originally filed for the entire 1 100 acre area surrounding and including the Beard Lot properties condemned were those of the heirs of Samuele Warren containing 47 acres the Hoy Martin property of 103 acres E of the Fountaindale Sabillasville road the three acre property of Harold M and Sylvia Caron and the 87 acre property of Robert and Vialo Kipe super underground communications center when the Beard Lot is to be annexed according to the government s original petition the Carsons had been told that the government wanted their land for an entrance the former turnpike Route 16 now returned to Hamiltonban township with the opening of the Sunshine Trail would be used for regular vehicular traffic while the other Route 16 highway is closed Judge Refuses to give Bishop Mineral Data The Gettysburg Times Vol 51 no 197 19 August 1953 p 3 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search More Land Is Obtained For Army Project The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 40 15 February 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search More Land Is Obtained For Army Project Gettysburg Compiler 17 February 1951 p 3 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Government Starts Work on Beard Lot Gettysburg Compiler 27 January 1951 p 4 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Say Second Pentagon Being Built in County Hills Road is Underway Tunnel is Next The Star and Sentinel Vol 151 no 5 3 February 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Work Stoppage at Beard Lot The Star and Sentinel Vol 151 no 7 24 February 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Magazine Says Brass Hats go Underground The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 128 26 May 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Pentagon No 2 Shadow Pentagon with a finished chamber 2 100 feet long and four suites for top officials and space for a staff of 1 200 in the underground center in peacetime and 5 000 in wartime Young Father of Four Killed on Beard Lot The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 251 16 October 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Tunnel Project Worker Injured The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 42 17 February 1951 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Work Goes on At Little Pentagon The Gettysburg Times Vol 49 no 267 8 November 1951 p 2 Retrieved 2 June 2014 via Google News Archive Search Will Rebuild Sunshine Trail The Gettysburg Times Vol 50 no 16 16 January 1952 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Strike Continues at Camp Ritchie Gettysburg Compiler 29 March 1952 p 4 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Rights of Way Filed by Phone Company The Gettysburg Times Vol 50 no 81 7 April 1952 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search File Right of Way Gettysburg Compiler 26 December 1953 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Countians Give Land Estimates The Gettysburg Times Vol 52 no 30 4 February 1954 p 2 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Emergency Pentagon Still Secret Sarasota Herald Tribune Vol XXVIII no 36 8 November 1952 p 5 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Raven Rock Mountain Complex About Camp David 23 August 2011 Retrieved 10 February 2019 Shelter Burns at Raven Rock The Gettysburg Times Vol 51 no 43 19 February 1953 p 2 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Shoulder of Raven Rock is Swept By Fire The Gettysburg Times Vol 51 no 43 14 April 1954 p 2 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search a b c d e Sturm Thomas A August 1966 The Air Force and The Worldwide Military Command and Control System 1961 1965 Declassified 6 05 05 PDF Report Retrieved 15 May 2014 a b Sturm Thomas A August 1967 The Air Force Command and Control System 1950 1966 PDF Report USAF Historical Division Liaison Office Retrieved 2 April 2014 The Army maintained that the Air Force command and control network was insufficiently reliable to permit proper control of Army weapons e g Nike missiles in a crisis and as a result the two services were from a practical standpoint poles apart on the issue of single control of weapons Wainstein L Project Leader June 1975 The Evolution of U S Strategic Command and Control and Warning 1945 1972 Executive Summary Report Vol Study S 467 Institute for Defense Analyses pp xi xxviii a b Wainstein L Project Leader June 1975 The Evolution of U S Strategic Command and Control and Warning 1945 1972 Report Institute for Defense Analyses Moriarty J K June 1975 The Evolution of U S Strategic Command and Control and Warning Part Two 1954 1960 Report Vol Study S 467 Institute for Defense Analyses pp 139 266 Carpenter at Raven Rock Dies Suddenly The Gettysburg Times Vol 59 no 302 21 December 1961 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Fire Sweeps Raven Rock Power Plant The Gettysburg Times Vol 60 no 34 9 February 1962 p 1 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Google News Archive Search Vogel Steve 27 May 2008 The Pentagon A History Random House Publishing Group p 362 ISBN 978 1 58836 701 3 Ponturo J June 1975 The Evolution of U S Strategic Command and Control and Warning Part Three 1961 1967 Report Vol Study S 467 Institute for Defense Analyses pp 267 370 In February 1962 the Secretary of Defense approved a National Military Command System NMCS composed of four major elements the National Military Command Center NMCC an evolution of the JCS Joint War Room the Alternate National Military Command Center ANMCC a redesignation of the JCS installation at the AJCC and two mobile alternates the NECPA and the NEACP The following October he issued a DoD directive on the Worldwide Military Command and Control System WWMCCS that outlined the NMCS in detail to include the NMCC ANMCC NECPA NEACP and such other alternates as might be established together with their interconnecting communications and defined their relationship to the command and control subsystems of the service headquarters the CINCs and other DoD agencies The fixed underground ANMCC would be phased out as superfluous whichever version 50 man or 300 man DUCC was chosen and the other NMCS facilities would be cut back to some degree according to one or the other Citation 8 in Sturm 1966 on page 18 Brown C B 4 December 1962 473L DPSS ICSS Interface Description PDF Report MITRE Corporation Archived from the original Technical Memorandum on 24 October 2014 Retrieved 7 April 2014 Goldstein Steve 20 July 2004 Undisclosed location disclosed A visit offers some insight into Cheney hide out The Boston Globe Retrieved 10 February 2019 Roddy Dennis 16 December 2001 Homefront Site R is secure but it s not undisclosed Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on 4 January 2002 Rules and Regulations Conduct on the Pentagon Reservation Federal Register 72 101 25 May 2007 Retrieved 10 February 2019 via Federation of American Scientists Bertorelli Paul 25 July 1977 The Rock Buried in the bowels of underground Pentagon a mountain waits for war Morning Herald Retrieved 3 June 2014 via About The White House Communications Agency from 1965 to 1974 and Beyond Half mile long tunnels were drilled into the center of the mountain and were curved gently to reduce effects of a blast near Sharpsburg A great field of giant poles 150 feet high has sprung up 10 miles south of this Western Maryland community a 1953 Washington Post report from Hagerstown said That project along with a similar one near Greencastle Pa was built as a communication system for The Rock Known as Site B and Site A respectively both were abandoned in the 1960s when communication improvement made the facilities obsolete Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Raven Rock Mountain Complex amp oldid 1129328777, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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