National Vigilance Park
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National Vigilance Park (NVP) was a memorial to the military servicemen who participated in aerial reconnaissance during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Dedicated on September 2, 1997, NVP was located just one block from the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(NSA) headquarters at
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,
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. It was previously open 24 hours a day for viewing. Military events connected with the Intelligence Community and/or personnel stationed at Ft. Meade or working at NSA were formerly scheduled through the
National Cryptologic Museum The National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) is an American museum of cryptologic history that is affiliated with the National Security Agency (NSA). The first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community, NCM is located in the former Colony Sev ...
(NCM), which is just one block west of the former park. When NVP was open to the public, admission was free. Donations to the NCM Foundation are still accepted for potential reopening of the park. Photographing the planes and the memorial plaques, decor, and grounds was allowed when they were on site; however, pictures of the adjacent NSA buildings were not permitted due to security concerns.


The memorial

Three reconnaissance aircraft were on display at the memorial, which were ringed by a semicircle of 18 trees representing the 18 aerial cryptologic missions lost during the program. A
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Seminole RU-8D
Reconnaissance Plane In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers, ...
represented the Army Airborne
Signals Intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
contribution in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. A Hercules C-130 transport, tail number 60528, modified to look like a reconnaissance-configuration C-130A, memorialized a
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
aircraft shot down over Soviet
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during the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Finally, the park contained a
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Skywarrior
EA-3B The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior is a jet-powered strategic bomber that was developed and produced by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was designed by Douglas on behalf of the United States Navy, which sought a carrier-capable strategic bomber. Durin ...
, commemorating a mission in the
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on January 25, 1987 in which all seven crew members died.


Closure

National Vigilance Park was closed in February 2017, and its aircraft and memorials removed to allow for the construction of a new NSA visitor checkpoint. In 2018, Google Maps satellite imagery depicted the in-progress removal of the aircraft. Also in 2018, the official NSA website for NVP reported the park would reopen at an undetermined time in the future next to the NCM.


See also

* National Security Agency/Central Security Service Cryptologic Memorial *
National Cryptologic Museum The National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) is an American museum of cryptologic history that is affiliated with the National Security Agency (NSA). The first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community, NCM is located in the former Colony Sev ...
*
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
*
Arlington Hall Arlington Hall (also called Arlington Hall Station) is a historic building in Arlington, Virginia, originally a girls' school and later the headquarters of the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) cryptography effort during Worl ...
*
International Spy Museum The International Spy Museum is an independent non-profit museum which documents the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. It holds the largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display. The museum opened ...
*
Moscow–Washington hotline The Moscow–Washington hotline (formally known in the United States as the Washington–Moscow Direct Communications Link; rus, Горячая линия Вашингтон — Москва, r=Goryachaya liniya Vashington–Moskva) is a system t ...
*
United States aerial reconnaissance of the Soviet Union Between 1946 and 1960, the United States Air Force conducted aerial reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union in order to determine the size, composition, and disposition of Soviet forces. Aircraft used included the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomb ...


Notes

* John R. Schindler,
A Dangerous Business: The U.S. Navy and National Reconnaissance During the Cold War
, 1997.


References


External links


National Vigilance Park home page

The National Cryptologic Museum Foundation

A set of photos of the museum
by Austin Mills
A set of photos of NCM and NVP
by Mike Newton {{National Security Agency Cryptography organizations National Security Agency Aerial reconnaissance