Georgia Cryptologic Center
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Georgia Cryptologic Center
| native_name = NSA Georgia
| dates = 2012 – Present
| country = United States
| role = Signals intelligence cyberspace operations, and cybersecurity operations
| size = {{cvt|604000|ft2|adj=on}}
| command_structure = National Security Agency
| garrison = Fort Eisenhower
}}
The Georgia Cryptologic Center (GCC) or NSA Georgia is a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Security Service (CSS) facility located within Fort Eisenhower, located outside of Augusta, Georgia. The {{cvt|604000|ft2|adj=on}} facility opened on March 5, 2012, at a cost of $286 million.{{cite news |title=NSA/CSS opens newest facility in Georgia |newspaper=Government Security News |date=March 6, 2012 |url=http://gsnmagazine.com/article/25772/nsacss_opens_newest_facility_georgia |accessdate=October 17, 2015 |archive-date=December 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211152814/http://gsnmagazine.com/article/25772/nsacss_opens_newest_facility_georgia |url-status=dead }}{{cite magazine |title=NSA Opens 604,000 Sq. ft. Cryptologic Center In Georgia |magazine=SecurityWeek |date=March 8, 2012 |url=http://www.securityweek.com/nsa-opens-604000-sq-ft-cryptologic-center-georgia |accessdate=October 17, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100705/http://www.securityweek.com/nsa-opens-604000-sq-ft-cryptologic-center-georgia |url-status=live }} The GCC's facilities have the capacity to employ up to 4,000 personnel. Its primary focus is on signals intelligence intercepts from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.{{Cite magazine |last=Bamford |first=James |date=March 15, 2012 |title=The NSA is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say) |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/03/ff-nsadatacenter/ |url-status=live |magazine=Wired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319213744/https://www.wired.com/2012/03/ff-nsadatacenter/ |archive-date=March 19, 2018 |authorlink=James Bamford |accessdate=October 17, 2015}} The facility is known by the codename "Sweet Tea".
Operations
According to the NSA, the Georgia Cryptologic Center "specializes in working closely with military customers to understand their operations, their requirements and their culture to ensure that signals intelligence is tailored and responsive to the needs of the warfighter."{{Cite web |title=NSA/CSS Locations |url=https://www.nsa.gov/About/Locations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222084614/https://www.nsa.gov/About/Locations/ |archive-date=December 22, 2022 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |website=National Security Agency}} {{USGovernment}} The Georgia Cryptologic Center is staffed by both civilian contractors and by military personnel from the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command's 706th Military Intelligence Group, also stationed at Fort Gordon, who specialize in signals intelligence.{{Cite web |title=706th Military Intelligence Group |url=https://www.inscom.army.mil/msc/706MIG.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401020949/https://www.inscom.army.mil/msc/706MIG.aspx |archive-date=April 1, 2022 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |website=United States Army Intelligence and Security Command}} When the facility opened, the proposed ratio of military to civilian personnel was approximately 3:1.{{Cite news |last=Rausch |first=Tim |date=October 21, 2007 |title=NSA center expected to boost local economy |work=The Augusta Chronicle |url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/102107/bus_148538.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303153434/http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/102107/bus_148538.shtml |archive-date=March 3, 2009}} As of 2020, Fort Gordon is also the headquarters of United States Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER),{{Cite news |last=Bynum |first=Russ |date=September 3, 2020 |title=Army Cyber Command completes its move to Georgia base |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/army-cyber-command-completes-its-move-to-georgia-base/2020/09/03/b433bda8-ee1d-11ea-bd08-1b10132b458f_story.html |access-date=December 31, 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post}} which works closely alongside NSA Georgia.{{Cite news |last=Jardin |first=Xeni |date=September 3, 2020 |title=U.S. Army Cyber Command completes move to Georgia base |work=Boing Boing |url=https://boingboing.net/2020/09/03/u-s-army-cyber-command-comple.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904123256/https://boingboing.net/2020/09/03/u-s-army-cyber-command-comple.html |archive-date=September 4, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Roche |first=Bill |date=September 3, 2020 |title=Headquarters dedication heralds arrival of Army Cyber operations at Fort Gordon |url=https://www.army.mil/article/238784/headquarters_dedication_heralds_arrival_of_army_cyber_operations_at_fort_gordon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801150523/https://www.army.mil/article/238784/headquarters_dedication_heralds_arrival_of_army_cyber_operations_at_fort_gordon |archive-date=August 1, 2021 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |website=United States Army}}
The facilities's personnel include Tailored Access Operations (TAO) units{{Cite web |last=Aid |first=Matthew M. |date=June 11, 2013 |title=Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret Hacking Group |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/inside-the-nsas-ultrasecret-hacking-group/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021183735/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/inside-the-nsas-ultrasecret-hacking-group/ |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |website=Atlantic Council}} and Persian-language translators.{{Cite report |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13865.10 |title=The Human Side of Cyber Conflict: Organizing, Training, and Equipping the Air Force Cyber Workforce |last1=Yannakogeorgos |first1=Panayotis A. |last2=Geis |first2=John P. |date=2016 |issue=The Human Side of Cyber Conflict: Organizing, Training, and Equipping the Air Force Cyber Workforce |page=118 |last3=Hagel |first3=Stephen |last4=Dacus |first4=Chad |last5=Conway |first5=John L. |last6=Lowther |first6=Adam B. |last7=Drinnon |first7=Steven |chapter=Force Development|jstor=resrep13865.10|access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231103409/https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13865.10 |url-status=live }}
History
Before opening the facility at Fort Gordon, the NSA/CSS had a smaller Regional Security Operations Center located at Fort Gordon.{{Cite press release |title=NSA/CSS Opens Its Newest Facility In Georgia |date=March 5, 2012 |url=https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/1630584/nsacss-opens-its-newest-facility-in-georgia/ |access-date=December 9, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920051154/https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/1630584/nsacss-opens-its-newest-facility-in-georgia/ |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |website=National Security Agency}} Named the Gordon Regional Security Operations Center, it was established in 1994 and operated under this name until it was renamed to NSA/CSS Georgia in June 2005.
Construction on the Georgia Cryptologic Center facility began in March 2007,{{Cite press release |title=NSA/CSS Georgia Groundbreaking Advances National Security |date=March 26, 2007 |url=https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/1630584/nsacss-opens-its-newest-facility-in-georgia/ |access-date=December 9, 2022 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920051154/https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/1630584/nsacss-opens-its-newest-facility-in-georgia/ |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |website=National Security Agency }} During construction the facility was not referred to as an NSA facility in any documentation and was referred to as "Sweet Tea". The facility opened in 2012. Press were invited to the opening ceremony, though cameras were not allowed at or near the facility.{{Cite news |last=Peebles |first=Jennifer |date=June 6, 2017 |title=The NSA in Augusta? Reality Winner's arrest shines spotlight on agency's Georgia presence |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/the-nsa-augusta-reality-winner-arrest-shines-spotlight-agency-georgia-presence/ng91jZt4OraLKa5cHDG2ZK/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726163323/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/the-nsa-augusta-reality-winner-arrest-shines-spotlight-agency-georgia-presence/ng91jZt4OraLKa5cHDG2ZK/ |archive-date=July 26, 2021}}
The facility made international headlines in 2017 when Reality Winner, a civilian contractor employed at the Georgia Cryptologic Center, was arrested after sending a top-secret report about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections to the news organization The Intercept.{{Cite news |last=Redmon |first=Jeremy |date=June 5, 2017 |title=Augusta contractor charged with mishandling top-secret U.S. materials |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-news/augusta-contractor-charged-with-mishandling-top-secret-materials/VFqwwNvxTBe7w2BxkQaWNM/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302053050/https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-news/augusta-contractor-charged-with-mishandling-top-secret-materials/VFqwwNvxTBe7w2BxkQaWNM/ |archive-date=March 2, 2022}}{{Cite magazine |last=Stuart |first=Tessa |date=November 24, 2021 |title='Bitter,' 'Angry,' 'Enraged': Reality Winner Blasts the Intercept After 4 Years in Jail |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/reality-winner-interview-prison-nsa-1261844/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216090845/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/reality-winner-interview-prison-nsa-1261844/ |archive-date=December 16, 2022}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Wikidatacoord|Q22908630|region:US-GA_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{National Security Agency}}
Category:National Security Agency facilities