Bad Aibling Station
Encyclopedia
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst [ˌbʊndəsˈnaːχʁɪçtnˌdiːnst] is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor's Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin . The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries...
: Hortensie III) was until 2004 a large monitoring base of the US intelligence organization NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
in Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
History
In 1936 a military airfield was established on the site. After the Second World War, troops of the United States Army seized a military airport ("Fliegerhorst" and flight training base) that had been built in 1936 by the German National Socialist government on the grounds of a sport airfield in Bad AiblingBad Aibling
Bad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
-Mietraching
Mietraching
Mietraching may refer to German county parts in Bavaria:*Deggendorf-Mietraching*Bad Aibling-Mietraching...
. Initially, it was used by the occupying Americans as a camp for prisoners of war, a displaced persons camp, and as an orphanage under supervision of the UNRRA
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
. Günter Grass
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
and Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, are alleged to have met there as prisoners.
In 1952, the area was taken over by the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
it was converted by the United States Army Security Agency
United States Army Security Agency
The United States Army Security Agency was the United States Army's signal intelligence branch. Its motto was "Vigilant Always." The Agency existed between 1945 and 1976 and was the successor to Army signal intelligence operations dating back to World War I...
("ASA") to a communications monitoring station for American intelligence.
In 1971 the National Security Agency (NSA)
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
and the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
took over command from the U.S. Army. Simultaneously, the Army Security Agency transferred most of its activities in West Germany from its field stations located at Rothwesten
Rothwesten
Rothwesten is a village in the municipality Fuldatal, in the Kassel district, Hesse, Germany. It was the site of a post World War II American sector displaced person camp, and later Rothwesten Air Base.*...
, Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling
Bad Aibling is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 35 miles southeast of Munich. It is a health resort .-History:...
and Herzogenaurach
Herzogenaurach
Herzogenaurach is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is probably best known for being the home of the sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma.-Geography:...
to Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
.
In 1994, the NSA transferred command of its Bad Aibling base to INSCOM
United States Army Intelligence and Security Command
The United States Army Intelligence and Security Command is a direct reporting unit that conducts intelligence, security, and information operations for U.S. Army commanders and national decision makers. INSCOM is both an organization within the United States Army and the National Security Agency,...
, one of the Central Security Service
Central Security Service
The Central Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense, established in 1972 by a Presidential Directive to promote full partnership between the National Security Agency and the Service Cryptologic Elements of the United States Armed Forces.-Organization:The blue...
s of USA.
After the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, on several occasions including investigations of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
that censured industrial espionage by American secret services, the Americans intended to close the Bad Aibling Station . The September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
delayed these plans.
The restructuring of the American intelligence community after the September 11, 2001 caused the closure of Bad Aibling Station on September 30, 2004. The base was returned to the Federal Republic of Germany.
In the vicinity in Bad Aibling, a base of the Bundesnachrichtendienst
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst [ˌbʊndəsˈnaːχʁɪçtnˌdiːnst] is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor's Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin . The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries...
has always been in existence within the area of former barracks of the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
.
Institutions (as known)
- Different divisions of NSANational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(details not known)- TASCOM, APO 09108 / 09098 - Carl Mosher 1972-73
- HOC 718th Military Intelligence Brigade
- C COMPANY 66th Military Intelligence Group, (formerly assigned to Augsburg, which closed in 1997;BRAC realignment)
- Air Force-402ND Intelligence Squadron
- 108th Military Intelligence Group (former designation: 718th MI Group)
- Navy-NSGA (Naval Security Group Activity)
- 18th USASAFS Field Station
- 312th ASA Battalion
- 320th ASA Battalion
- Headquarters Company
- 180th ASA Company
- 181st ASA Company
- 186st ASA Company
- 402nd Intelligence Squadron
- British Royal Signals Detachment (UK)
Significance for secret services
The Bad Aibling Station was an important monitoring station of the EchelonEchelon
Echelon may refer to:* A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society.* Echelon formation, a military hierarchical formation, also used to describe the migratory patterns of birds...
System (RSOC, Regional SIGINT Operation Center) that employed up to 1000 staff members. Its task was acquisition of information for American authorities and other closely allied intelligence services, e.g. from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The López affair that was cleared up by telephone surveillance in the BAS gained worldwide audience.
According to official statements, the function of BAS was "Rapid Radio Relay and Secure Common, Support to DoD and Unified Commands, Medium and Longhand Common HF & Satellite, Communication Physics Research, Test and Evaluate Common Equipment"
Only view details are known. Serious hints, however, support the assumption that the BAS supervised numerous communication channels, including wireless communication, telephony
Telephony
In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....
and internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
traffic. Particularly the communication with satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s, also outside the Intelsat
Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
system, seems to have been monitored by the BAS..