Although we didn’t see the B-2 while in California, we did tour the facility that assembled various components used onboard the aircraft. The trip provided a great deal of technical information on how Stealth technology was implemented and was very useful in assessing how well the Soviet’s new radar signals could detect Stealth aircraft. When the course was over, Northrop-Grumman gave all of us a souvenir Stealth coffee cup with an image of a B-2 on the surface that disappeared when hot liquid was poured into the cup, which soon became the envy of the office.
As my experience with radars and supervision grew, in 1989 I received a second promotion, to Grade 11, and in June I was selected to attend a conference with three other analysts on radar technology in Garland, Texas. The conference was held at the offices of a major Defense partner. I hadn’t been to Texas before and we learned more about the technical aspects of radars, but the highlight was a visit to Southfork Ranch, home to the Ewing family from the hit television show Dallas.
My radar analysis work continued and in 1990, together with a foreign integree in my office, I organised a land-based radar technical conference. One of the briefings discussed a foreign country’s malfunctioning radar designed to defend against Stealth aircraft and this intercept provided data that wasn’t normally observed, leading to further insights into the radar’s performance. The data was recognised as new and unusual and was assigned further analysis.
I was responsible for reporting and updating parametric data for this particular signal and I arranged to visit the analysis centre at the Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska in June 1990 to work with its analysts to resolve an ongoing question about this signal. ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ Today’s computers could have done this work for us, but in 1990 we were somewhat limited in our █████████████ capabilities. However, with ‘fresh eyes’ helping to analyse the data from the malfunction, additional information about this radar signal solved an ongoing question about the radar’s characteristics.
Our findings showed what could be achieved through a collaborative approach between analysts and organisations, and I recognised my military counterpart with a letter of appreciation from my office and received one from his commanding officer, an Air Force colonel. Due to the important information derived from the effort, I also received a cash award from the NSA.
I had been with the agency for just over four years now, and even though I felt good about my work I was experiencing some problems in my personal life that forced me to consider a radical career change. It wasn’t long before I made a very difficult decision, one that would eventually result in my leaving my family for a new job halfway around the world.
I had been married for three years and my wife was also still working at the NSA. We had a good joint income and no children but we couldn’t seem to stay ahead of our bills, even though we didn’t live extravagantly. We owned a home in Pasadena, Maryland, but at the start of 1990 our joint bank accounts held less than a thousand dollars. Regardless of how we tried to save, this amount seemed to decrease every month. To add to the tension, my wife and I weren’t entirely happy as a couple and I felt that we were growing apart. To help with the financial problem, I decided to apply for positions overseas where I could earn extra money and receive paid housing. My second application was for a position at Pine Gap in Australia and I was selected for a two-year tour—contingent on passing a psychological and medical evaluation. My wife wasn’t prepared to come with me, preferring to remain in a familiar place with her parents. She was, however, required to see the agency psychologist who would determine whether our marriage would be adversely affected if I took an ‘unaccompanied’ tour for two years.
My medical exam consisted of checking my heart, standard health tests such as blood pressure and blood tests, and a test for colour blindness. (I later found out that the computer monitors at Pine Gap colour-coded much of the systems status information, and distinguishing this meant that I was required to see all visible colours.)
My rare unaccompanied status meant that the psychologist was concerned with how well my wife and I would handle our separation. As I was selected to work with foreign nationals in a foreign country, my temperament was also evaluated to determine whether I would be an appropriate representative of the United States Government. Although I wouldn’t be a diplomat, I would be interfacing with Australians on a daily basis in their country and the NSA wanted representatives overseas who could do the work and would be able to build and strengthen the partnership between the two countries.
My wife and I attended the psychological evaluation together so we could answer questions about our impending two-year separation. We had discussed the benefits and drawbacks of my going overseas and she agreed to my being away as long as it wasn’t for more than two years. As a way of trying to reinvigorate our marriage we also planned a second honeymoon in Hawaii halfway through my first year in Alice Springs. I was looking forward to a break and thought perhaps distance and a second honeymoon might make us appreciate what we did have and bring us closer together. With our psychological evaluations approved, I scheduled an appointment with the appropriate office for an orientation on my new assignment, the living conditions and the benefits of serving the agency overseas.
I have to admit that my knowledge of Australia was quite limited. My first thought of that faraway country was of Paul Hogan as Crocodile Dundee brandishing an enormous knife and whip, sending the cowering Americans fleeing in fear of the man from ‘Down Under’. Evonne Goolagong was another Aussie I knew, as I enjoyed the occasional game of tennis. I guess I thought of Aussies as strong, outdoorsy, sporty people with a good sense of humour. With a passion for fitness and team sports, I thought I just might fit in when I arrived in my new home.
‘Dry and hot’ is how my orientation officer first described my new assignment in Alice Springs. ‘It will be like living in Phoenix, Arizona,’ she said. I wasn’t told exactly what I would be doing; instead, the conversation revolved around the weather. I was told about the dry heat, lack of rainfall, and the small-town living conditions with limited choices. I was also told of the overseas benefits I would receive, the friendly people, and how Alice Springs was a very sociable place to live, with many organised sports. I believed the work would keep me busy, stimulated and satisfied and was quite curious as to what it would be like to live as a resident in such a remote location.
And so I secured the job at a location that the NSA classified as a ‘hardship tour’. Alice Springs would later be described by author James Bamford in a way that made it sound as if I were being sent into exile: ‘Chosen for Rhyolite’s ground station was a godforsaken patch of earth at the centre of Australia. Surrounded by a fearsome Mars-scape of red, sunburned desert, corrugated scrubland, waterless rivers, and parched saltbrush, Alice Springs had everything NSA wanted: isolation.’[4]