Cold War Caching Series #12

On 15 August 1953, the installation at Cheltenham was commissioned as U.S. Naval Communication Station, Washington, D.C., becoming the primary communication station within the overall Naval Communication System with direct links to Navy Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This station functioned both as a communications center and as a receiving station. The station also oversaw operations at Naval Radio Station Arlington (transmitting) and Naval Radio Station Annapolis (transmitting).

During the 1950’s, the Naval Research Laboratory began a series of experiments to bounce radio waves off the moon. The advantage of this system was that it could not be jammed by enemy communications, nor disrupted by atmospheric disturbances. One disadvantage was the moon had to be above the horizon at both Hawaii and Washington, D.C.

The Communication Moon Relay project (also known as simply Moon Relay, or, alternatively, Operation Moon Bounce) was a telecommunication project carried out by the United States Navy. Its objective was to develop a secure and reliable method of wireless communication by using the Moon as a natural communications satellite - a technique known as EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communications. Most of the project's work, which took place during the 1950s at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory; Operation Moon Relay was spun off from a classified military espionage program known as Passive Moon Relay (PAMOR).

The developments in Moon circuit communications eventually came to the attention of James Trexler, a radio engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory. His interest was piqued by a paper published by researchers at an ITT laboratory. Trexler developed plans for a system designed to intercept Soviet radar signals by detecting the transmissions that bounced off the Moon. This program, codenamed "Joe," began making regular observations in August 1949. Within a year, "Joe" was made an official Navy intelligence program, the Passive Moon Relay (PAMOR). In September 1950, a new parabolic antenna for the PAMOR project was completed at Stump Neck, Maryland. The first tests of this antenna were impressive; the returning signal was of much higher fidelity than expected. This presented the possibility of using a Moon circuit as a communications circuit. Unfortunately for PAMOR, collecting Soviet radar signals would require a larger antenna. Efforts began to have such an antenna constructed at Sugar Grove, West Virginia.

In 1956 the first messages were relayed using Moon Bounce between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C. Cheltenham served as the receiver site, while NRTF Annapolis transmitted signals. The two other sites were located on Oahu, Hawaii. In 1957, Building 84 was constructed (lone building in the lower right of the map above) for the Communication Moon Relay (CMR) project, known as Moonbounce. The concrete-block building featured an 84-foot steerable parabolic antenna known as the moon dish and this dish was located on the roof of Building 84.

In 1965, U.S. Naval Communication Station, Washington, at Cheltenham performed the basic services of message reception, transmission control, and teletypewriter relay. The installation received radio messages from ships in the Atlantic Ocean and other communications stations around the world. Radio signals for transmission were sent by microwave to NRTF Annapolis for amplification and transmission around the world. Because of its location, Naval Communication Station, Cheltenham, functioned as a vital link between the hub of military activity and the operating forces.

During 2000, Congress directed the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to locate suitable properties within the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area to be used for firearms requalification and pursuit driver training programs for area law enforcement officers. Subsequently, the former U.S. Naval Communications Detachment at Cheltenham, Maryland was located for this purpose and on May 10, 2001, GSA transferred the site to the Department of the Treasury, FLETC.

While serving as a U.S. Navy communications station from 1938 to 1998, the Naval Communications Detachment at Cheltenham, Maryland was a critical participant in several important events in US history, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. FLETC Cheltenham carries on this rich tradition of serving our nation.

In addition to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center the site is currently home to the Prince Georges County Fire and EMS training Academy.

It is the mission of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Training Academy to provide comprehensive, quality training and education programs for all fire, rescue, and emergency medical services personnel in order to create and maintain a competent and professional workforce needed to support and accomplish the mission of the Prince George’s County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

This is a multi-stage cache. Stage 1 is larger than Stage 2. Stage 2 is a small size bison tube, and neither require you to actually enter the facility. Please understand that you should not enter this facility. Although this is not one of those "use of deadly force is authorized" sites, it is a sensitive site and you should not enter.

Be advised that navigating from stage one of this cache to stage two will be a bit difficult if you are relying on your GPSr to guide you. Your GPSr will want to take you right through the center of the facility. We recommend that you bring a local PG county street map with you when attempting this cache.

Again, DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH THE SITE!

Have fun!