Corea NAVSECGRU
The US Naval Security Group (NAVSECGRU) was an organization withing the US Navy tasked with intelligence gathering. A large part of this was signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering, cryptology, and information assurance. NAVSECGRU was active from 1935 to 2005 when it was folded into the Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM).
SIGINT is intelligence gathering by interception of signals between people (communications intelligence, aka COMINT) or electronic signals not used for direct communications (electronic intelligence, aka ELINT). Sensitive information is generally encrypted and this is where cryptologists would enter the equation.
Often times, the US would fly planes near sensitive Soviet Bloc countries to arouse suspicion and cause the Soviets to use their radar and communications systems. The ELINT specialists would then soak up as much information as they could, interpret it, and send it off to the appropriate parties within the military to give us a better understanding of the Soviets' capabilities.
Corea served the US Navy not only as an important site for SIGINT but also as a training ground for the entire Classic Wizard System globally, for maintenance, tuning, support, and operation, with the last class graduating in 2001. The Classic Wizard System was a high frequency direction finding (HF/DF) network which the Navy used to track and target enemy ships. Sites like Corea would use their Wullenwebber Antenna Array in conjunction with ELINT satellites to triangulate the location of foreign warships. Not only did this enable the US Navy to track these vessels, but it also provided cruise missile-equipped vessels ships with over the horizon targeting capabilities. The nearby Winter Harbor facility served as the main base and provided housing, recreation facilities, a chapel, mess hall, and the other necessities. The US Navy operated here from 1935 until 2002, when it was excessed by the Department of Defense.
The Winter Harbor facility was a replacement for an existing radio site across Frenchman Bay on Otter Cliffs (south of Bar Harbor). The Naval Radio Station at Otter Cliffs was built in 1917 and was the Navy's best transatlantic radio site because it had an unobstructed shot across the ocean and because Mount Desert Island was so isolated that there was no other radio noise. By the 1930's, the site's buildings were run down and needed replacement badly.
John D Rockefeller suggested that the site be removed and that the Navy included it with his land donation to Acadia National Park. The Navy agreed, provided that Rockefeller built a replacement site. Rockefeller had a site constructed across the bay on the Schoodic Peninsula, which was commissioned in 1935 and grew into the US Navy's Winter Harbor facility.
Typical life span for the satellites used was 7-8 years. With the last batch of satellites being launched in 1995, closing the site in 2001 and excessing it in 2002, timed out about right.
The site's Wullenwebber Antenna was probably the feature by which it was most commonly identified. Often called an elephant cage because of its ring shape and tall antenna poles, the Wullenwebber was a Circulalary Disposed Dipole Array (CDDA) that used vertical radiator elements in a ring with vertical reflector elements installed behind them in a smaller diameter ring for high frequency direction finding.
 Access RoadThe old access road juts off of Route 195 to the south west, toward the ocean. April 2010 |  Guard ShackThe old guard shack and gate. April 2010 |  Guard ShackCloser look at the guard shack. April 2010 |
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 Maintenance ShopJust beyond the main gate, looking at the maintenance shop. The Ops Building is in the background. The maintenance shop was bulldozed a few years later and is no longer there. April 2010 |  Maintenance ShopA closer look at the maintenance shop exterior. April 2010 |  Maintenance ShopThe building had been pretty vandalized by the time I got here. I was amazed at how much stuff was left behind: tools, a copier, spare parts, manuals, etc. April 2010 |
 Maintenance ShopHandbook for the Caterpillar generators that were used in the event of power loss. The Caterpillar 3412 is a 27 liter V-12 diesel generator that can produce anywhere from 600 - 800 kW. For reference, you could run your entire house comfortably with a 16 kW generator. Corea had three 3412 generators. April 2010 |  Maintenance ShopShelves full of spare parts. I saw circuit breakers, bulbs, belts, and all manner of spare parts here. April 2010. |  Maintenance ShopThey had a small crew mess in the Maintenance Building. April 2010. |
 Guns N RosesI enjoy finding random stuff like this. Use Your Illusion II came out in 1991. This was a HUGE rock album when I was a kid. It had several big singles and "You Could Be Mine" was in Terminator 2. April 2010 |  Maintenance ShopRefrigerant recovery and recharge equipment. I'm guessing this was so they weren't dependent upon anyone else to maintain all of the air conditioning equipment required for large, windowless buildings full of computers. The Classic Wizard building inside the elephant cage had an ammonia system, which would have been a whole other kettle of fish. April 2010. |  Maintenance ShopA huge pile of belts. Not sure if these were belts for the generators or air handlers or snowblowers and lawn mowers or what. Maybe all of the above. Since they trained maintenance people for the entire Classic Wizard System, they likely had a ton of materials on hand in order to prepare staff for every eventuality. April 2010. |
 Generator BuildingHere you can see the generator building and what remains of the electric fence that surrounded the Ops Building. April 2010. |  FenceA closer look at the fence. This is very similar to what you would have seen for a fence around the alert area at Loring AFB. April 2010 |  Generator BuildingCloser look at the generator building. April 2010. |
 Generator BuildingThe roof of the generator building with exhaust and mufflers for the large Caterpillar generators that were once here to power the site in the event of grid power loss. April 2010 |  Generator BuildingInside the generator building where the generators would have sat. April 2010 |  Generator BuildingThere were pallets of un-used motor oil for the generators still in the building. April 2010 |
 Generator BuildingThis is a look at the CO2 fire suppression system for the generator building. Not being on a city water system and also not wanting to damage electrics so that repair/replacement can be speedy, a CO2 system makes a lot of sense. It displaces oxygen and snuffs a fire out. Loring AFB used Halon in places, but Halon is much more dangerous to people and was mostly out of production by 1994, so that may be another reason for the CO2. April 2010 |  Radome BaseThis radome base is just beyond the generator building at the edge of the woods. April 2010 |  Classic Wizard Training BldgClassic Wizard system training building. This secure, windowless building was surrounded by a heavy duty electric fence and access was through a turnstile ID check. April 2010 |
 Guard ShackGuard shack, gate, and turnstile for access to the Classic Wizard training building. April 2010 |  TurnstileTurnstile for access to the training building. April 2010 |  Warning SignWarning sign outside the training building. April 2010. |
 Leftover EquipmentInside the training facility, this storage room was full of old monitors, printers, power supplies, and copiers. This would have been thousands of dollars in relatively new hardware in 2001-2002 when this site was decommissioned. April 2010 |  Leftover EquipmentMore of the leftover equipment. April 2010. |  SSO CabinetsSpecial Security Officer heavy duty filing cabinets. April 2010 |
 ElectricalElectrical panels for the Classic Wizard training building. April 2010 |  Leftover EquipmentStill more leftover equipment. LaserJet4 printers, keyboards, fax machines, and more. April 2010 |  MuralI love finding these old murals. Fleet Support is in reference to providing over the horizon targeting for Naval vessels. April 2010 |
 HallwayLong hallway down the middle of the training building. The light at the far end comes from another exterior door that is open. April 2010. |  MuralAnother cool mural. April 2010. |  Training RoomI'm not sure what types of training happened in each room. Obviously they all had substantial amounts of computers as evidenced by the old school tile floors that lift up to expose the cable raceways. April 2010 |
 Training Room |  Panel BoxesA wall lined with panel boxes. Presumably for training purposes, though these may have been practical to the building as well. April 2010 |  Training RoomThis room still had desks and tables in it. April 2010 |
 Training RoomMore of the desks and tables. April 2010 |  Heat ExchangerWith all of the electronics and computers running here, the building needed substantial cooling equipment. April 2010 |