Arlington Hall
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arlington Hall (also called Arlington Hall Station) is a historic building in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, originally a girls' school and later the headquarters of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
's
Signal Intelligence Service The Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) was the United States Army codebreaking division through World War II. It was founded in 1930 to compile codes for the Army. It was renamed the Signal Security Agency in 1943, and in September 1945, became th ...
(SIS)
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
effort during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The site presently houses the
George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC) is one of several locations that house the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the United States government's training school for members of the U.S. foreign affairs community ...
, and the
Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...
's
Herbert R. Temple, Jr. Lieutenant General Herbert R. Temple Jr. (born February 28, 1928) is a career military officer who served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Early life Herbert Ralph Temple Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California on February 28, 1928. He ...
Readiness Center. It is located on
Arlington Boulevard Arlington Boulevard is a major arterial road in Arlington County, Fairfax County, and the independent City of Fairfax in Northern Virginia in metropolitan Washington, DC, United States. It is designated U.S. Route 50 (US 50) for its entire ...
(
U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
) between S. Glebe Road ( State Route 120) and S. George Mason Drive.


History

Arlington Hall was founded in 1927 as a private post-secondary women's educational institution, which, by 1941, resided on a campus and had acquired the name "Arlington Hall Junior College for Women". The school suffered financial problems in the 1930s, and eventually became a non-profit institution in 1940. On June 10, 1942, the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
took possession of the facility under the War Powers Act for use by its
Signals Intelligence Service The Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) was the United States Army codebreaking division through World War II. It was founded in 1930 to compile codes for the Army. It was renamed the Signal Security Agency in 1943, and in September 1945, became th ...
. During World War II, Arlington Hall was in many respects similar to
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(though BP also covered naval codes), and was one of only two primary
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
operations in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
(the other was the
Naval Communications Annex OP-20-G or "Office of Chief Of Naval Operations (OPNAV), 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security", was the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's signals intelligence and cryptanalysis group during World ...
, also housed in a commandeered private girls' school). Arlington Hall concentrated its efforts on the Japanese systems (including
PURPLE Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...
) while Bletchley Park concentrated on European combatants. Initially work was on Japanese diplomatic codes as Japanese army codes were not solved until April 1943, but in September 1943 with success on the Army codes they were put under
Solomon Kullback Solomon Kullback (April 3, 1907August 5, 1994) was an American cryptanalyst and mathematician, who was one of the first three employees hired by William F. Friedman at the US Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, along with Frank ...
in a separate branch B-II, with other mainly diplomatic work under
Frank Rowlett Frank Byron Rowlett (May 2, 1908 – June 29, 1998) was an American cryptologist. Life and career Rowlett was born in Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia and attended Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia. In 1929 he received a bachelor's d ...
in B-III (which also had the Bombes and Rapid Analytical Machinery). The third branch B-I translated Japanese decrypts. The Arlington Hall effort was comparable in influence to other Anglo-American
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
-era technological efforts, such as the cryptographic work at Bletchley Park, the Naval Communications Annex, development of sophisticated microwave
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
)'s
Radiation Lab The Radiation Laboratory, commonly called the Rad Lab, was a microwave and radar research laboratory located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was first created in October 1940 and operated until 31 ...
, and the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
's development of the
atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s used on
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
and
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
in August 1945 to abruptly end the war and later initiated further development of
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the "Russian Section" at Arlington Hall expanded. Work on diplomatic messages benefited from additional technical personnel and new analysts—among them Samuel Chew, who had focused on
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and linguist
Meredith Gardner Meredith Knox Gardner (October 20, 1912August 9, 2002) was an American linguist and codebreaker. Gardner worked in counter-intelligence, decoding Soviet intelligence traffic regarding espionage in the United States, in what came to be known as ...
, who had worked on both
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
messages. Chew had considerable success at defining the underlying structure of the coded Russian texts. Gardner and his colleagues began analytically reconstructing the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
(
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's Committee for State Security) spy agency codebooks. Late in 1946, Gardner broke the codebook's "spell table" for encoding English letters. With the solution of this spell table, SIS could read significant portions of messages that included English names and phrases. Gardner soon found himself reading a 1944 message listing prominent atomic scientists, including several with the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
. Efforts to decipher Soviet codes continued under the classified and caveated
Venona project The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (later absorbed by the National Security Agency), which ran from February 1, 1943, until Octob ...
. Another problem soon arose—that of determining how and to whom to disseminate the extraordinary information Gardner was developing. SIS's reporting procedures did not seem appropriate because the decrypted messages could not even be paraphrased for Arlington Hall's regular intelligence customers without divulging their source. By 1946, SIS knew nothing about the federal grand jury impaneled in Manhattan to probe the espionage and disloyalty charges stemming from
Elizabeth Bentley Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligenc ...
's defection and other defectors from Soviet intelligence, so no one in the U.S. Government was aware that evidence against the Soviets was suddenly developing on two adjacent tracks. In late August or early September 1947, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
) was informed that the Army Security Agency had begun to break into Soviet espionage messages. By 1945, the Soviets had penetrated Arlington Hall with the placement of
Bill Weisband William Weisband, Sr. (August 28, 1908 – May 14, 1967) was a Ukrainian-American cryptanalyst and NKVD agent (code name 'LINK'), best known for his role in revealing U.S. decryptions of Soviet diplomatic and intelligence codes to Soviet intell ...
who worked there for several years. The Government's knowledge of his treason apparently was not revealed until its publication in a 1990 book co-authored by a high-level KGB defector. Arlington Hall came under the aegis of the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
after this agency was created in 1952. From 1945 to 1977, Arlington Hall served as the headquarters of the
United States Army Security Agency The United States Army Security Agency (ASA) was the United States Army's signals intelligence branch from 1945 to 1976. The Latin motto of the Army Security Agency was ''Semper Vigiles'' (Vigilant Always), which echoes the declaration, often ...
and, for a brief period in late 1948, the newly formed
United States Air Force Security Service Initially established as the Air Force (USAF) Security Group in June, 1948, the USAF Security Service (USAFSS) was activated as a major command on Oct 20, 1948 (For redesignations, see Successor units.) The USAFSS was a secretive branch of the ...
(USAFSS) until they relocated to
Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developmen ...
in
San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
. When the
United States Army Intelligence and Security Command The United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) is a direct reporting unit that conducts intelligence, security, and information operations for United States Army commanders, partners in the Intelligence Community, and nationa ...
(INSCOM) was commissioned at Arlington Hall on January 1, 1977, INSCOM absorbed the functions of the Army Security Agency into its operations. INSCOM remained at Arlington Hall until the summer of 1989, when INSCOM relocated to
Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. Beginning in January 1963, Arlington Hall served as the premier facility of the newly created
Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...
(DIA). In 1984, DIA departed Arlington Hall for their new
headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
on
Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is a 905-acre (366 ha) military installation, located in Southeast, Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the ...
(former
Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its beginning, the installation has hosted elem ...
), a move that was complete by December 1984. Arlington Hall was also home in the late 1950s and early 1960s to the
Armed Services Technical Information Agency Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding horse racing, race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Male Horse, Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was ind ...
(ASTIA) which disseminated classified research to defense contractors. In 1989, the
U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
transferred the eastern portion of Arlington Hall to the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
. In October 1993, this portion of the site became the
National Foreign Affairs Training Center The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC) is one of several locations that house the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the United States government's training school for members of the U.S. foreign affairs community. ...
when the State Department's
Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...
(FSI) moved there from its prior location in the Mayfair Building in Washington, D.C. The National Foreign Affairs Training Center was renamed as the
George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC) is one of several locations that house the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the United States government's training school for members of the U.S. foreign affairs community ...
in a ceremony held on May 29, 2002, named for
George P. Shultz George Pratt Shultz (; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held fou ...
, former
Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
and Secretary of State. In January 2008, construction workers discovered an unexploded
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
-era
Parrott rifle The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. Parrott rifle The gun was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He was an American soldier and invent ...
shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...
underneath Arlington Hall. The shell had a length of one foot and a diameter of five inches. U.S. Army
explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the militar ...
technicians from
Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...
were brought in to dispose of the antique
munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...
.


Current uses

The
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
listed Arlington Hall on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1988.Virginia Department of Historic Resources list of properties on Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places
Accessed January 18, 2008 The historic main building of the former girls' school now houses classrooms and administrative offices for components of the
Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...
, on the campus of the George P. Shultz
National Foreign Affairs Training Center The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC) is one of several locations that house the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the United States government's training school for members of the U.S. foreign affairs community. ...
. The western portion of Arlington Hall site presently houses the
Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...
Readiness Center, which was named for
Herbert R. Temple, Jr. Lieutenant General Herbert R. Temple Jr. (born February 28, 1928) is a career military officer who served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Early life Herbert Ralph Temple Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California on February 28, 1928. He ...
in 2017.


See also

*
Vint Hill Farms Station Vint Hill Farms Station (VHFS) was a United States Army and National Security Agency (NSA) signals intelligence and electronic warfare facility located in Fauquier County, Virginia, near Warrenton. VHFS was closed in 1997 and the land was sold of ...


References


Further reading

* Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky, ''KGB: The Inside Story'' (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), 373- 74. * *


External links


NSA - Introductory History of VENONA
(1997) * ttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/va1560/ Arlington Hall Station, 4000 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, Arlington County, VAat the
Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
(HABS)
Arlington Hall Station, Main Building, 4000 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, Arlington County, VA
at HABS
Virginia Living, Social Graces and Espionage
{{authority control Cryptography organizations Buildings and structures in Arlington County, Virginia Defense Intelligence Agency National Security Agency Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia United States Army Signals Intelligence Service installations