The Misawa Security Operations Center (MSOC), nicknamed Security Hill, is a

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

and

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an 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, collection, and proces ...

(NSA)

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

facility located on

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), List of United States Air Force installations, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, Aomori, in the northern p ...

Misawa, Aomori is a Cities of Japan, city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 38,198 in 19493 households, and a population density of 330 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Misawa is the location of a l ...

, Japan. The center's history began in 1953, when the U.S. Air Force 1st Radio Squadron Mobile established a facility at the site. The center expanded in the 1970s, and by the 1980s it employed around 2000 people. the center monitored “over 8000 signals on 16 targeted satellites”, according to the NSA. the center employed around 900 people.

References

National Security Agency facilities Earth stations in the United States Buildings and structures in Aomori Prefecture 1953 establishments in Japan {{US-mil-stub