100 Places You Will Never Visit (8 page)

For a no-longer-secret secret base, covertness remains high on the agenda and no one can be too sure what is going on inside that mountain—it can only be hoped that it need never be used as an emergency base for the US government.

AERIAL VIEW The complex boasts an impressive array of communications hardware, including a forest of antennae or aerials on top of the mountain. As early as 1951, local newspapers were speculating about the construction of a “Second Pentagon” at the site, though some have argued that the facility was out of date almost as soon as it was completed.

24 CIA Headquarters

LOCATION Langley, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Washington, DC

SECRECY OVERVIEW Operations classified: the home of the CIA, the USA’s intelligence agency.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is responsible for providing intelligence on matters of national security to Washington’s policymakers. As well as operating an unrivaled network of spies around the world, it also engages in covert action when required to do so by the President. The George Bush Center for Intelligence, the CIA’s home at Langley, Virginia, is among the most secure buildings on the globe.

Ever since evicting the British from America in the 18th century, the government of the United States has been involved in intelligence gathering at home and abroad—yet the CIA is relatively new on the scene. By the 1880s, both the navy and army had their own independent spying operations, and in the aftermath of the First World War their respective duties fell under the remit of the Bureau of Investigations (forerunner of the FBI). In 1941, with the US poised to join the Second World War, President Roosevelt appointed a Coordinator of Information, William J. Dawson. Within a year, Dawson was heading up a new Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Though disbanded after the war, the OSS provided the blueprint for the CIA, which was founded under President Truman in 1947.

Today, the CIA has four major divisions: the National Clandestine Service, overseeing the work of a web of spies; the Directorate of Science and Technology, which scans the media, satellite photography and the like to glean intelligence; the Directorate of Intelligence, which assesses the findings of the first two groups; and the Directorate of Support, which handles everything from personnel matters to administration.

The George Bush Center—situated to the west of the national capital—covers an area in excess of 100 hectares (250 acres), encompassing the Original Headquarters Building (OHB) and the New Headquarters Building (NHB). Though the Center’s postal address is Langley (it was to here that President Madison and his wife fled during the 1812 Siege of Washington), Langley itself is now a neighborhood of McLean, a large conurbation founded in 1910.

The OHB, designed by the Harrison & Abramovitz partnership, was built between 1959 and 1961. The NHB, meanwhile, was constructed between 1984 and 1991, in accordance with plans drawn up by Smith, Hinchman and Grylls Associates. It is set into a hillside behind the OHB and the two buildings almost melt into one another. The NHB consists of two connected six-story office blocks and includes a vast, four-story-high glass atrium. A Cornerstone Ceremony was held during the building’s construction phase in 1985, during which a box of Agency-related paraphernalia was sealed into the cornerstone to be opened at a later date. The box contained, among other items, a copy of the CIA Credo, an iconic CIA medallion and a miniature spy camera and cryptography microchip.

INTELLIGENCE HUB Above: the New Headquarters Building, designed by Smith, Hinchman and Grylls Associates, opened for business in 1991.

Some have noted the name of the complex with a wry smile—the most recent President George Bush was not always known for his intellectual pronouncements (though that is perhaps to “misunderestimate” him). In fact, the CIA complex is named for George W.’s father, George H.W., who became the first director of the CIA to hold the highest office in the land when he took the presidency in 1988. He had been head of Central Intelligence from 1976–7, and the building was renamed in his honor in 1999.

Everything associated with the CIA is covert, even down to the size of its staff and annual budget. Some have suggested that its budget is effectively unlimited, though officials deny this. The last figures in the public domain, which date to the late 1990s, revealed a healthy annual figure in excess of US$26 billion set aside for intelligence spending. It is likely that the CIA’s funding only increased following the September 11 terrorist attacks of 2001 (after which the CIA came in for heavy criticism because of alleged intelligence failings).

Security provisions at the George Bush Center are highly classified, and access to the Center is for authorized personnel only. The organization’s website explains that no members of the public are allowed “for logistical and security reasons.” It is fair to assume that anyone found intruding at the site can expect punishment beyond a simple stern talking-to.

The CIA inspires many mixed emotions. For some people, its work is the foundation upon which US national security rests. For others, its reputation is dogged by failure, from the OSS’s lack of foreknowledge of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, to lapses highlighted by the assaults of September 11. For yet others, there are difficult questions as to just who is guarding the guards, and how efficiently. Somebody within the walls of the George Bush Center for Intelligence could probably tell them—but they won’t.

The CIA’s seal on the lobby floor of the Original Headquarters Building. The design was approved by President Harry Truman in 1950 and features the iconic American bald eagle.

25 DARPA Headquarters

LOCATION Arlington, Virginia, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Washington, DC

SECRECY OVERVIEW Operations classified: home of US Department of Defense think tank

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a government agency charged with pushing back technological frontiers. Its aim is “to maintain the technological superiority of the US military… by sponsoring revolutionary, high-payoff research bridging the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use.” It is a body for whose work the term “highly classified” might have been invented.

DARPA was founded in 1958 as the Advanced Research Projects Agency, spurred by the need to meet the challenges set by the unexpected launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite in 1957, and the beginnings of the Space Race. The “Defense” part of the agency’s name was added later. With an annual budget in excess of US$3 billion, DARPA is regarded by many as the Department of Defense’s “Chief Innovation Agency.” Teams of experts are brought together on a project-by-project basis, and the organization prides itself on its independence.

Among its most significant achievements is the creation of ARPANET, a computer network that was originally developed to connect up DARPA’s various affiliated university and research laboratory partners. This was the first network to use packet switching, a technique that has become the foundation of the modern communications age, and is widely regarded as the forerunner of the internet. Other stand-out achievements include the Project Vela nuclear test monitor system, and the development of Stealth fighter technology.

Necessarily enveloped in a cloak of secrecy, DARPA is a prime target for those concerned at what might be developed by a brains trust that does not have to worry about public accountability. This has led some to make claims that certain DARPA achievements could only be the result of reverse-engineering of captured alien spacecraft. One might be tempted to say that if that is the case, then well done for being so clever!

In 2009, ground was broken on DARPA’s new headquarters at 675 North Randolph Street, a short step away from its old Virginia Square address. The new site is 13 stories high, has a footprint of 3.2 hectares (8 acres) and is the first structure in Arlington to be built in line with the Department of Defense’s Minimum Anti-Terrorism Standards for Buildings, boasting cutting-edge security. If you fancy a peek inside, be warned: only technological geniuses with a maverick streak need apply.

1 IN A FLAP DARPA’s Nano Air Vehicle is a tiny robotic hummingbird equipped with an onboard camera that can relay images back to its operator. It offers a method of assessing potential threats at a safe distance.

2 INNOVATIONS DARPA’s search for designs for a tactical flying car saw the AVX Aircraft Company come up with this vertical-takeoff concept.

3 TAKING THE STRAIN The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) is a robot developed to carry 180 kilograms (400 lb) of equipment for overburdened marines or soldiers.

26 The Pentagon

LOCATION Arlington County, Virginia, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Washington, DC

SECRECY OVERVIEW Operations classified: the heart of the United States’ defense network.

The Pentagon is the iconic headquarters of the US Department of Defense and, in terms of area, the world’s largest office building. It has regularly been the target of attacks, culminating in the September 11, 2001 atrocity, in which a hijacked passenger plane was flown into it. The already tight security has since been upgraded and today the Pentagon is one of the world’s most heavily protected buildings.

In the early days of the Second World War, it became clear that the rapidly expanding US Department of War needed new headquarters to consolidate its operations. The Department’s chief engineer at the time, Brigadier Brehon B. Somervell, came up with the basic designs for what would become the Pentagon after what he described as “a very busy weekend” in July 1941. Several locations were earmarked as potential sites before President Roosevelt decided on the plot of the recently closed Washington-Hoover Airport.

The breaking of ground for the new headquarters occurred on September 11, 1941. Several concessions to wartime circumstances were made in the construction process. Principally, the architects employed limited use of steel, which was then in short supply. This meant, for instance, that ramps were built between floors rather than lifts being installed. The Pentagon’s basic fabric is reinforced concrete, with Indiana limestone used on the façade (Roosevelt forbade the use of Italian marble). The site was conveniently located on what was essentially waste ground and swampland by the Potomac River, which was dredged for sand and gravel to be used in cement-making.

The building rises 23 meters (75 ft) into the air and each side is 281 meters (922 ft) in length, covering an area of 14 hectares (34 acres) including the central courtyard and providing work space for 24,000 employees. It consists of five concentric pentagons of five floors each, joined by ten interconnecting “spoke” corridors. There are more than 28 kilometers (17 miles) of corridors, yet the clever design means that no two points are more than seven minutes’ walk apart. The original construction phase took only 16 months, and was completed at a cost of US$83 million. When it was officially opened on January 15, 1943, the Pentagon consolidated some 17 Department of War offices.

In 1998, the Pentagon Renovation Program began—the first major overhaul in the building’s history. Work was carried out in phases over 13 years, and among its provisions were the installation of improved security systems and steel reinforcements to strengthen the building’s concrete structure. Blast-resistant windows were also fitted.

PERFECT PLANNING Each room in the Pentagon has a designation of five or six letters and numbers that combine to indicate the floor and the ring in which the room is located, plus its particular corridor and exact location within it. On the diagram, small numbers refer to corridors and letters refer to rings.

Key: 1. Mall Entrance, 2. River entrance, 3. Metro Concourse, 4. South Entrance, 5. Site of 9/11 plane impact.

On September 11, 2001, exactly 60 years to the day after ground was broken for the building of the Pentagon, the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into its west side. The attack killed all 64 people on the flight (including the five hijackers) plus 125 office workers. It has been suggested that the death toll could have been much higher, but for the fact that many staff were not occupying their normal offices because of the planned renovations. Somewhat ironically, the Pentagon’s central courtyard was informally known as “Ground Zero” prior to the September 11 attacks, since it was always assumed that the complex would be a key target in any Cold War Soviet missile attack.

While always of high importance, the 2001 attack served only to further focus concentration on security. In early 2002, the Defense Department established the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), a direct successor to the Federal Protective Service and the United States Special Policemen. While focusing on law enforcement, the PFPA’s remit has extended to include security, surveillance, crisis-prevention and anti-terrorism operations around the complex. The first line of defense for the Pentagon and its environs is the PFPA’s Pentagon Police.

Other security measures added in recent years include the removal of all direct access into the Pentagon from the Metrorail station that serves it, and the filtering of road traffic away from the building. Members of the public are permitted to tour the Pentagon but must book a time in advance, undergo a security screening, provide identification and pass through metal detectors.

The highly secret work done inside the Pentagon continues to mold the world around us and set the geopolitical agenda. From here, wars are fought and, thankfully more often, avoided. It remains the intention of the Department of Defense to avoid turning the Pentagon into a fortress, isolated from the public that it is there to serve. But the experience of 2001 has ensured that even if it doesn’t look like a fortress, its defenses are just as difficult to breach.

27 The Oval Office

LOCATION The White House, Washington, DC, USA

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Washington, DC

SECRECY OVERVIEW High-security location: the American President’s office and the heart of US government.

The Oval Office is synonymous with the American presidency to such an extent that it is often used as shorthand for the presidency itself. Famous around the world as the setting for countless presidential addresses and for its depiction on television and film (has there ever been a more noble occupant than President Jed Bartlett of The West Wing?), only a select few ever get to see the room in real life.