Wahiawa, Oahu, HAWAII –
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service marked today the completion of a new regional operations center, officially named the CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony where officials emphasized how the $358 million project will help to further integrate national security efforts.
CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building with double rainbow in sky.
NSA/CSS has had an operations center in Hawaii for more than 14 years. But even with recent renovations, the original facility, first built during World War II, has limitations stemming from its age, location, and structures. The new building will provide cryptology professionals with the tools necessary to better access and collaboratively interpret data from a broad variety of sources at various classification levels. Moreover, its enhanced capabilities will augment work that will still be carried out in the original center - eliminating physical, virtual, and other barriers to information sharing.
GEN Keith B. Alexander - Director, NSA/Chief, CSS/Commander, U.S. Cyber Command - told approximately 300 federal, state, and local officials at the ceremony that it was more than fitting to dedicate the new building in honor of CAPT Rochefort, who died in 1976. Several members of his family were also on hand. Rochefort was posthumously recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986 and in the NSA/CSS Hall of Honor in 2000 for leading a distinguished team of Pearl Harbor-based code breakers. Their daily intelligence reports were crucial in the 1942 Battle of Midway.
"CAPT Rochefort's exceptional skills in cryptology and in mathematical analysis made him a unique national asset at an extremely trying time in U.S. history," GEN Alexander said in an interview after the ceremony. "Likewise, the mission of NSA/CSS Hawaii is to produce foreign signals intelligence for decision-makers as global terrorism now jeopardizes the lives of our citizens, military forces, and international allies. We must continue to develop a global cryptologic enterprise that is agile and resilient in countering ever-changing threats to national security."
CAPT Kathryn Helms - Commander, NSA/CSS Hawaii - agreed. "The design, infrastructure, and capabilities of this new center will allow us to continue to provide unparalleled cryptologic support," she said after the event. State officials described the project as one that was good for both the nation and Hawaii.
The original center is adjacent to Schofield U.S. Army Barracks. The new center is a part of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam Annex. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in 2007.
NSA/CSS is also upgrading its cryptologic centers in Texas and Georgia to make the agency's global enterprise even more seamless as it confronts increasingly networked adversaries. More information about the National Security Agency is available online at NSA.gov.