Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

The National Cryptologic Museum and National
Vigilance Park
The NSA and the Fort Meade community benefit from
the presence of both an outstanding museum and a
monument of remembrance. The National Cryptologic
Museum and National Vigilance Park are on the western
edge of the Fort Meade property, close to the Baltimore-
Washington Parkway. While they are associated with the
National Security Agency’s campus, they are both outside
the security fence line and are open to both the Fort
Meade community and the general public.
The National Cryptologic Museum opened to the
public in December 1993 and houses a priceless collection
of equipment and books relating to the subject of
cryptology in general and the history of NSA in particular.
Engaging exhibits focus on American cryptologic history
and often include interactive elements. Two operating
German Enigma cipher devices allow visitors a hands-on
experience with this famous piece of WWII technology.
Within the museum, the library has a collection of
unclassified and declassified books and documents
relating to cryptology. The collection includes the books
and papers of David Kahn, the author of the book "The
Codebreakers," as well as many rare books on codes and
THE COLD WAR
By Betsy Rohaly Smoot
ciphers. The facility is used by many researchers and
scholars of both the technical aspects of cryptology as
well as its history.
Visitors to the museum will pass a grassy field in
which stands three aircraft. This is National Vigilance
Park. Since 1997, the park and its Aerial Reconnaissance
Memorial have honored the “silent warriors” who
performed airborne signals intelligence collection during
the Cold War. A C-130, refurbished to represent an Air
Force C-130A shot down over the Soviet Union in 1958,
is the largest of the three craft. There is also an Army RU-
8D Seminole of the typed used on reconnaissance and
cryptologic missions during the Vietnam War. The Navy’s
EA-3B represents the aircraft lost during an operational
mission in the Mediterranean in 1987.
***
(Left) Aerial view of National Vigilance Park. From top,
clockwise: an Air Force C-130, Army RU-8D and a Navy
EA-3B (photo NSA). (Below) A portion of the Colossus
code breaking machine built at Bletchley Park in the United
Kingdom, presented as an award to the NSA director in 1986
(photo NSA).
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