Pine Gap
Close to God's Ear: NSA Eavesdropping Memoirs
In 1966, The United States and Australia signed a treaty that allowed the establishment of a jointly-run satellite tracking station just south of Alice Springs. The station became known as Pine Gap. For more than 50 years it has operated in a shroud of secrecy and has been the target of much public and political controversy. In this fascinating glimpse into the top-secret world of military surveillance, discover how the fallout of controversies such as the Edward Snowden leaks have made the ethics of eavesdropping more important than ever.
Pine Gap is the first book of its kind – an accurate report of what happens within the secure walls of an NSA satellite ground site, from an insider's perspective. A firsthand account from someone who held a Top Secret security clearance allowing him into the "nerve center" of Pine Gap - Operations, it is a rare publication—written by an NSA officer about his experience in the field. The book exposes the NSA's overseas operation in Australia and required both United States and a foreign government's approval to publish.
Pine Gap details the NSA's signals intelligence operations at a satellite ground site, and David Rosenberg is the first to speak out about this type of intelligence collection, providing an insider's account of the eavesdropping mission at Pine Gap and the partnership between the United States and Australia that has made Pine Gap the most important satellite ground site in the Intelligence Community.
David Rosenberg worked for the NSA for 23 years, including 18 years as an American representative in Operations at the Joint Defense Facility Pine Gap in Alice Springs. As an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) signals analyst and manager for his team, he was responsible for his team's efforts in evaluating the function, capabilities, performance, and vulnerability assessment of all types of radar, associated weapon systems such as Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and countermeasure techniques / tactics from countries that posed a military threat to the United States. When he left the agency, he was the United States government's longest serving technical liaison officer in Australia.
He has spoken at intelligence conferences and corporate events, as well as contributing to discussions about Pine Gap on various radio and television programs. He is the technical and creative consultant to the major Screentime television production 'Pine Gap' for Netflix, providing believability in an Operations environment and signals intelligence collection scenarios, character development, Operations dialog, set design, and computer simulation display of signals.
He enjoys community service work, having held vice-chairman and fundraising chairman roles on two charities. He currently resides in Sydney with his wife and family.
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