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OCTOBER 2001 |
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ROYAL AIR FORCE MENWITH HILL Introduction RAF Menwith Hill is situated off the A59 Skipton Road, approximately nine miles west of Harrogate in North Yorkshire and occupies about one square mile of moorland. The base is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and made available to the US Department of Defense (DoD). As with all sites the Government make available to the United States Visiting Forces (USVF), RAF Menwith Hill is made available under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) of 1951 and additional confidential arrangements. Her Majesty's Government (HMG) is entitled to possession of the site and retains control over its use and its facilities, though the administration of the base is the responsibility of the US authorities. The base comprises high-technology installations and structures set on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We regard it as a priority to work closely with local and national bodies to protect the surrounding environment. History of RAF Menwith Hill RAF Menwith Hill was opened in 1960 as "Menwith Hill Station". It was administered by the US Army Security Agency and was staffed by US Army personnel. DoD civilians joined the station in 1966 when administrative control of the site transferred to the DoD. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's both the infrastructure and the number of personnel at the site continued to expand. In February 1996. the site was renamed RAF Menwith Hill to bring it into line with other RAF sites made available to the USVF in the UK, and administrative control of the site reverted to the US army. UK/US Cooperation on Defence and Security Cooperation between the UK and US on defence and security matters has a long history, reaching back to WWI. The close relationship between our nations was significantly strengthened in WWII and further demonstrated in the Desert Storm conflict and the Bosnian peacekeeping operation. RAF Menwith Hill continues this tradition of cooperation in support of UK, US and NATO interests. We very much welcome this. Operations RAF Menwith Hill is an integral part of the US DoD world-wide defence communications network and provides intelligence support for UK, US and NATO interests. The base operates with the full knowledge and consent of HMG and is regarded as being of vital importance to this country's defence strategy. RAF Menwith Hill functions primarily as a field station of the National Security Agency (NSA), which is the largest of several elements of the US DoD represented at the base. UK. personnel from the MoD and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) are fully integrated at both senior and junior levels within both the operational and administrative areas of the base. British staff are aware of all facets of the base's operations and no activity detrimental to the UK's interests is carried out there. RAF Menwith Hill is also the site for the
European Rely Ground Station (RGS-E), which is part of the US Space
Based lnfra-Red System (SBIRS). SBIRS is a world-wide satellite based system that is designed to detect infra-red
targets, such as a missile launch. This information is then relayed from the SBIRS satellites to the
ground stations which, when they become operational, will pass this to
the SBIRS Mission Control Station in Colorado. SBIRS is a US Space
Command Programme due to come on stream in 2006 and updates the
existing but ageing Defence Support Programme (DSP) constellation of satellites. These have for some years contributed Accountability Public and Parliamentary scrutiny of RAF Menwith Hill is provided through clear lines of Ministerial responsibility and by the intelligence and Security Cornmittee (ISC), which draws its members from all major political parties in Parliament. Government Ministers are fully briefed on the activities at RAF Menwith Hill as a matter of course and visit the base as part of their normal pattern of Ministerial duties. The TSC also make regular visits to RAF Menwith Hill. It would be inappropriate lo go into any detail about operations carried out at RAF Menwith Hill in support of national security. But we can say that work at the base is carried out by mixed teams of UK and US operators. Tasks are managed in a way that accords with the law. including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act 1998. Personnel and Administration Approximately 1,450 US and 410 UK personnel work on the Base, although the UK figure excludes GCHQ staff. Approximately one third of the US personnel are active, duty military personnel representing all four services (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps); the rest are US civilians. The majority live off base in local communities and contribute substantially to the local economy.
As with all bases made available to the USVF, the
senior RAF officer at the base is the RAF Station
Commander. Their role is to provide advice to
the US Base Commander, the senior US officer on site, on a range of UK policy and protocol
matters. The RAF Station Commander is also
responsible for liaising with the local community
and has the status, disciplinary powers and
responsibility of a commanding officer in respect
of all RAF Personnel, as well as civilians
employed by the MOD at the site, with the
exception of the Ministry of Defence Police. As a
serving officer, the RAF Station Commander is
responsible to their chain of command, in this RAF Menwith Hill has an Executive Council composed of senior managers; it meets twice weekly and deals with base management as well as operational matters. Both the RAF Station Commander and the senior GCHQ representative are full members of the Executive Council. Working with the Community
Community relations area priority at the base and
personnel, together with their families, are
actively involved in a. variety of community programmes. For example, staff assigned to the
base have volunteered to help local organisations
such as The Harrogate Homeless Hostel, the
Harrogate Hospital, the Darley Lunch Club and
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