The WHCA Shop in Georgetown (1965 to 1976)-revised

The WHCA Shop in Georgetown
3248 M St entrance today
Type Of Activity	WHCA Operations
Location
Location	3248 M St NW Georgetown
Date of Activity	1965 to 1976
Coordinates	38°54′18.37″N 77°03′51.60″W

A little history of The “WHCA Shop” in Georgetown:

For over a decade from 1965 to 1976, the WHCA base of operations resided at 3248 M St NW in Georgetown. A plain unmarked building it contained all of the logistical elements necessary to support the President and Vice President providing communications for all domestic and international  travel.

Parts of the structure located on M Street predate 1838 when it was used as a tobacco warehouse that opened up directly onto the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In the 1850s, the building was purchased by John E. Reeside and Gilbert Vanderwerken and converted into stables for their omnibus line. The building continued to be used as stables for the first horse car line, the Washington and Georgetown Railroad. It was later converted into a machine shop for streetcars. The parts of the building that face the canal and the facade of the M Street entrance remain from those earlier periods. After the demise of Washington's streetcars in 1962, the building served as the United States Defense Communications Annex E before being converted to WHCA’s base of operations in 1964.

I received my orders after I graduated from the Microwave repair school at Ft Monmouth to report to a street address in Washington D.C. in Nov 1965. I loaded my family in the car and headed to my new assignment in WHCA. When I arrived in Washington, I tried to locate the address, not knowing the city. I made several wrong turns and ended up in VA several times, so we decided to stop and get something to eat. Luckily, I had a contact number for MSG Joe Terrian, I called him, and he informed me that WHCA had moved to a new location in Georgetown, and Ft Monmouth gave me the wrong address. The old building had been razed and all that was left was a hole in the ground. Now I had passed that hole in the ground at least a half a dozen times that morning. 

The old location was located at 26th and D Street NW. This is where WHCA had occupied a building that was near the Olde Heurich Brewering Company in Foggy Bottom. The brewery buildings were razed to make room for the new Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts which occupies that space  today, the shop moved from 26th St in May 1965. It had been DC transits streetcar repair shop, located on Mst, a monstrous old facility. GSA rented it from O. Roy Chalk, gutted it and remodeled it. 

 

The new location  fronted on M St with two entrances one was WHCA personnel and the second was a nonaffiliated DCA office that had had no access to the rest of the building. MSG Joe Terrian gave me WHCA's official address which was 3248 M Street NW. It was an unmarked white front building with no columns but having a few steps that went up to a black door. Behind that door was an iron security gate. Since I was in uniform, they told me to go to a motel and come back in the morning wearing a suit. The next morning I was told I was assigned to Camp David in Thurmont Md. Go to the Cozy Inn, and someone would meet me there to show me the way. I still had a few days to try and find an apartment before I had to report. I found an apartment next to the PO in Blue Ridge Summit Pa. It took about three months and I moved into quarters at Camp David.

Dan Mirabelli tells the story “It was a beautiful Sept morning in 1966, I knocked on the door of 3248 M street. I was a terrified 19year old, I did not know what laid ahead for me. I sat in a chair till 2pm. They asked if I ate, I replied no so they told me to go out, get something and come back in an hour. 

When I came back, I sat waiting until 6pm. When they finally took me to see Col Rubley. He told me they were very busy and could not process me. he gave me a voucher for a plane ticket and a 10 day leave!! and sent me home.” 

Mike Fincher remembers that he had an interesting initial assignment experience. After going to the “mysterious” locked door at 3248 “M” Street, in May 1971, I was told that they were expecting Vietnam War protests all over the City that week and that they couldn’t process me because they were preparing to shelter in-place if necessary. 

I was sent to stay temporarily with a couple of other Swbd. Trainees who lived in the legendary Shirley Duke apartments in Alexandria. As soon as I got there, I received a call that an Uncle that I was very close to (like a grandfather) had died in Atlanta. Knowing I wouldn’t be processing in for a few days, the guys called the WHCA Duty Officer (I think it was Marty Capps) to see if I could go on leave to the funeral. He said no problem and asked how I intended to get there. I said I guess I’d fly commercial. He said don’t do anything until he got back to me. He called back a few minutes later and said to be at Andrews VIP lounge the next morning at 0430 and there would be a flight to Chattanooga which was perfect because that was where my wife was at the time. I showed up in my class A’s with my PFC stripes and the VIP desk Sgt. said my flight would be ready to leave in few minutes. There were no other passengers in the lounge. A few minutes later this Col. and Major came in and one of them grabs my bag and asks me if I was ready to go and we got in a car and drove out to this silver and blue Jetstar. This was one of the JetStar’s that the VP used, and they were dead heading to Chattanooga for some reason I never learned. I was the only passenger. I settled into the big VIP chair and a steward brought me coffee. After we got airborne, the Col. came back and said he was going to take a nap. I thought he just wanted the big chair, so I got up and he said why didn’t I go on up front and keep the Major company. I sat up there in the cockpit in total awe. The Major asked me if my wife knew when to expect me and I said no that I would call when we landed. He asked me for the phone number at my in-laws and then used the radio to call some place called “Crown” and asked for a phone patch to the number. The next thing I know my wife is awakened by a call from the White House signal operator who advises her that the “call is on radio and provides no privacy” We are connected, and I tell her where I am and when to expect me the Chattanooga airport. 

We actually land before she could get there from about 45 miles away and the Colonel and Major took me into the coffee shop at the airport, bought me breakfast and then got back in the plane and took off, to where I don’t know. I was too afraid to ask questions, so I never really learned how all this came about, but it was certainly an impressive way to get introduced to Presidential Service. Obviously, that level of VIP treatment didn’t last very long but for a little while I thought I was really somebody special.

Tom Maier’s orders only said: “Report to 300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC”. My wife (June) and I were familiar with the DC area and easily made our way to Georgetown. We passed by the large white building that we figured *had to be* the right building but weren’t sure of the address. We went past and were able to park right around to corner(try doing THAT today!). June stayed in the car, and I walked up to the big front door and knocked…and knocked…and finally pounded on the door. 

I was just about to give up and go back to the car when the door opened a crack and a face appeared to ask what I wanted. When I said what I was up to, the face said only, “Go down to the corner, turn right and proceed on to the driveway. Walk up the driveway and SOMEONE WILL STOP YOU” and then the door slammed shut.

I walked back to the car and told June what had just transpired. Now, you have to understand that we had seen every single episode of Mission Impossible, so we were more than just a bit taken back by what had just happened.

 

With no small amount of trepidation I followed the mysterious instructions and as it turned out I had made more out of what was said than I should have. Perhaps that is just what the guys there did for yuks.

3248 M St NW entrance  2017

The windows on the left of the front door was the Drafting and Reproduction Branch. The windows to the right was DCAU commander's office. Both on the first floor.  Personnel was just inside the entrance way.  The indoor parking garage was behind Personnel and the Photo Lab was located to the rear of the indoor parking garage on the backside of the building closest to the C and O Canal side.

WHCA’s Audio-Visual Branch stored all of their travel equipment at the shop on M Street. Everyone in the group had their own specific set of equipment... audio mixer, multiple for media feeds, tape recorders, mics and cables. Each individual was responsible to make sure everything was in working order in case of instant travel. The AV Group had their own maintenance shop at M Street where they maintained all the AV gear and stored all the trip packages there. 

WHCA’s Wisconsin Ave entrance in 1974

The Wisconsin St entrance was the main access for all vehicles. As you entered on the left was the Fabrication and Carpenter Shop in a separate building which sat between the Wisconsin Ave entrance and exit gates. The machine shop was adjacent in the main building there was an incinerator outside the carpenter shop for classified burns...that caused some outside interest on occasion, also along the entry drive was a big diesel generator for emergency Power.

As you entered the facility and the Parking garage you immediately saw the WHCA dispatcher who monitored all incoming traffic and access to the parking garage. The call sign for the M Street dispatcher was Checkmate. The Transportation Group also had motor pool was equipped with a lift and a car wash facility. Transportation was responsible for the maintenance of all the WHCA vehicles including the rented station wagons from a civilian contractor and WHCA own trucks and Van's, the rented Chevy Kingswood wagons were eventually replaced with GSA supplied Ford wagons.

On the right was the entrance to the Radio and TV shops. These two groups maintained and repaired all of the Motorola radio Equipment(base stations and  hand held units) HF /SSB radios as well as associated radio and paging consoles, all TV’s were also maintained in this area.

Material and Supply and was located between the Electronics Shop and Budget/Accounting who had a small office located between supply and WHCA Dispatch.

The Comm Center or 13a group had a secure office and crypto vault  on the first floor, behind Transportation.

Crown Radio was located at the "M" street shop on the Second floor above the radio shop and wood shop.  Access to the second floor was by using an outside stairway to the right of the driveway off Wisconsin Ave.

Crown Radio had two consoles one was the DC FM network. The other one was for the  Nationwide System (E/F), and secure voice All of WHCA and USSS FM locations in the Washington DC area terminated there, as well as the Echo/Fox Nationwide air-to-ground Communications for AF1. That was the old E/F console built by Mario Lilla. It was operated from there until Crown Radio moved to the OEOB shortly after the new WECO 608 was cut into service there.

In the basement there was an underground storage vault below the radio shop which belonged to 13A. One nice feature at M Street was the basement barroom where we had our Friday afternoon off-duty beer call -- the most recently promoted guys bought the beer, there were many attitudes adjusted there. The Technical Library was also located in the  basement behind the Keg.

In the five years that I was assigned to Camp David I was sent on roughly forty trips where I left from the shop. All of the equipment needed for every trip was staged at the shop, loaded on box trucks if needed or in the back of station wagon on smaller trips and all personnel would be provided transportation to the various D.C. Airports for departure. Upon the return from all trips and from all groups the equipment would be sent to the shop to test and or repair would be staged for the next trip.

The current store that occupies that spot where the door was located is "H & M". It cannot be verified if the white trim around the doorway of H & M is a reproduction or a real artifact of the facade of the entryway to The M Street door of WHCA. I do not know who had it before them, and maybe it was "Victoria's Secret". Part of the movie "True Lies" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and "No Way Out" with Kevin Costner were filmed in parts of the mall. Arnold may have crashed through the window of Victoria's Secret in the movie.

The Keg: A WHCA Tradition

One of the fondest memories of the M Street shop is undoubtedly "The Keg," our cherished Friday night gathering spot for beer, hot dogs, and Leonard Dry's legendary popcorn. Leonard, who once served as a driver for General Eisenhower during World War II and later for the First Lady during Eisenhower's presidency, was the heart of this tradition. We affectionately named the space the "The Dry Keg" in his honor.

Leonard’s story is as unforgettable as his popcorn. When asked by General Eisenhower why he wanted the job, Leonard replied, “Because I am all ears and no mouth.” That straightforward answer sealed the deal. His popcorn was equally iconic, flavored with his secret recipe: Leonard would chop up jalapeños at home and bring them in a jar every few weeks. When making popcorn, he’d use vegetable oil and about a quarter cup of the jalapeños—juice and all—creating a uniquely spicy, savory treat.

The Keg space itself was officially dedicated to Leonard thanks to Terry Anderson from PASD, who convinced CSM Mix to approve the idea. A sign reading “The Leonard Dry Keg” was crafted and proudly displayed over the door in the McNally Building.

Leonard would arrive every Friday afternoon around 1 PM to start the popcorn and prepare for the festivities. The Keg crew included Andy Jurcak, who worked the event for years alongside Henry Chimeno, Richard Hathaway, and Leonard himself. Leonard’s hot dipping sauces were unmatched, and his stories always captivated the crowd. It was, as Andy described, the best WHCA job he ever held.

Henry Chimeno and Mike Baggot were responsible for keeping the beer kegs stocked, often hauling them from a distributor in Northeast DC to the fourth floor. Richard Starr frequently helped with transportation, and the distributor always offered a generous discount. Back then, a keg cost about $45—a bargain for the good times it fueled.

Bill Rose, reported to "M" St. on a Friday. After being told to shave my mustache, (by SGM Owen), an official photograph, finding a place to stay for the weekend, and still in a suit. He got hauled away by Henry and Randy Lucas in the back of one of the old, green, Dodge vans. No seats in the back, so I was sitting on an empty keg and flying around the back.

We managed to get back before 4:00pm and tap the keg. I was starting to wonder what kind of a group I had fallen into. By 6:00pm the place was in full party mode. I still didn't know how to get to my "temp" quarters, but decided I could always sleep in the car, parked down on Water St. This was just the start of a truly unique and very strange weekend, as well as the start of a 19 year WHCA tour of duty.        

The Keg also marked the beginning of the annual "Shrimp Feast." Admiral Berkeley, one of LBJ’s physicians, a Navy Admiral and friend of WHCA, would bring 40 pounds of steamed shrimp once a month. Over the years, the Keg became a social hub, hosting as many as 250 attendees rotating in and out during their shifts. Even President Carter's brother, Billy Carter, made a memorable appearance.

The camaraderie extended beyond the drinks and food. The Keg was the place where any E7 or above that was promoted was required to have a shrimp fest and to "pay up" if you got ever caught on camera in an embarrassing situation. One troop, who ended up on the cover of Time Magazine, faced a fine doubled, of course.

When WHCA moved from M Street to Building 94, some questioned whether the tradition should continue. Fortunately, the Keg survived, finding a new home in the day room on the fourth floor, complete with a bar, tables, and entertainment like a pool table, ping-pong table, and L.T. Moore’s 1970s jukebox. Singing after a few drinks became an unofficial part of the experience.

Richard Starr managed the Keg during its transition to the McNally Building and ensured the new space included a dedicated area for it. The Keg was eventually relocated to the back of the Theater but remained a cherished tradition. The keg and shrimp fests were such good times. 

Despite occasional attempts to shut it down, such as Col. Nichols’ accusation of "glorifying alcohol consumption," leaders like SGM Jenkins and SGM Moore defended and preserved the Keg. The Friday gatherings continued until the mid-1990s, when the tradition finally came to an end.

Bill Rose was also one of the last persons at "M" St. and he pulled the decorative light fixture by the front door and preyed the 3248 off the door. He recalls, Pete Strack refurbished the light, for the keg, and the address numbers were on a wooden plaque behind the bar. I expect they are long gone! I hope the 3248 still exists somewhere.

I feel sorry for newer WHCA recruits not having that experience walking up and down M St. looking at that door with those numbers and thinking...this can't be right.

 Leonard Dry passed away and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, but his legacy lives on. Though the official Keg parties are a thing of the past, the spirit endures as we carry on the tradition of creating our own happy hours every Friday.

CIA HQ

I remember the stories of the WHCA shop as being a secret CIA HQ where it was found out by a local Georgetown rag in the late 60s-early 70s.

The people that worked in Riggs Bank was saying that our paychecks were coming from different parts of the country which was true. Air Force had paychecks from Randolph AFB in Texas, Army checks were coming from Indianapolis, and Navy was from another place. They saw license plates of our POV's from states around the country going into the shop through one gate and then coming out in government cars from the other gate with radio antennas on them. They saw all the antennas fencing on the roof of the building and cameras and speakers down on the street level at all the buildings entrances/exits. WHCA personnel going into a warehouse type of building with suits and ties seemed out of place for this Georgetown location.

CIA building on M St

Folks put all this together and came up with the caption for the article in the local paper saying, "Why is the CIA in Georgetown?" Little did they know that the real CIA was occupying a building in Georgetown, but that was at the end of M Street near Key Bridge in another building called The Car Barn {the building with the clock tower} that was also a trolley car warehouse which was right next door to the stairs used in the film The Exorcist!!! The red building on the right was occupied by the CIA.

The Exorcist Stairs

The WHCA  building and the one the CIA had were leased to the government by the same firm. 

In the early 1970’s the decision was made to move the shop to a more secure location in  Anacostia.  Over a period of time a phased move was coordinated to relocate all Groups and Departments to their new location. When WHCA vacated the location that was the “shop” in Georgetown the building was totally remodeled and was turned into a a very upscale mall, the Georgetown Park Mall now occupies the space on M St.

Georgetown Park Mall M St Entrance 

This is the inside of Georgetown Park today, on the same level which all the cars parked, the WHCA dispatcher, besides some of the offices at the WHCA facility at 3248 M Street.

First floor interior of the Georgetown Park Mall

Wisconsin Ave Entrance Today

The shop was a drab place in the late sixties, unlike today's décor. It was in a good spot, though -- right across from Blues Alley and just down the street from Mister Henry's, the Cellar Door and other late-night fun spots. Henry Kissinger used to take his movie-star girlfriends for dinner at the Rive Gauche restaurant next door. Here is a picture of the inside of Rive Gauche where President Ford also ate a couple of times. 

Rive Gauche Restaurant

The shop in Georgetown was the center of operations for all scheduled trips both domestic and overseas, all of the equipment necessary to support the communications necessary to support the President was maintained, staged, and shipped came from the “Shop”. When we were assigned to travel, we only had to show up with a suitcase without worrying if the equipment would be ready to go.  My hats off to the staff who worked there to make sure the teams had everything we needed to successfully complete our mission.

President Nixon's Florida White House in Key Biscayne (1972-1974)-revised

 

Florida White House in Key Biscayne
The Florida White House on Key Biscayne Island
Coordinates:          25.69028°N 80.165°W25.69028; -80.165
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Miami-Dade
Elevation	3 ft. (1 m)

Jun 1972 to Dec 1973 to work at the Florida White House in Key Biscayne FL

Key Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324. Key Biscayne is located on the island of Key Biscayne and lies south of Miami Beach and east of Miami. The Village is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947. Because of its low elevation and direct exposure to the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually among the first Miami areas to be evacuated before an oncoming hurricane.

President Richard Nixon purchased the first of his two waterfront homes, forming a compound known as The Florida White House, in 1969 to be close to his friend and confidant, C.G. (Bebe) Rebozo and industrialist Robert Abplanalp. There was a total of five houses plus the SSCP and helipad that made up the compound at Key Biscayne. President Nixon had two houses, then Bebe Robozo's home the SS/GSA house and finally WHCA/WHMO. The Presidential compound at Key Biscayne was bounded by Biscayne Bay on the west, West Matheson Drive on the south, Bay Lane on the east, and a fence on the north.

The Key Biscayne Compound (Helipad, USSS CU, 516 House, 500 House, Rebozo House)

The President's homes at 516 and 500 Bay Lane are the southernmost houses in the compound Bebe Rebozo owns and uses the house next door at 490 Bay Lane. The Federal Government leases the next two houses at 478 and 468 Bay Lane. The house at 478 Bay Lane, which is owned by Robert Abplanalp, was leased by the Government in February 1969 for use as an office for Secret Service and GSA personnel. Abplanalp purchased this residence after the owners expressed a desire to sell because of the heavy traffic of Government personnel. The house at 468 Bay Lane was leased in December 1968 and served as the telecommunications facility for the WHCA and an office for military aides to the President.

516 Bay Lane prior to demolition (2004)

There was a house on Harbor Drive, where we always had to test all the phones prior to every visit, it was near the Shell Station, that either belonged to or was associated with close friends of Caspar Weinberger. This was well before he became Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan, though he had been a longtime advisor. Caspar Weinberger and other notable figures like Pat Buchanan, George Shultz, and even Alan Greenspan were known to stay there during visits. They hosted lively gatherings that included serious drinking sessions and high-stakes poker games.

The comm center delivered a message there once and noticed a progressive poker pot on the table worth around $5,000. None of the participants wanted to be interrupted to sign for the message delivery! Among them, Pat Buchanan stood out as particularly friendly and approachable, always kind to everyone, agreed to sign for the message.

On another occasion, a TTY message was delivered to Secretary of State George Shultz, who was immersed in a poker game alongside Alan Greenspan, Caspar Weinberger, and others. Shultz—having apparently lost a bet—was humorously displaying his famous "Tiger" tattoo on his backside. It was a surreal moment that underscored how, no matter what their age or status, when the guys got together with drinks in hand, anything could happen!

The principal construction work by the Government began about December 15, 1968 and was largely completed by September 1, 1969. Nixon visited Key Biscayne more than 50 times between 1969 and 1974. During the summer of 1973 there was a new pool and lanai/Florida room constructed in the rear of the 500 house which was also added to the Federal Government’s expenditures in connection with the Key Biscayne compound.

500 Bay Lane (1972)

These expenditures totaled approximately $7.9 million. Of this, approximately $4.56 million was expended for Secret Service, GSA, Coast Guard, and WHCA personnel permanently assigned to that location. The DOD and WHCA spent $2. 1 million for communications, helipad and boat dock, shark net, and electric power generator; the Secret Service spent $67, 000 for security equipment and devices; and the Coast Guard spent $192,000 for boats, buoys, electronic equipment, and boat house.

Don Cammel remembers the early trips to Key Biscayne during the early days of the Nixon Presidency. The switchboard was already operational in the 5 house Presidential Compound about 2 miles away, but the Commcenter was not yet permanently installed.

Crandon Courts putting green

Our primary lodging was at the Crandon Courts Quality Inn. This 1960's motel, had a putting golf course in the courtyard, a pool, and individual small 2 and 3 bedroom cottages. The Commcenter team would live in a 3 bedroom unit with full kitchenette and 2 Commcenter and 2 COMSEC folks would live in 2 of the bedroom, and the 3rd bedroom was our equipment room for the old Model TTY and Crypto equipment. The AC was provided with old window style units through the walls and the heat from our equipment was often a problem.

The pool at the Crandon Court 

We would stock up on groceries from the nearby Food Fair grocery store next door, and supplement them with carry out from a popular Sir Pizza in same plaza. We did a lot of cooking in the kitchenette. Always a good breakfast, and used an outside grill for lunches and dinner.

Although we had some basic shift schedules, we were all able to use the main living room for television, and marathon pinochle games. You could hear the synchronization noise when we were about to receive a TTY message for processing, we would take a break from our card game to process the messages and deliver them to the addressee at the compound.

Toward the end of the trip, we would cook all of the food that was left. On one trip, I decided, that there was no reason to discard a dozen eggs, so I decided to put them in a pot of water and have hard boiled eggs for snacks on the plane when we returned to DC. I then turned on the burner on the stove, and went to the card game in the living room.

About 90 minutes later, we all started to smell something from outside. Turns out, the eggs boiled dry in the pot, and exploded and we had a horrible "rotten egg" odor throughout the entire 3 bedroom apartment. We tried to use multiple cans of air freshener to no avail. All our clothes, curtains, carpet, smelled horrible. We then carried the red hot pan out unto the Courtyard and poured water on it!

The Motel then placed that unit out of service for almost 3 weeks after our trip, repainted the entire room, replaced all of the carpet, and fixtures. WHCA admitted to causing the problem, but the motel evidently had good insurance, because we never received a bill, but they had all kinds of signs in all the kitchens, DO NOT leave stove unattended for any reason! On future trips, I was banned from being alone in the kitchen. Shortly after I was assigned to the permanent party at Key Biscayne working on the CCT and in the Comm Center.

My families’ final move while I was assigned to WHCA came in 1972 when I was transferred once again this time to the Florida White House in Key Biscayne Fl.  We were assigned Quarters and lived on Homestead AFB. There was a lot of friction over our priority assignments to the on-base housing list ahead of USAF people that had been waiting on the list for 2 years. 

And now for one of my favorite Bebe Rebozo stories. Mr. Rebozo lived in the middle home of a 5-house compound known as the Key Biscayne Presidential Compound. Two houses to the left of his home were both owned by the President, and the other two were leased space for the USSS and a General Services Administration office, and the second house on the end was owned by heirs of the Campbell Soup company and leased by WHCA.

The government improved the President's property with the installation of an acknowledged $400K helipad that stretched out into Biscayne Bay for Marine One and Army One to land. Lots of controversy over the environmental impact of such a structure. One Monday morning, on a week where we had been alerted to a potential visit beginning of Friday. We would see Mr. Rebozo enter and exit the Compound as he would head to the Key Biscayne Bank where he was the President. It was very uncommon for us to be involved with him on a daily basis other than just a friendly hello in passing.

There were a continuous list of construction projects usually scheduled and coordinated by the GSA; however,  On this Monday morning, around 9am, we received a call, that he had called a meeting in the USSS Office (the house next door) with the USSS,WHCA, and the onsite GSA Rep, he announced he was building a swimming pool in the lanai at the President’s house at 500 Bay Lane as a gift.  He then announced and this was to remain a surprise. This was Monday at opening of business. His next statement was, it needs to be completed and ready to swim in by the Presidents arrival on Friday at 6pm. This was also the first we knew of a pending visit in less than five days. He further informed us that he would manage the pool, lanai, electrical, excavating through his contractor, The President's best friend wanted to surprise him with a special Birthday gift. His plan was to basically, dig a giant hole in the ground and build a swimming pool for the President. Sounds like a really nice gift.

WHCA and USSS would need to reroute many TELCO cables and replace the sod. Somehow, we made it happen, turned out the Dade County permit office was the biggest hurdle on a neighbor trespass, and improvement of his property without permission! The entire pool, lighting, screened lanai, multiple 100 pair cables were finished about 1pm on that Friday, last piece of sod about 2 hours before arrival. WHCA’s shielded Secure Voice wideband circuit was most difficult because it was at end of range for cable length. Fuzzy, but everything happened. In some cases, the wiring plan was completed on the fly and documented later. I always wondered what the cost for this project was to the USSS and WHCA. Southern Bell had some steep tariffs for that type of service.

This is Monday at 9:20 am. By noon, the backhoe and heavy machinery were loading dump trucks and starting the structure. The number of underground cable pairs for all the communications, voice, secure voice, cable television, alarms, motion sensors, smoke sensors, and many others was all contained in two 100 pair cables. There was also a lot of patio lighting and remote controls for allowing access. It was decided to just plow through and start over after the damage was finished. Of course, since we were building a "new" system, the USSS had a lot of additional requirements.

The pool involved heavy equipment, trucks, backhoe, electricians, carpenters, concrete workers, landscapers, and a multitude of other contractors, all of which had to be cleared each time they accessed the front gate. This work resulted in a huge mud puddle. We once counted the number of workers around this new hole in the ground and it exceeded 100 workers. By Thursday, it actually looked like a pool, and water was trucked in with tankers and pumped from the street about 150 feet. The screen enclosure was finally completed about 1pm on Friday, and we had basic telephone service restored along with Secure Voice and CATV systems. All of this was also completed with Dade County permits and inspections along the way. Mr. Rebozo probably paid the pool contractors $35-40K, but the government also was on the hook for tons of overtime for re-installing TELCO, and other non-pool related items. The President arrived about 4pm that afternoon, they were just finishing the last of the St. Augustine sod, and had spread sand in the mud and cleaned it up. The President was absolutely astonished. He was very happy and enjoyed the pool that evening. Happy ending, but I have always wondered since then, in current conditions, have any President's had such a friend since, and would the USSS allow a friend to come in with bulldozers and completed renovate the premises without permission from the owner? It was a beautiful pool, and one of the most aggressive construction projects I have ever witnessed. During the week, we were required to have at least one WHCA member present as they continued to work around the clock. Concrete trucks pumping concrete at 1am really made the neighbors happy! The USSS was overwhelmed with being blind-sided with this project. Burying wires in a hole in the ground in the middle of the night, just outside the Presidents house a mere 72 hours before his scheduled arrival took a lot of manpower.

NOTE: There were about 65 workers doing some form of labor with shovel, wheelbarrows, etc. on Friday morning finishing the construction. All those workers each with different skills were all performing their duties simultaneously. There were a continuous list of construction projects usually scheduled and coordinated by the GSA. 

Bebe Rebozo hired a Cuban refugee name Manuel who was his landscaper/gardener. I am sure this guy was taken care of within his class of people, but obviously was struggling to feed his family. He would take care of the landscaping, grass cutting, rake the beach, trim Palm trees and shrubs, and one-man band. He did a great job and the place was always 100% perfect and ready for a Presidential visit. Word of a visit, he would touch up, and then be forced to depart the compound and NOT return until after the President had left. He was a non-citizen, and lack of background was caused to exclude him from the compound during visits. Bebe was never happy about that rule.

In the 468 Bay Lane house WHCA installed a three position switchboard with FM radio paging, a Comm. Center with secure voice and secure TTY, and a Radio Console that had phone patch capabilities on Baker, Charlie, and Sierra FM frequencies. This console also had a KWM-2 HF transmitter installed. The WHCA house leased at about 3 times market value for 8 years with special clauses that the lease holder, (heirs of Campbell Soup), were excluded from periodic inspections of their property. 

The 468 House was a split plan with a swimming pool and lanai in the center of a horseshoe layout. Everything on one side was traditional bedrooms that were used for the Military Aide and traveling WH Medical Unit doctors and/or nurses. The center room was where the WECO 608 switchboard was located with a frame room built behind the board. The sunken living room was the WHCA office, and the kitchen was small, but had a refrigerator, stove, and primitive microwave oven.

When I arrived in 1972, the swimming pool was fully operational and available to our families on weekends if there were no visits. There was also a beachfront where the family could swim in Biscayne Bay. Unfortunately for us after Watergate it seems like the President was there every weekend to get away from the constant barrage of questions from the Press.

Enjoying the beach at the Key Biscayne Compound 

I remember of all of the circuits that either originated or terminated in the Key Biscayne Compound there was one AT&T wideband circuit from the White House to Key Biscayne used to support the secure voice that was always giving us problems. Of course, there was a backup line, and both were very maintenance intensive. The common error reported was always a "tip/ring" cable reversal on either the transmit or receive which gets confusing when you have both ends on the line at the same time talking to the AT&T trouble desk. After months of spending hours, a week finding these problems repeatedly, a time was established where the trouble shooting would begin at one end and work its way through each Telco CO, in about 12-15 mile increments all the way from Washington DC to Florida. After about 18 hours, the job was completed. I think they found over 23 times the pairs were reversed. Each time someone would find their problem and fix it, the system would work as long as the remaining reversals were an even number. If you remember, back then, it was a work of art in the telco CO's to cable lace with beeswax twine each time a change was made. I am sure plenty of CO's were upset at some of the efforts required to cut the lacing to track pairs. After this exercise was complete, we rarely ever had another outage the rest of our time in KB.

While in Key Biscayne we had a very close group of people, and all worked very well together.

The old E/F air to ground system which processed ONE call on the entire network always seemed to work as designed, but it was a dinosaur. They were using a JetStar from the 89th to shuttle a lot of Cabinet Secretaries and Dr. Kissinger to and from Homestead during visits to Key Biscayne. Someone had a brainstorm that we needed to do some "more" testing of the E/F network that was maintained by AT&T and terminated in DC at Crown Radio . Of course all the testing went fine, we tested a new radio antenna arrangement, but basically it was just a fun day of flight. Destination....Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.

In the 1970's, Coors Beer was only sold in 17 states and the closest state to Florida was Arkansas. Charles "Bebe" Rebozo had asked if we could replenish the supply of Coors beer in the refrigerator at the 500 and 516 Houses in the compound. He peeled off a few hundred-dollar bills and told us to do our magic. 

We landed at Little Rock AFB, got a ride from Base Ops in a pickup truck to the Class VI store while they refueled the aircraft. Seems the crew already knew the limits and I think it was something like 17 cases in the under belly of the JetStar. We might have had 2 or 3 more cases in the seats, I know that we did this drill at least 3 times over the year and a half I was in Key Biscayne and each time it was supposed to be very close hold information, but the crew of the 89th was very aware of what was going on

Marine One awaits the Presidents arrival

There was always a great deal of activity at Homestead AFB. Most of the detachment lived on base and all of the arrivals/departures took place at the base. Air Force One and Marine One were secured on the base while the President was at Key Biscayne. The crews and all of the support staff also stayed at Homestead. After the President arrived he would climb aboard Marine One and head for the Key Biscayne compounds Helipad. The Homestead CCT housed in Bldg. 908 which is where the Army One and the Marine One detachments were housed. They alternated trips to Homestead, their approach to security was totally different. Somewhere I have a signed picture from the Army One Commander, Lt Col Gene Boyer along with an Army One candy dish.

Patty as Air Force One taxi's up to the ramp

Air Force One arrives at Homestead AFB

President Nixon’s arrival at Homestead AFB

I was in the process of moving my family to Key Biscayne when the Watergate break in occurred, little did anybody realize the impact that this incident would have on the Nixon White House and the personnel at Key Biscayne Compound.

WHCA had set up a secure telephone line from the president's study in the 500 house to the living room of his chief of staff's villa at the Key Biscayne Hotel, but there had been no communication until the president called upon his return to his Key Biscayne home  from the Grand Cay a private island in the Bahamas on Sunday morning June 18,1972, and even then they did not discuss the breaking news of the weekend." (Watergate break-in was on Saturday, June 17). 

 My Family barely got moved into our quarters on Homestead AFB. when I had to get ready for the 1972 Republican Convention.   

The convention was not originally supposed to be held in Miami, but rather in more summer-friendly San Diego. When the Republican National Committee had problems with the City of San Diego they started looking elsewhere. And what better place than Miami Beach, who had already set themselves up for two conventions in the previous four years and had the hotel space and phone, lines to accommodate them. Not to mention a drivable distance to Nixon’s summer home on Key Biscayne where there was all the communications that the USSS needed for security during the time of the convention. The convention was carefully organized to take advantage of television coverage. Because the war in Vietnam was still going on, the White House was expecting large demonstrations at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Some antiwar demonstrations did take place but without the violence that had erupted in Chicago four years earlier!

The Miami Convention Center

During the 1972 re-election campaign and despite his overwhelmingly strong position, Richard Nixon had engaged in a variety of dirty tricks, culminating in the botched burglary in the Watergate Complex on June 17, 1972.  President Nixon was actually visiting Key Biscayne and staying on Grand Cay in the Bahama Islands the day of the Watergate break-in. The Commcenter delivered the TTY message to H.R. Haldeman at the Key Biscayne Hotel on Saturday morning. He glanced at the message, put it back in the envelope dismissed me as he was laying it on the credenza in his Villa. At the end of the visit, that message was still in the envelope on the credenza when the Commcenter did their sweep at the end of the trip.

Donald Cammel was a 72B Commcenter Operator stationed at Key Biscayne. Part of his job was delivering morning messages to key staff each morning in hotel rooms at travel locations. During the transition team trip to Palm Springs and then San Clemente in late December and before President Nixon was sworn in on Jan 20, 1968, he delivered a message early in the morning, with an inflated priority to Colonel Al Haig. This message was notifying him of his selection for promotion to Brigadier General, and at first waking him up unannounced as instructed caused him some grief, but he was very happy after he read the short message sent from the White House Situation Room.

Fast forward about 2 years later during a visit to Key Biscayne, Don once again delivered a message to Brigadier General Haig that he was promoted to Major General and it was like the movie, Ground Hog Day. In 1973, Major General Haig was again surprised to jump from two stars to four stars and again delivered the news Don knocked on his door at the Key Biscayne Hotel and Villas early in the morning again the General thanked him for the good news. DON had also developed a good working relationship with General Haig, and more than once delivered items such as his raincoat that were left in his hotel room, taking it to the helicopter pad before the Generals departure. When Don decided to apply for the Warrant Officer program, he asked General Haig for a letter of recommendation, and that was on a Sunday evening departure from Key Biscayne. the letter was sent by the middle of the next week. Two days later a similar letter arrived from Dr. Kissinger who he I never asked for. He was sure those letters probably helped his successful selection to the Warrant Officer appointment.

In that era, WHCA had more face time interface than today, because automation has taken over a lot of the physical tasks that required us direct contact. It was always a pleasure to deal with Dr. Kissinger and his staff, unlike the hornet's nest with H.R. Haldeman and his assistant Larry Higby (aka Mighty Mouse).

Back then you could slide the News Summaries and unclassified documents, in an envelope under the door and go on to the next room, but if you needed a signature for classified documents on your log, you had to knock on the door even when most of the time it had a DO NOT DISTURB sign posted. H.R. Haldeman opened his door one morning at 0800:10, pointed to the DO NOT DISTURB sign, threw it on the ground near Don Cammel’s feet and slammed the door. After calling for some guidance he went back to the compound in Key Biscayne, and sure enough, Mr. Haldeman called at 0805 and was complaining that he didn't get his morning messages at 0800. When Don returned, General Adams the WHCA commander accompanied him. Mr. Haldeman grabbed the messages from his hands, as Don  handed a log to him and asked for a signature. Mr. Haldeman then said, "He saw you give it to me" and the General then told him, we have procedures and rules, and they apply to everyone. He then took the ball point pen from Don’s hand, and stabbed it through the log making a hole as he attempted to scratch his big "H" and then slammed the door! General Adams asked if this was common, and Don responded with a "Yes, Sir"! For the next two years plus, each time I delivered messages to Mr. Haldeman, he always avoided eye contact and scribbled in the log.

 Seeing lots of messages in the Commcenter, and the 3M Post-It notes that were attached and sent back made it difficult to track, once the reader pulls the Post-It off the document. When President Nixon would travel to Grand Cay, the Commcenter would frequently transmit messages to all levels of the Staff. He issued the order for the Tet Offensive effort in Vietnam while at Grand Cay in the Bahamas. There were also many messages giving guidance for Watergate issues, once again, all on Post-It notes attached to a TTY message reply with the simple initials "RN" somewhere on the page. The Commcenter would sometimes have to transmit long TTY messages multiple times, and then piece together to get all the garble out. Nothing worse that have the last page have a few characters missing! At 100 wpm, a slow process.

Whenever the President came to Key Biscayne for a visit we had to set up and check all of the communications in the Compound, but we also had to place equipment in the Villas at the Key Biscayne Hotel for the Sr. Staff.  H.R. Halderman and Henry Kissinger would have an IBM Dictaphone with a recorder coupler installed on their WH extension, so when they picked up the phone their conversation would be recorded. When the trip ended the villas were swept by Commcenter operators to ensure that no sensitive information was left behind. Truth of the matter is that rarely did we find classified on the sweeps.

The Watergate complex located in Washington D.C.

Whenever the President came to Key Biscayne for a visit we had to set up and check all of the communications in the Compound, but we also had to place equipment in the Villas at the Key Biscayne Hotel for the Sr. Staff. H.R. Halderman and Henry Kissinger would have an IBM Dictaphone with a recorder coupler installed on their WH extension, so when they picked up the phone their conversation would be recorded. When the trip ended the villas were swept by Comm. Center operators to insure that no sensitive information was left behind.

The Watergate scandal would ultimately be his undoing, leading to his resignation in 1974, but it had no impact on the 1972 campaign.

The 1972 Republican National Convention was held in Miami Beach, Florida from August 21-23. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew were re-nominated on their first ballots.

09 Feb 73 to Jacksonville FL to support Julie Nixon

In Feb.1973 I was sent to Jacksonville FL. for a couple of days to install a radio base station for the Secret Service who was supporting Julie Nixon Eisenhower while she visited the city on official business. This visit was very low key, no staff, no press, just Secret Service support. All I had to do was to install a “Charlie” FM Base station and a remote console in the residence where she was staying. She stayed for two days and then returned to Washington DC.

Things really started to change in 1973 the War in Vietnam was finally over and the POW,s came home, the armed forces moved toward the all voluntary Army and WHCA was lowering its standards as candidates dwindled. WHCA, s mission was changing and they were also going through major technology changes. 

The Watergate scandal was front page news after it was disclosed by Alexander Butterfield that WHCA had installed tape recorders so there was a record of the private Presidential conversations and President Nixon refused to release them to Congress. The Bugging of the White House was disclosed during the Watergate Hearings and only then did the country realize that this was a long standing practice within the White House dating back to Franklin Roosevelt.   

Vice President Agnew resigned from office and Gerald Ford was appointed the new Vice President.

The main reason that I left WHCA after nine years was that I grew tired of traveling and wanted to spend more time at home with my Family, and the office of the President had been surrounded with corruption and was disgraced. I was discharged on December 20 1973 to begin life as a civilian.  It would be only eight months later when President Richard Nixon would resign to end the Watergate scandal.

The WHCA detachment on Key Biscayne began to shut down soon after the President  resigned in August 1974 since he was not expected to return. The CCT at Homestead AFB stayed in place and supported President Ford’s trips until January 1975.

Closing down the compound included the moving of the Homestead CCT to Andrews AFB. I believe most of that was completed by the end of 1974. The contracts that GSA had for their Office and USSS, and the WHCA house, which belonged to heirs of the Campbell Soup company were 8-year leases that required some negotiations and lots of restoral rehab. to return them to their original condition.

President Ford transferred the assets of Army One to the Marines. Army One had been permanently transferred to Homestead AFB to support Key Biscayne and they were moved back to Davidson Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, VA. The Army and Marines alternated in-town and out of town trips on a monthly basis until the Army unit was deactivated. Homestead AFB was host for the Army One unit and the WHCA troops from the Key Biscayne Compound..

When the Homestead AFB CST was formed in 1971 time frame, we shared a hangar with the Army One Helicopter Unit until they were withdrawn back to Ft Belvoir. We had a concrete cinderblock building inside the large hangar.

One afternoon, the Army Helo folks took off early and set their appropriate alarms. I can't remember, but the actual aircraft may have been deployed, but we were still inside our building having extensive training (Double Deck Pinochle). It was probably a Friday and once we were certain we were not going to be deployed or have a last minute visit, we folded up shop. As we exited our building, we walking into the alarmed area for the Army Operations and the USAF Base Police arrived. They placed 4 of our team on the ground face down, and drew their weapons. The senior person tried to tell them we were authorized in the building, and they were checking ID's. The guards were not amused when one of our folks asked if the picture matched his backside as he was facedown. We had to come up with all kinds of new procedures for our alarms, their alarms, etc, and once all worked out, they deactivated within 2 days and left the compound permanently except for deployments back in the area to support a Key Biscayne visit. It seemed like it took almost 90 minutes and several calls to the Military Office in DC to sort all this out. The USAF solution was going to be a weekend in the holding cell until the Base Commander returned from TDY.

Southern Florida suffered the worst hurricane in their history when Andrew ripped through in 2004. Homestead AFB was reduced to rubble and all of the military quarters were demolished, Homestead was never rebuild and was closed and never reopened.

Key Biscayne also received severe damage many of the hotels that were used during visits were demolished and rebuilt including the Sonesta Beach and Key Biscayne Hotels. The same was true for the Key Biscayne’s Florida White House the 500 and 516 houses were torn down in 2004.

Driving in that neighborhood today, there is NOTHING left of any of the 5 houses, now all multi-story condos, but I do believe the massive concrete helipad is still protruding into Biscayne Bay along with the Key Biscayne Lighthouse both survived the storms. 

Today’s Florida White House built on the site where the 516 house stood

FM Radio Network Key Biscayne (Key Biscayne)

Base Station Site locations of the Key Biscayne FM Radio Network              

The FM radio Network covered all activity from Key Largo in the south, Homestead AFB, Miami, Key Biscayne, and the Coast Guard station in Opa-Locka to the north.  Baker, Charlie and Sierra base stations were installed in the following locations:

                                                                                

1.      Homestead AFB, this site insured coverage of all arrivals and departures, as well as any trips to The Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo where Bebe Rebozo had a vacation house that the President would visit.

FM Radio Site at Homestead AFB

2.      The Miami site was on top of One Biscayne Tower; this was the tallest building in south Miami  1n 1972 and had line of site to most locations including the Convention Center which was the site of the 1972 Republican Convention.  This site also covered all of Key Biscayne and the Rickenbacker Causeway as well as south Dade County.

One Biscayne Tower overlooking the Rickenbacker Causeway

3.   The Key Biscayne site was on top of the Sonesta Beach Hotel, this site provided coverage of the beach and hotels where the senior staff stayed.

The Sonesta Beach Hotel on Key Biscayne

4.  Opa-Locka FL, the Coast Guard based at Opa-Locka provided all of the coastal security for the Key Biscayne Compound, the Coast Guard had two chase boats that would patrol the restricted area off of the compound and would challenge and watercraft that might stray to close. The Coast Guard was also available for any trips to the Bahamas. The USCG Cutter, Point Barnes was assigned to assist the USSS for both Biscayne Bay and Walkers Cay support. when we arrived at GBI.

Coast Guard Patrol Boats

We installed a set of WHCA radios on the Point Barnes as well as the two chase boats. For some reason...probably thought that it would be fun, that after an orientation trip for the USCG folks to both Walkers Cay and Grand Cay, there were a couple of us that decided to catch a ride on the Point Barnes from Grand Cay over to Grand Bahama Island and then catch the USAF helicopter from there back to Homestead. The fun wore off after about 10 minutes, I think they tried to beat us to death with the waves. We were not ready to get on the helicopter 

All radio circuits terminated at the Key Biscayne Compound either at the Secret Service Command Post (CP), or the WHCA radio console, switchboard and Comm. Center.