"The White House Communications Agency: A Look into Its Past, and Present ": Presidential Emergency Facility Site 4 -"Cartwheel" (1965)-Revised

Friday, July 5, 2024

Presidential Emergency Facility Site 4 -"Cartwheel" (1965)-Revised

Ft Reno Park, Tenleytown, northwest Washington, DC

Ft Reno Park (site of Cartwheel (PEF)

Elevation

409 feet

Location

Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, DC

Range

Coordinates

N 38.95198 and W 77.075922

Street maps (regional and local)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers DERP-FUDS report for Fort Reno
Cross-section drawing
Floor plan, lower level (PowerPoint image)
Facility upgrade proposal from Federal Aviation Administration (May 31, 2007; PDF file)
Fort Reno’s-undisclosed-location Fort Reno Update

Fort Reno Park is a park in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, DC. It is the highest point in the city, and was involved in the only Civil War battle to take place in the District of Columbia Fort Reno Park is also the site of a deactivated microwave terminal station, that was used during the Cold War. The unit was encased in a 103 ft. tower, and known as the "Cartwheel" site 4.

Tower History and Purpose

Cartwheel (Ft Reno Park, Washington, DC.), had a Tower with nine floors plus two levels of Plexiglas to cover microwave dishes and other antennas. The Tower was mostly above ground level; but it also had a two level bunker that circled the towers base. Construction of Cartwheel tower and bunker was completed in 1961.

A WHCA operated switchboard, a secure switchboard and communications center was located within the bunker. Tom Maier was a relatively new Crypto repair guy remembers not going through ANY switchboard training. But, a Secure Voice, repairmen also had to double as an operator, so I was given a 1-hour crash course on how to handle the switchboard. I knew a lot about Crypto Gear (I had just finished over a year training on it at Lackland), but proper switchboard operation was quite another matter. — feeling exhausted.

My first, and fortunately my last, experience with General Haig, the gentleman (I will withhold my own personal characterization) who later became Nixon’s new Chief of Staff, after Ehrlichman and Haldeman were implicated in the Watergate mess, was on my first day at White House Secure Voice.

It was sometime after 5 PM when the switchboard rang. A call was coming through from the Situation Room. My trainer said, “Why don’t you take this call. It’s after normal business hours, so it probably won’t be all that important, and it would be good practice for you.”

I reluctantly picked up the phone, pressed the Situation Room button on the switchboard, and said in my best possible, "newly acquired", switchboard operator voice, “Good Afternoon, White House Secure Voice.” The voice on the other end blurted out, “This is General Haig in the Situation Room get me General So-and-So at the Pentagon, immediately!”…CLICK!!!

...He had hung up!...

To be generous, General Haig was “relatively new” to the Situation Room at that time. He probably thought that I would be able to just place the call and ring him back when the other party picked up. Unfortunately, the equipment didn’t work that way. The secure switchboard design required that the originating phone had to remain “off-hook” for the line to remain operational. When General Haig hung up, the line dropped and there is no way that the operator…uuuh…that would have been ME…the "Newbie"…could re-initiate the call, short of calling the party on the other end and “gently” asking them to call General Haig back.

So, on your FIRST day on the job, as an E-4, which General do YOU want to “tick off”?

I stood there completely frozen…without a clue about what to do. I handed the handset back to my trainer and said rather sheepishly, “I think this is for you.” He took over and called the other General who graciously consented to re-initiate the call.

It took me quite some time to get over that little experience. Fortunately, I NEVER had to handle another General Haig call for the remainder of my tour at Cartwheel, but I ALWAYS felt a twinge of anxiety whenever any of the Situation Room Lights lit up!

This facility was part of a microwave network designed to provide communications to the President of the United States and emergency communications in the event of a nuclear attack. The Microwave route connected Camp David and other key bodies of government directly to the White House. Cartwheel had microwave routes to Cactus (via Damascus), Crystal, Corkscrew and Crown.

The folks who served at Cartwheel were really stepchildren of DCSU for a long time because a lot of support came from the shop on M Street and later Anacostia, but their Headquarters was at Camp David. It was rare for the DCSU Commander to get involved or even visit Cartwheel. There were some very structured rules on vehicles, and I don't think they were allowed to use our leased Government vehicles with all the antennas park near the facility. I remember one rare occasions where we stopped at Tenley Circle and discharged passengers, and they walked to the complex and we picked them up later.