As Berlin changed month by month, and year by year, there was nowhere for the city to grow in width and breadth. Not until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 did the architects' fingers spread out into the far reaches of East Berlin and points beyond.

Because West Berlin was closed to the remainder of the free world and could
not build outward, it began to build upward. From the rubble of the leveled
city in 1945 rose seven mountains, created by hauling away the remains of
buildings, shops, churches, and the dead who were not found. Teufelsberg,
(Devil's Mountain), was the highest point in Berlin, and was the official Site 3 of
the U.S. Army Security Agency's listening post after the war. This 1967 photo
shows it still pretty much in its infancy, as it was always under construction.
This photo is also available without the writing in it.


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Site 3 on Teufelsberg was also nicknamed "The Hill."
Below The Hill was Teufelsee, a lake where Berliners and
Americans alike basked in the sun during the few days
of sunshine we saw in Berlin. Summers were mild, and
usually rainy, but on those rare sunshiny days everyone
in Berlin came out of the woodwork to enjoy mother nature.
The guys in the right foreground were ASA troops. Can
anyone identify them?






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Berlin's Funkturm, (radio tower), was a great tourist attraction and possibly Germany's version of the Eifel Tower?

Ron's always smiling
face, but what's his
last name? Ron was a
mystery guy liked by
virtually everyone in
the old 78th and 54th.

The S Bahn, above right, was Berlin's overhead rail system. The U Bahn was the underground system. ASA personnel were not allowed to ride certain trains because they went through East Berlin, and some to Potsdam. One idiot ASA guy tried using a fake I.D. to visit East Berlin in 1967. They kept him there for four months until the bargaining price came down to $4,000 for his return.

Another favorite thing to do on those rare sunshine days was head to the Berlin's Lake Wannsee and drink, drink, drink! After seeing these guys almost every day for three years I should remember all their names. I don't! This was after pulling a mid shift.

A rather ominous look at The Hill from down below. Notice
the two bare spots on the side of the hill below the bubbles.
Some idiots would practice ski jumping there during the
winter, but I could never get a photo of them. They would
only jump once, and never come back, and I never saw the
same person twice. Maybe that's why they never came back.
They never made it all the way down.





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In the above photo I never could quite figure out if it was the USA Air Force, or the Brits,
who set up equipment on the level below Site 3 every once in a while. I went down to inves-
tigate one time and could not find anybody home anywhere. All the doors were locked on
the trucks and portable trailers. Talk about "Confidential," these people were top secretive,
if not ghost agents, to be sure.
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Another photograph of the Funkturm and Berlin at night from The Hill. This was
a time exposure of approximately eight minutes on Agfachrome film. My self
appointed job after and during my MP duties was also photographer, which never
conflicted with my official duties. The CO even asked me to take several official
Army photos for the unit and company commanders, which he kept!

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I borrowed these two 1983 photographs from FSBVG's web site, which is all about the ASA in Berlin from the time the wall went up in 1961 until it came down in 1989. If you have not visited that web site, do it! It's a great compilation of news, history, photos, and mission statements. Thank you Bruce! Check out the parking lot in the below photo.

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I became a member of Field Station Berlin Vets Group
in February, 2001 and have tremendously enjoyed their
web site and its benefits. At $15 a year, its a bargain
no one should pass up, even if you weren't in the ASA.
A link to the FSBVG web site is on the "Contact Me" page
if you want to click that on after browsing through these
pages. Lots of facts, information and photos.
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Upon my S-2 briefing when I arrived in Berlin we were told to never tell anyone we were ASA personnel, that our mission in Berlin was top secret. The first time I went into a local pub, the old Barkellner Hans Borowitz asked me if I worked on The Hill or in the Grunewald. Big secret, huh? Downtown, same situation. Hell, we were famous!

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