In 1944,the US Army established the 3364th Signal Service Battalion to be part of the worldwide support structure for garrison and field forces during World War II.It served ably in this capacity until 1946,receiving the Meritorious Unit Commendation streamer (American Theater).It was deactivated in 1946,but served again from 1959-68,redesignated as the 114th Signal Brigade and an Army Reserve Unit.Yet another life began in 2003,when it was reactivated as a unit of the 21st Signal Brigade and assigned the 50-year-old sensitive mission of the 1111th Signal Battalion,which was deactivated at that time.The 114th received for the first time its own distinctive unit colours,insignia and coat of arms.The coat of arms features an erect black stallion under a lighting bolt chevron,with the inscription "Signal Masters of the Rock" above and beneath the stallion.*
The current commander of the 114th,Lieutenant Colonel Jason M. Winterle,is familiar with sensitive missions,having served in Military Intelligence battalions in the Republic of Korea and at Fort Lewis,Washington state,which is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord.The mission of his present unit,the 114th Signal Battalion,based at Fort Detrick,Maryland,is to provide and defend Network Operations for theater-based communication systems,networks,and enterprise services and Visual Information services enabling Command and Control in Department of Defense and National Military Command Center (Raven Rock Mountain Complex) during full spectrum operations.*
The Raven Rock Mountain Complex-Site R,is also known as "the Underground Pentagon,""the Rock" and "a nuclear bunker."Indeed,it is buried inside the super-hard granite of Raven Rock Mountain,one of the three great blast-hardened bunkers of the US Government,the others being the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center,Virginia,and the US Air Force's Cheyenne Mountain Complex,Colorado (NORAD).All three were born of the Cold War fear of a nuclear apocalypse.*
Raven Rock,designated as both the Alternate Joint Communication Center and Alternate National Military Command Center (War Room),continues serving to this day as the Pentagon's nerve center in times of chaos or total war.Apart from the Joint Staff facility,the Army,Navy and Air Force each maintain an emergency center there.In a time of crisis,reportedly at least 2,000 troops and civilians could be housed in the self-contained,six-storey bunker for an extended period,its storerooms stocked to the hilt with MRE rations if fresh food runs out.Above each of the aboveground entrance portals that lead to the two-blast hardened doors,one for pedestrians and one for vehicles,are two weapons portals from which to repulse ground assaults.*
Topping the mountain is Site RT,which is an antenna farm with both microwave and satellite communication antennas,plus the buildings staffed by the 114th Signal Brigade.Also aboveground are a security center;fire station;entrance gates;helipad and wastewater treatment plant.*
Within the bunker are reportedly at least five three-storey buildings which house living quarters;two power plants;a Presidential Suite;a health clinic;chapel;mess hall and barber shop,along with a bowling alley and fitness center.There is even a small shop selling tee shirts,among other goods.A tunnel leads from the bunker to Camp David,the presidential retreat in nearby Maryland,and there are resevoirs for both industrial and domestic water.That being said,judging from photos spirited out of these sites,the overall ambience of such bunkers is professional,spartan and even gloomy in the spaces outside the buildings.After all,it is a doomsday bunker.All the more reason to admire the military men and women,as well as the steadfast civil servants,who are more than able and willing to serve there.*
Most famously,former Vice President Dick Cheney took refuge at Raven Rock following the 9-11 attacks,to keep him separate from President George W. Bush,so they wouldn't both have been be killed in an attack on Washington.
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