I first heard about Site-R, or Raven Rock during my freshman year at Gettysburg College. I was watching a special on the discovery channel, I think, about bunkers. It caught my interest because they were talking about the Greenbrier Bunker, located in/by the Greenbrier Resort. The Greenbrier, and its bunker are both located in WV. I have toured both. So, as I’m watching the program they were saying that the Greenbrier bunker was built to house both houses of Congress. They then said that the President and the top brass of the Pentagon both have their separate bunkers. Then came the kicker, they said the Pentagons bunker, Raven Rock, was located in Adams County PA. A little while later it hit me, “I’m in Adams County PA” (I was still in WV mode)!

In the weeks after learning that I shared a county with a still semi-secret bunker I began to do some research on it. At the time there were numerous websites out there about the bunker. However, after 9/11 almost every one of them disappeared from the web. A little strange don’t you think?

So I find out about where the place is and get some basic directions to the place. On my first attempt I drove right past it! Just goes to show, the government can make a huge place like that blend in. After locating the facility I drove around all the roads a while to see what I could see. I noticed that a lot of the basic infrastructure (bridges, culverts, road, power lines, etc.) surrounding the base was considerably nicer than in surrounding areas. I also noticed just how fortified this location is. There are all kinds of fence around the place but who cares about that. What you need to be worried about is the remote control machine-guns mounded around the woods, as well as the pressure sensitive detectors buried all over (I’ve seen the guns, but the pressure sensors are a rumor). There are also tons of MP’s all over the place!

The first couple of times I went out there I just tried to drive around and observe. You can see considerably more things at this site in the fall and winter, and all kinds of weird stuff at night. I drove up to the alternate entrances and to the wastewater treatment plant. Finally, one day I said, “Fuck it, I’ll try to get in”. Not being to daring I just drove up to the main guard house and asked the MP what I needed to get in, and if it was possible to take a tour. He was actually nice and told me that I needed a entrance badge or permission from the commander. I had neither and he told me to immediately leave. On the way out I saw an off-duty MP and he said I was lucky the other MP didn’t see my camera or it would have been confiscated indefinitely!

For the rest of my 4 years at college I would periodically visit Site-R and see if anything had changed. I also realized that after I knew where it was, you could see the antennas on top of Site-R for miles. Even from downtown Gettysburg!

Also, I was about to write a good friend of mine who was recently elected to the U.S. House, to see if she could get me on a tour of the place. Just as I was about to write her 9/11 happened. Now they guard the place better than Fort Knox and no one is allowed in, maybe Dick Cheney!