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About the Author

Author Info

David Rosenberg is the author of Pine Gap, the only book by an NSA officer that details how the NSA conducts Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) surveillance using satellites. He details the types of intelligence collected during the two Iraq wars, the Balkans conflict, and Afghanistan after 9/11 and the War on Terror, as well as many other events that occurred within Operations at Pine Gap. He held a Top Secret / SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Intelligence) security clearance with the NSA and discusses the ethics of government eavesdropping, a topic that exploded onto mainstream media after the Edward Snowden revelations, and how the NSA works to collect Communications Intelligence (COMINT) ethically and legally.

David worked for the NSA for 23 years, including 18 years in Operations at the Joint Defense Facility Pine Gap in Alice Springs. As an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) signals analyst and manager for his team, he was responsible for his team's efforts in evaluating the function, capabilities, performance, and vulnerability assessment of all types of radar, associated weapon systems such as Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and countermeasure techniques / tactics from countries that posed a military threat to the United States. When he left the agency, he was the United States government's longest serving technical liaison officer in Australia.

He has spoken at intelligence conferences and corporate events, as well as contributing to discussions about Pine Gap on various radio and television programs. As the technical and creative consultant to the major Screentime television production 'Pine Gap' for Netflix, he provided believability and authenticity in the Operations environment and signals intelligence collection scenarios, character development, Operations dialog, set design, and computer simulation display of signals. 

He enjoys community service work, having held vice-chairman and fundraising chairman roles on two charities and currently resides in Sydney with his wife and family.

News

Pine Gap: Close to God's Ear - NSA Eavesdropping Memoirs is a work of non-fiction written in the autobiographical and memoir style by author David Rosenberg. As the title suggests, this collection of memories and experiences seeks to shed light on the fascinating world of military surveillance, particularly at the Pine Gap facility where the author worked in a high-level security position. The book recounts missions and intelligence collected during such times as the Iraq wars, the Balkans and the War on Terror (to name just a few), giving a fascinating insider's perspective on what went on, but also asking highly important questions about the ethics of eavesdropping in the modern age.

Author David Rosenberg has crafted a fantastic and highly compelling work of non-fiction that will be sure to fascinate anyone who picks it up, whether they had a prior interest in surveillance and intelligence-gathering or not. Offering a unique voice and many, many years of experience in the field, Rosenberg's narration is smooth and confident, delivering high levels of detail and access to little known facts that will certainly fascinate and enthrall his audience. One of the things most vital to the text, I feel, is the ethical and moral discussion around the nature of intelligence gathering, which is in-depth and intelligently penned, with accurate reference to recent events. Overall, this makes Pine Gap: Close to God's Ear - NSA Eavesdropping Memoirs an engrossing and important read for anyone involved and/or interested in military intelligence of the present and past. 

K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite 5/5

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Events

I was interviewed for the TRUE SPIES Podcast about a story from my days at Pine Gap. The episode is narrated by Vanessa Kirby who played the young Princess Margaret in the Netflix series, The Crown. The topic for this episode, Searching For The Soldier (#54) focuses on the shoot-down of Captain Scott O’Grady in 1995 over Bosnia Herzegovina. I wrote about this in Chapter 6, the Bill Clinton years. You can find it here: https://spyscape.com/show/true-spies and through your Podcast service.


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