National Vigilance Park

National Vigilance Park at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, honored military personnel involved in Cold War aerial reconnaissance. Dedicated on September 2, 1997, near the National Security Agency headquarters and the National Cryptologic Museum, it centered on three aircraft representing different services and losses tied to airborne intelligence missions: an Army RU-8D Seminole linked to Vietnam War signals intelligence, an Air Force C-130 display commemorating an aircraft shot down over Soviet Armenia, and a Navy EA-3B Skywarrior recalling a 1987 Mediterranean mission in which all seven crew members died. Eighteen trees symbolized eighteen lost aerial cryptologic missions. The park closed in February 2017 for a new NSA visitor checkpoint, with possible reopening later.

Fort Meade, Maryland · United States