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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Spy agency jobs to flow into S.A. The National Security Agency, the nation's cryptology branch, has leased the former Sony chip plant in Northwestern Bexar County and plans to hire at least 1,500 employees, NSA officials said Thursday. Even more jobs could be added as the site develops in several phases, according to the NSA. Nationwide, the NSA is hiring up to 4,500 employees through 2008 and some of those employees will be located here, according to an e-mail message from Ellen Cioccio, an NSA spokeswoman. The NSA already has about 2,000 people at Lackland AFB's Medina Annex. In addition, a group of experienced analysts will transfer from NSA's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters to San Antonio. They will be here to train the military and new civilian employees, Cioccio said. One of the government's most secretive branches, the NSA, whose agents are known as the code breakers and the code makers, performs foreign intelligence gathering, analysis and reporting missions supporting combat commanders and national level decision makers in the United States and abroad. The San Antonio NSA office includes personnel from the Army, Marine Corps., Navy, Air Force and the civilian Defense Department. "NSA is expanding its presence in San Antonio as part of our transformation efforts and as a result of the lessons learned from our global war on terrorism experiences," according to Cioccio. San Antonio beat out sites in Georgia and Hawaii for the NSA expansion project. San Antonio was chosen because the NSA already has a large, growing presence here. "Obviously, this is a huge deal for the city and one we've been working on for some time," County Judge Nelson Wolff said. "It's a perfect site for a mission like this." Last week, Corporate Office Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Columbia, Md., bought the Sony site for $30.5 million and leased it to the Army Corps of Engineers on the NSA's behalf. The NSA does as much as it can to hide its identity, said James Bamford, the author of two bestselling books on the NSA: "Body of Secrets" and "The Puzzle Palace." The new NSA site, at Loop 410 and Military Drive, consists of two connected buildings that contain office and research and development space totaling about 475,000 square feet. Those buildings could be expanded by several thousand more square feet. In addition, Office Properties Trust plans to buy 43 more acres around the 50-acre Sony Campus. The campus has the ability to accommodate three more buildings and its developers eventually expect the site to exceed 1 million square feet, making it the city's second largest office park after USAA's headquarters on the North Side. The developers need to do some remodeling to the site to accommodate the NSA operations, which are expected to begin moving in this fall. "We're excited about the prospect and looking forward to the new jobs that are created," Mayor Ed Garza said. Already, San Antonio has a strong presence of cyber security operations and research with existing NSA operations and the U.S. Air Force Intelligence Agency at Lackland, nicknamed Security Hill. The University of Texas at San Antonio also is one of 59 universities in the nation recognized by the NSA, which designated it a center for academic excellence in information assurance education. With its growing expertise, San Antonio has developed a reputation nationwide as a top-notch information security city, said U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez. And since 9-11 and Gulf War II, the U.S. government has been beefing up its intelligence agencies and particularly its operations here, he said. The Texas Congressional delegation received a briefing on the NSA expansion in San Antonio on Thursday. The project has been kept top secret because of its mission. "It's a sophisticated operation in every way," Gonzalez said. "This is a great opportunity for individuals in San Antonio." The site will be a major intelligence campus of the NSA and one of the largest campuses outside of Fort Meade, where the NSA has between 20,000 and 30,000 employees and operates like a small city. The NSA must expand outside of Washington because they've run out of room at their current site, Bamford said. The San Antonio site will also help diversify the agency and not make them as vulnerable in the event of an attack, he said. "To have something of this magnitude is going to be a huge plus for us," said Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, which has been working to get the project for almost a year. On May 4, the NSA will have a career fair at the Omni Hotel in San Antonio. The agency is looking to hire intelligence analysts, language experts, computer scientists, mathematicians, signals analysts, accountants, financial analysts, investigators and police officers. When Sony shut down its chip manufacturing plant in 2003, the city lost 600 high-paying jobs and a major technology company. But now, the site will become home to the NSA and will help protect the United States at home and abroad, Wolff said. "When you have something bad happen, this shows something good can come from it," he said.
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#1. To: Zipporah (#0)
The site will be a major intelligence campus of the NSA and one of the largest campuses outside of Fort Meade, where the NSA has between 20,000 and 30,000 employees and operates like a small city. Career Day, May 4th: On May 4, the NSA will have a career fair at the Omni Hotel in San Antonio. The agency is looking to hire intelligence analysts, language experts, computer scientists, mathematicians, signals analysts, accountants, financial analysts, investigators and police officers.
I wonder if those jobs will be open to illegals?? :P
Look for a LOT of foreign visa workers with airline tickets to SA on May 4th.
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