The United States Logistics Group (TUSLOG), was a cover designation prescribed by the U.S. European Command (EUCOM). In accordance with the demands of the Turkish Government, all U.S. military units and civilian components in Turkey were given designations as TUSLOG detachments. HQ TUSLOG was headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. TUSLOG Units were located in Spain, Libya, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. By 1994, all TUSLOG Units had been deactivated.

sinop

Field Station Sinop, nicknamed “Diogenes Station,” began operating in the mid-1950s. In the early 1960’s, Sinop was home to a 290-person U.S. Army Field Station and a NAVDET. Field Station Sinop (TUSLOG Det 4) was located 2 miles west of the town of Sinop, a fishing port and farming community with a population of just over 18,000 persons. The station was located on a 300 acre facility on a 700 foot hill, at the end of a peninsula.

TUSLOG Det 4 at Sinop, Turkey was a U.S. Army facility and listening post on the Black Sea Coast, during the Cold War. The base was locally known as the NATO “Logistics” base. Sinop is situated in a strategic location, just opposite Sevastopol, in the Crimea. Sinop was notorious for its geodesic domes and parabolic satellite dishes. In the 1960s, music blared constantly out of the main operations building, to trump Soviet intelligence, who surely were listening. Local Turks still refer to the blaring music, in Turkish, as the “radar.”

On May 12, 1961, a U.S. Navy Detachment of TUSLOG 28, NSGA Karamursel, Turkey; was established at the U.S Army Field Station (TUSLOG Det 4) in Sinop. The Detachment consisted of one officer and twelve enlisted personnel and was designated Navy Detachment (NAVDET) TUSLOG Detachment 4. NAVDET TUSLOG Det 4 was manned on a temporary basis until 1966, when the first PCS personnel arrived. NAVDET TUSLOGDet 4 was realigned in December, 1966, renamed and established as TUSLOG Det 28-1.

In July 1975, operations were suspended at all TUSLOG units in Turkey, at the request of the Turkish government. During this period, the U.S. and Turkey were not on diplomatic or political speaking terms. At issue was military bases and foreign aid. Operations resumed on January 16, 1979, after a diplomatic solution was mediated, and the dispute was settled between the U.S. and Turkish governments.

By January 16, 1979, Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Karamursel/TUSLOG Det 28, having also been on suspended operation, moved from Karamursel to Sinop. The U.S. NSGA Karamursel, Turkey was disestablished. When TUSLOG Det 28 reopened in early 1979 after the end of the Turkish Embargo, LCDR David Neiman was the Commanding Officer of the Navy Detachment. TUSLOG Det 28 was re-established at Sinop, but without the NSGA designation. Prior to the move, TUSLOG Det 28 had been located at Karamursel since January 1, 1957. TUSLOG Det 28-1 was absorbed back into the parent unit. The first Officer-in-Charge of TUSLOG Det 28 at Sinop was CWO4 R. W. Dickie. Operations were conducted in a temporary facility at Hippodrome. The Hippodrome facility was manned by both temporary and permanent personnel from Naples, Italy and Rota, Spain. The combined complement was 97 sailors. On April 1, 1980, operations were expanded to include both the Hippodrome and Main Operations.

TUSLOG Det 28 remained at Sinop until September 30, 1982 when the U.S. Navy assume control of the Field Station and renamed the U.S. Navy Field Station, Sinop, Turkey.  LCDR W. Gravell, the OIC of TUSLOG Det 28 at the time, became the first Commanding Officer of the Navy Field Station. The complement was three officers and 81 enlisted men and women.

On July 15, 1992, operations were terminated at Hippodrome and on July 31, 1992, operations were terminated at Main Operations. The withdrawal of equipment and sailors commenced in August, 1992. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. Navy Field Station at Sinop closed down in 1992, and the U.S. Navy TUSLOG Det 28 ceased operations and was decommissioned on September 18, 1992. The last Commanding Officer of the Navy Field Station at Sinop was LCDR M. D. Loomis.

Source: Michael R. “MO” Morris, CTOCS, USN, Retired