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.
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
Station HYPO 
18 September 2020 at 17:21
I was TAD to Sinop for 3 months starting the 1st of April in 1966. Permanent personnel were not assigned until after I left the first of July and there were some others from Karamursel Det 28 who were there after me. We Navy sailors all ate at a Turkish Restaurant in Sinop when not on a string of watches. The Roman ruins of the old city area were very nice to see.
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18 January 2021 at 20:37
Good day Robert, nice to hear your story, Iam a Turk and have been very often in sinop, by any chance do you remember the Restaurants Names, it would be interesting to know as I know some Restaurant Owners.
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19 January 2021 at 15:27
Well, in 1982-83 at least, there were the Yeni Liman and Eski Liman (New and Old Harbor), run by a colorful middle-aged guy who had excellent English. There was no menu. The owner would invite you to come back into the kitchen to lift lids and peer into the various pots of whatever was on offer that day, in order to make your selection. It was all good, and a lot of us ate there fairly often (but usually only on weekends). Also very inexpensive, for those being paid by US military standards – a rib-sticking meal cost a couple of bucks, tops. On my return to Sinop in 2014 (outlined above), I tried to find these and other landmarks, but the town had changed (not surprisingly). I did find the shop still (then) being operated by an old guy who carved the characteristic sailboats so popular with military and tourists alike…but while I found some restaurants, none of the staff admitted to knowing about any of the old places.
There was also the Buyuk Hoteliya (Large Hotel, known locally as “the Yeni”, since it was the newest hotel in town, circa early-80’s). This place (also mentioned above) fancied itself as having a gourmet dining room. They were pretty good, but the atmosphere wasn’t as relaxed and “local” as the Yeni Liman, my favorite. The Hotel did somehow manage to secure better cuts of beef for their Sis Kebap – sometimes (like when the management was trying to butter me up for some reason), it seemed like tenderloin, which was NOT the normal expectation for that dish.
There were a number of other places, but the Americans tended to stick to the ones I name and maybe just a couple of others, as I recall. In any case, I rarely ventured into typical Turkish “raki bars”, except in a group – and usually a mixed US/Turkish group at that.
One of my first Turkish phrases was “Turk yemek – cok guzel!” (Turkish food is great!)…That remains my opinion to this day.
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18 September 2020 at 20:04
I was assigned to Det 28 in 64 and part of 65. I was being moved to SINOP in late 65 but was redirected to the VALDEZ and joined that crew Christmas 65 in Cape Town.
Ron Gant
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25 November 2020 at 12:49
I was on the USNS Robinson out of Capetown. Saw your vessel a couple of times, all white wasn’t it?…
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18 September 2020 at 23:28
The Sinop compound appears to have been no more than about 1 mile EAST of Sinop, not two miles West.
42.029754, 35.169928
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21 September 2020 at 19:12
While at Karamursel in the laten1950s several of us traveled to Trabzon, Samsun, and Sinop for a site/survey/ feasibility study. Later in my career I returned to Sinop for a one year tour. I am probably one ov very few who can claim to having sat a position at Karamursel, Trabzon, Samsun, and Sinop.
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21 September 2020 at 19:14
‘Ananomus above wascfrom
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18 November 2020 at 21:03
Sinop was my first command, and a deeply-memorable experience on many levels.
We were very conscious of our location and role during the Cold war, and had opportunities to both hone and apply professional skills that made a difference. Female CTI’s in particular sought out and qualified for roles that were not then broadly available to them in the Navy. Sinop’s mission and capabilities gave them, and indeed all of the crew, professional opportunities that were unique in the world at that time.
The exchange rate was such that every American sailor was quite wealthy by local standards, and a number of the CT’s traveled extensively throughout the country, learning and collecting souvenirs. We only had two officers, though, at least until I was relieved by LCDR Clyde Lopez in the spring of ’83.
Throughout my year in command, we tried to dream up recreational and morale-building activities, including a Navy Day Ball during which we hosted RADM P. W. Dillingham, COMNAVSECGRU, and persuaded the 6th fleet band to fly in and play for us. That went so well we organized a “spring prom” – another excuse to dress up and have fun; the band returned.
To my amazement, after the base closed the town of Sinop repurposed itself as a “tourist destination” (at least by local standards). Right next to the Buyuk Hotel (now a ruin, if not already demolished – I attended its dedication in 1982), they built a pier capable of berthing large cruise ships (a fact which will astonish pre-1990’s Sinop veterans). Thereafter, for a number of years Regent Cruise Lines scheduled an annual cruise around the Black Sea, which stopped at Sinop every other year. I took that cruise in 2014 and spent a day in the town of Sinop, including a taxi ride up to The Hill. We couldn’t enter the old base – the Turks were then using it actively – but we skirted the fence and went out the back road, past Hippy to the old Turkish site on the point…Never thought I’d see Bird S*** Rock again…I used to run out there, from the base and back, EVERY day…(never again).
The core of the Navy is the Fleet, but the heart and soul of the old SECGRU was the diverse scattering of overseas bases, especially the small ones, which served as crucibles for the emergence of many great careers and rewarding, memorable lives. I had other leadership opportunities later, but never anything like Sinop. It was my great honor and privilege to serve with such dedicated young sailors, in the performance of such important work.
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19 November 2020 at 01:25
Captain Gravell, thank you for your comment. Please let me know if you ever want to contribute to Station HYPO. Sincerely, Mario
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17 February 2021 at 00:14
And to continue the chain, I relieved LCDR Clyde Lopez as CO in May 1985. A 13-month tour that was a phenomenally good experience. Operationally – spectacular. But culturally, it couldn’t have been better either. As Bill said, great food at great prices. But more importantly, our Turkish hosts, both on base and in town, couldn’t have been more hospitable. And the senior US officer was an Army INSCOM Colonel who did a great job of maintaining a cohesive US “family” among his tenants – like us.
Like Bill, a fellow USNA grad – he was actually one of the 1/c (seniors) in my company during Plebe summer (1972), we did our best to highlight the superiority of Navy folks. For example, for the 1985 Army-Navy game I had a bet with the Army CO that the losing representative would parade the opponent’s mascot around The Hill. Always a good sport, when Navy won (whew!) he led a goat around the compound. And, IIRC, he even bought ice cream for sailors at the on-base Baskin-Robbins. Similarly, our 75-sailor command organized a Navy Birthday ball which was second to none. And a few months later, even the Army folks were asking why their Army Ball didn’t compare to the Navy’s event (they were right, you know). Nothing but friendly rivalry – but it still felt great! And the icing on the cake – multiple Army officers that consistently asked “Why can’t the Army be more like the Navy?” Sweet!
Like Bill or Clyde or Mike or any other Sinop CO, I’d put my sailors up against any of theirs. But that’s just the Navy Way. We know that Sinop sailors are a special breed and we’d unreservedly serve with them again – even 35+ years later. (That said, my sailors were still the best!)
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17 February 2021 at 15:01
Mark’s comments regarding the “friendly rivalry” of our command vs. the Army host, which was much larger in just about every metric except per capita fill-in-the-blank, make me smile and expose a flood of memories. One among many stands out:
It was decided that per Army Regulation such-and-so, it was time to repaint the base – all of it – on ALL weather-facing surfaces. An appropriately-large budget to buy a lot of paint was approved. The Army suggested that painting being just the kind of thing that junior-enlisted military personnel should be good at, the Navy should be expected to provide the labor to paint its own stand-alone barracks (which also contained the Quarterdeck and not-unimportantly, the lounge/bar, called The Gundeck). This was agreed to, but with a wicked twinkle in the eye…
The Colonel was off-base TAD (TDY to them) when the painting was accomplished, all over a single weekend. As usual upon his return, the C-12 circled over the Hill as part of the line-up for landing. A short time thereafter, a sputtering Army Colonel was on the phone…the Navy command had painted the Barracks all right…but had done so in a nice shade of two-tone blue (aided in this substitution by sympathetic civilian employees in the Supply Dept), while EVERY other structure on the base was newly painted in classic Army light-lime green…(I imagine they found the bland color ‘restful’…)
The Colonel wanted to have the Navy barracks redone, but the S4 pointed out that per the same operative Army Reg, to repaint a building so quickly after having applied the immediately-earlier paint would represent something akin to “fraud, waste and abuse”…I inherited this freshly-accomplished coup upon assumption of command; when I left in ’83, the Navy Barracks was still blue…and the same fouled anchor stood in front of it.
They always ‘spanked’ us in the various Army-Navy athletic contests (having a team-recruiting base of about 7:1 over us), but as Mark, Admiral Cole and others of us before and since learned at USNA, “it doesn’t matter who wins the game; Navy ALWAYS wins the party…”
Bill Gravell
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29 December 2020 at 23:55
I was stationed at Sinop, Turkey from February 1959 for a year, till I went to Korea with the Army Security Agency as a Cryptographer. fortunately I was 18 years old, so the out house latrines, chopping wood to keep warm in our Jamesway huts wasn’t all that bad. I learned much in my military MOS which helped me tremendously in Korea. I still think about Sinop and the men I worked with, and the dogs they had as pets. No women were there at the time. town was off limits during public executions, and don’t look at the women down town. their men would go crazy and want to do strange things to you via sharp knives. I could probably write a short book about what we did, but it would probably mostly be classified. Had to have a top-secret/crypto clearance to perform my military duties. The things were did at the time were amazing. 1959 was a very, very interesting year monitoring our friends across the sea.
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31 December 2020 at 16:22
I was a CT aboard the USS PETERSON (DD969) during our MED 94-95, when we did a port visit to Samsun Turkey. Some DIRSUP members and I met up with one of the locals who had worked at Sinop. It was wintertime, so the town air was mostly coal smoke, so heavy, it was like smoking packs of unfiltered Camels. With the changing times, one wonders if technology has permanently replaced such stations like Sinop. (We know that old adversaries change names but seem to be adversarial again.)
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22 January 2021 at 18:49
Robert Crouse. I was station there at the same time as CAPT (then-LCDR) Bill Gravell. 1982 – 1983. I worked out at the Hippodrome as a Army “98J”. The day I arrived we lost a guy swimming of the beach at the airfield to ripe tides. They closed it and I never got to go there. Also while I was there they were building a resort hotel alone the road to the south side of the the hill. If my shift would allow I when to the Yeni and had toasted fresh bread and goats butter with the Turkish coffee. I would never want to go there again. I was denied midtour leave and had to spend the hole year there. That sucks when your 24 and married. I when from the 101st Airborne to their them back to the 101st Airborne. I loved the job just not there. LOL PS. I just remembered! Never go downtown with out a roll of TP!
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15 February 2021 at 00:07
My father worked at the listening station for 18 months back in the late 60s or early 70s. I’m visiting Sinop for the first time this coming fall to see where my father worked. I am excited.
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15 February 2021 at 04:27
Hope enjoy your visit. What was/is your Dad’s name?
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6 June 2021 at 22:32
Sorry I just now saw this! His name is Tom Johnson. I don’t know know what his rank was whilst there; he was pretty young and probably enlisted a year or two prior. I’m skeptical he was older than 20. I recall him saying he was there for maybe 18 months? Probably back in 1968 or so because Israel had recently won the 1967 war.
Unfortunately he is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. It would be a treat to show him pictures and have him relay more stories than he did in my youth, but it will be a meaningful trip nonetheless.
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7 June 2021 at 17:39
If your experience is anything like mine in 2014, you’ll be able to get a taxi up the hill road from town (or walk, but it was an arduous trek for trim and fit 20-somethings – I took a taxi this time!). In 2014, the Turks were actively using the main base for berthing, messing and logistics (just like we did). It looked neat and well-maintained, but that was my view through the fence – we weren’t allowed to enter. Instead, we had the driver take the dirt side road which paralleled the fence until it joined the main (paved) road between the back gate and the Hippodrome. Depending on your father’s specific skills and training, he either worked “at Hippy” or on the Main Base. In any case, you can take the paved road all the way out to the old “Turkish OPS Building” on the point. Given then-recent real estate development of the hilly areas east of the base, in 2014 it was possible to travel via “new road” down near the water, all the way back into town. Neither this development nor the road existed in the 80’s.
However and of possible interest, in the 19th century the Turks established a number of coast defense gun batteries in the hillside, facing east and southeast. I used to walk around out there (without benefit of roads) and go exploring in the underbrush, since some of the batteries had become overgrown. Great memories…
CAPT Bill Gravell, USN (ret)
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27 September 2021 at 18:12
I was there starting in about 69-70 sitting position an air force 203, Russian Linquist. What was your dad’s name?
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27 September 2021 at 18:51
Thomas Johnson from Washington State.
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27 September 2021 at 18:53
Sorry forgot to select I wanted emails if you reply again.
Thomas Johnson from Washington State.
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25 March 2021 at 11:31
I was at Diogenes Station from 82-84 and played on the Navy basketball, volleyball, and softball teams. No one “spanked” us when I was there. In fact, our Navy team won the post basketball and volleyball championships. I don’t remember there being a championship series for softball, but we had a good record and were never “spanked.” In addition, Navy had three players starting on the post volleyball team; we won the 1983 Turkish Regional Volleyball championship at Incirlik. Navy had two players starting on the post basketball team; we took third place in a Turkish Regionals tournament in Izmir. In sports, Navy represented well above our overall percentage of post personnel, at least from 1982 to 1984.
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11 April 2021 at 17:43
I was a CTI1 when I arrived at NFS Sinop in September 1982. I had the honor of working under the leadership of C.O.s LCDR Gravell and CDR Lopez.
I’d begged, pleaded, and promised all sorts of things (!) to have my orders out of Intermediate Russian changed from NSGA Misawa (900 DIRSUP) to NFS Sinop. Then, during my CO interview, LCDR Gravell assigned me to duty as … Educational Services Officer. Hmmm. He listened to my reasoned protestations and told me that I was now the ESO.
This isn’t a complaint. As I dug into the matter, I found out the Why and I worked out the Fix. It was all about taking care of your shipmates, both former and current. I didn’t, and don’t, regret a minute of my work on that.
LCDR Gravell created a new operational assignment, Command Watch Chief, and assigned me to it. That required incredible trust in me and my as-yet undemonstrated capabilities; I remain in his debt for that. Any success I achieved is the product of the skills of the cryptologists at Mainside and Hippodrome and a superb PandR analyst, CTR2 Sue Craig.
Each of the three Turkish Army NCOs with whom we worked side-by-side were superb, multi-skilled cryptologic professionals. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with them.
The women and men assigned to NFS Sinop were uniformly superb in their professionalism and commitment to each other. And, if anyone asks, I know all about The Gundeck while knowing nothing at all about The Gundeck, outside of the fact that The Gundeck passed our NSG IG inspection.
CDR Lopez, upon his assignment as C.O., impressed me a lot. However, I served under his leadership for barely a month due to my rotation in September 1983.
————————–
By the way, the explanation of why the Turkish government had the U.S. bases in Turkey closed – “At issue was military bases and foreign aid” – is, at best, incomplete. More to the point, Turkey strongly objected to U.S. Congressional response to Turkey’s reaction to the Cyprus coup against Archbishop Makarios III in 1974 by the Greek Army (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus#United_States_arms_embargo_on_Turkey_and_Republic_of_Cyprus).
/s/ CTIC(SS) Donald H White
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17 April 2021 at 00:06
I was stationed here from 1988-1989. It was one of the most interesting tours I hade in my eight years of service in the US Army. I would love to hear from anyone else who served here during this time. Jeffschultz192@gmail.com
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25 May 2021 at 04:29
I was stationed at Sinop 1990-1992
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9 June 2021 at 16:05
My first duty station, following boot camp and R-Branch training at Corry Station in Pensacola, was Det 28 in Karamursel, in 1964. Seventeen years later and several language schools under my belt, my final tour was Sinop as a CT I Brancher. I arrived New Year’s Day 1981 and departed New Year’s Day 1982. LCDR Frank Lunney (may he RIP) was OIC when I arrived and LCDR Gil Edwards was OIC when I left the “Hill.” The Army-Navy game that year in Philadelphia was played to a 3-3 tie but the Army-Navy game on the Hill saw a plucky band of Sailors soundly defeat the Army. We invited the Army into the Gundeck Lounge following the game and spliced the mainbrace for a few hours. Sailors being who we are, we relished the opportunity to pull a prank on the Army and that year was no exception. The night before the football game on base, a small crew stealthily went to the main gate and painted Ataturk’s cannon in Navy Blue and Gold. The Turkish base commander had no problem but the Army Colonel was livid. He began an investigation to find the culprits and have them punished. He had special investigators from the Military Police interview all suspects (mostly at the Navy Det for some reason). We all had a good laugh because the MP investigators determined, following a week-long investigation that some Army personnel had painted the cannon in Navy colors in order to shift the focus to the Sailors. I still tell that story, even forty years later. That year we put on quite a wonderful Navy Day Ball with Robert Strauss-Hupe, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, as our special guest. I found a couple of Army M-Branch equivalent guys to help me get the local radio station up and running. KBOK was back on the air once again. My small crew kept the hill wondering where the golf course was and how we got a traffic helicopter. Gullibility ran rampant back in those days. I shall never forget the Hill or the many Sailors and Army friends who made the year memorable. I hope the Army keeps the caissons rolling along and to all my Navy shipmates, Fair Winds and Following Seas.
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5 November 2021 at 00:41
I served with the Army’s signal unit, Det 169, in ‘76-‘77. This was during the time that the Turks had shut down all operations. There were only about 100 to 125 US personnel (military/civilian) stationed there during that time. A Turkish Army colonel was in command of the base and only the Turkish flag was allowed to be flown outdoors. The INSCOM LTCol was just a tenant unit commander. Det 4 was strictly in a maintenance and housekeeping mode. There were 2 Navy and 2 AF personnel there when I arrived, and they left within 30-60 days. INSCOM wanted to pull all personnel from the site and shut it down completely. The Turks said the people can leave but all the equipment stays. Obviously the US Gov’t was not going to leave this type of equipment in the hands of a foreign country. So a US presence had to remain to safeguard/maintain the systems there. Det 169’s mission really didn’t change because we still had to operate the base communications. But we all kind of felt like we were living in a minimum security prison. As July 4,1976 was the US bicentennial, we requested that we be allowed to fly the flag and have an outdoor formation and a short patriotic program. Not allowed, our bicentennial celebration had to be held indoors in the base theater. Some of the troops had written to their congressman complaining of the situation, and the deputy US Ambassador came up from Ankara and explained that once the US and Turkish governments resolved their differences over the ‘74 Cyprus flare up (basically Congress needed to lift the Turkish arms embargo) then things would return to normal. From what I’ve seen on this blog, apparently that didn’t occur until 1979.
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9 December 2021 at 19:55
Holy smoke! A blog about the Sinop station…I was assigned as supervisor to assist with the base closure processes in 1990, my specific duties was to refurbish the water treatment plant, water distribution systems on base. I also helped mothball the power plant, shipped out equipment and supervised ongoing operations until base closure.
Was there in Sinop until I was permanently transferred to Incirlik AB in a much warmer part of the country!
Got one real special memory to share, the closing of the club where all the slot machine were. On the last night, they rigged the 25c slot machines to hit “jackpots” about every third or so pull spitting out huge amounts of quarters. I remember having a phasic bucket between my feet to hold all the “winnings”. The next day the club was closed for good.
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16 December 2021 at 16:43
I was at Sinop from December 1971 to January 1973. I was Army Security Agency, an NSA sub-group. We had to remove all patches and rank so the Turks did not think were were aggressors…or so the story goes. I do not remember ANY Navy personnel on “the Hill”. Air Force was there along with their constant complaints about everything. I was the head of Electronics Maintenance at Hippodrome, the “radar” site at the tip of the peninsula. It was funny to see the Russian “fishing trawlers” anchored just off the point with 3 or more radomes and loads of antennas. Not very ‘stealthy’.
Habesh owned the largest fishing fleet in Sinop and was a very generous and welcoming person. I did some English work with the Turkish English teacher at the school there. We got bored during the summer and made a GoKart. That freaked out the Turks.
My Captain flew the Otter mail plane. When the Russian photo reconnaissance planes flew over, everyone on ‘the Hill’ would run outside and wave with big smiles. Must have drove the Russians nuts.
Did any of you explore the tunnels on the peninsula? They were dug by the Ottomans during their fights with the Greeks and had a few domed ‘rooms’. At the end of one of the tunnels was a rusted iron door. Odd that we never attempted to open that door. The tunnel entrances were hidden by natural formations in the landscape. You could walk right by and never know the tunnel was there. All around the peninsula there were reverse ‘forts and stables’ that could not be seen from the Black Sea. A lot of history on that peninsula.
It was an interesting tour.
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12 January 2022 at 04:12
I am a retired US Army Master Sergeant that was stationed in Sinop, Turkey from ’68 till ’69 at Diogenes Station, DET 169. I was in the Signal Corps and realized we were operating secretly as a listening post. I’ve only seen only one other post that DET 169 even existed.
I had a great experience in Sinop, made many Turkish friends and military friends and have many fond memories and pictures to prove it. At 23 years of age as a SP-4, I was leader of a small group of Black soldiers,who were younger, that gave them guidance to cope in even this toxic environment. We stuck together for security because even in a foreign country, white American carried their prejudices with them.
I enjoyed it most of all for the Turkish people on base that I befriended and became very close to two in particular. Ihan, who was one of our drivers, because Americans were not allowed to drive in Turkey. They were our “obbies” My other good friend was Mr Sirhan who worked with us at the transmitter site. There were others too who showed a kingship with us black soldiers.
I learned how to develop film there and spend many, many hours in the hobby shop developing film. Became a avid photographer at that time. I actually rode a horse for the first time in Turkey, thanks to Ihan. We always went to town in groups of three or more and sincerely had fun. I remember one time we went to Istanbul and visited the Grand Bazaar (Caps La Chargi) (sp). We come around one corner and there’s music playing. It was typicaI Turkish music with cymbals, tamerines and bangoes. I break out in a dance that apparently amused everyone in the square and they egged me on and on.I enjoyed it more than I can describe.
All in all, Turkey has been one of my more enjoyable tour of duties and I always wanted to return with my wife. But right now, there is too much global unrest. I really want to take her to the Grand Bazaar and the Blue Mosque and meet the friendly Turkish people.
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12 January 2022 at 04:15
Did you, by chance, know a fellow soldier named Tom Johnson?? He’s my dad and I think was over there at that time. He too enjoyed photography.
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30 March 2022 at 00:58
I just want to forward this comment to my email address!
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23 January 2022 at 18:49
TUSLOG Det 28-1 was my first Russian billet as an E-4 from spring 1972 to spring of 1973 after serving my first Chi-Ling duty in the Philippines and reenlisting while TAD to the USS Hancock (CVA-19) in the Gulf of Tokin. There were only about 10 of us in the detachment with a CTIC as our boss. The first female US Military personnel arrived during that time. As I recall there were about 10 or so who were certainly an oddity on post at that time. My roommate dated a very attractive army medic who usually had a single edge razor blade in her huge afro above her left ear. I was an operator/analyst during my tour which was the best of my 23-year career in the Naval Security Group.
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20 February 2022 at 03:06
Michael Remick, U.S. Army, Military Police, TUSLOG DET 4, Sinop, Turkey, May of 1972 through July 1973. Top Secret, Crypto Security Clearances were required at that time. Security was very tight. About 350 personnel +/- on site, I suppose. Mostly Air Force and Navy. Turkish Army and U.S. Army supplied security, manned the gates, perimeters, secured Operations, Hippodrome and the Airport. Small contingent of Limeys, plain clothes folks that were housed at the Yeni Hotel, contiguous to the Black Sea. Some will recall the Chi ( Tea ) gardens there. My Military Police duty took me all over Turkey. Samsun, Istanbul, Ankara, Incirlik. There were many TUSLOG detachments in Turkey. Many, did not know that at the time. Of course, we did not speak, one to another, about our duties. All of these years later, I still don’t. Turkish civilians manned the motor pool, mess hall, laundry and such. There was one road in and the same one out. The view was spectacular from ” The Hill “. Many will recall the ” White Boat “. All personnel were rigidly checked at the Main Gate by MP and Turk MP’s. For a time was Master of Arms at the Black Sea NCO Open Mess and still have a Zippo lighter given to me as a gift with the Diogenes Station logo etched on it. If you went to the Open Mess from that era, I am sure that you will recall Ali Erkum and Mahair Arslan. .
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20 February 2022 at 16:12
I smile at the mention of the White Boat. As the CO of the TUSLOG Det 28 (later USNAVFLDSTA Sinop), I had a gorgeous view from my quarters in the BOQ of the whole town and harbor. On a clear day I could see as far as the airfield. Twice a week, that view included the White Boat, as it anchored out for a brief stop westbound and eastbound (one stop each way, weekly – don’t recall what day of the week these occurred, but it was always the same).
I enjoyed the unique nature of my Sinop tour and sought “memorable experiences” whenever possible. One of these was when I took the White Boat to Istanbul (returning some days later by bus – an adventure in itself!…But that’s another story). The trip started with a transit by small motorboat out to the anchored White Boat, which I boarded via a ladder leading to a hatch in the ship’s side.
Arranged with the assistance of Oktay Kurus (who was still around and local as of 2014), I secured the “Luks A” cabin – the mirror image of the Captain’s cabin, on the upper deck. It featured a private promenade deck with deck chairs, huge bed (bigger than a King Size, but with a woven-rope “mattress”), claw-foot-and-ball porcelain bathtub, and other Agatha-Christie-esque amenities. I joined the Captain at his table for meals, and ate pretty well (typical Turkish restaurant-grade food, vice the unappealing fare offered to “1st class” passengers; 2nd class got a nasty sort of gruel; 3rd class (deck passage) had to provide for their own food).
The non-stop trip from Sinop to Istanbul took almost exactly 24 hours, and of course included a lovely passage of the Bosporus, something I wasn’t able to repeat until 2014.
Punchline: Total cost for fare and board: $35 US dollars…
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18 May 2022 at 17:29
Turns out to have been a very short sighted action…
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