Michael A. Stecker
mastecker@gmail.com


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Scenic Treasures


 

Two Rock Ranch Station and Medical Dispensary
formerly an Army Security Agency base
(near Petaluma, California)


 

Two Rock is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is located on Stemple Creek in a rural area west of Petaluma. A hill named Dos Piedros (Spanish for "two rocks", 157 feet (48 m) above sea level) overlooks the community from the north.  The main road is Valley Ford Road, which passes northwest-southeast through Two Rock.The Coast Guard's Training Center Petaluma facility is located just south of Two Rock.

On 7 August 1942, Two Rock Ranch Station was established as a primary monitoring station under the command of the Chief Signal Officer. The area had been dairy and poultry farms prior to War Department purchase of the nine tracts. The first contingent of troops to occupy the installation included two (2) officers and 45 enlisted men from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, who arrived in October 1942. The only billeting consisted of tents while the former ranch houses were converted for use as administrative and operational facilities.

The primary mission of Two Rock Ranch Station was the interception of enemy radio transmissions with a secondary mission of training radio operators for service in the Pacific Theater. By 9 April 1943, 23 buildings had been constructed and the number of personnel assigned had been increased from 200 to 521 men. All buildings were camouflaged to give the appearance from the air that the installation was nothing more than a working ranch. A haystack covered the water tower, furrows were plowed and planted, and an artificial cow made of feathers over a wire frame was placed in a pen.

In October of 1943, a contingent of approximately 100 Women's Army Corps (WAC) personnel was assigned as radio operators. These personnel stayed until the end of the war.

At the end of World War II, Two Rock Ranch Station was redesignated as a special installation under the command of the Army Security Agency (ASA). The mission of monitoring radio transmissions for intelligence purposes remained the same. An ambitious program of modernization was begun wherein most of the original ranch buildings and World War II structures were replaced by more modern, permanent structures.

On 25 April 1947, a tract containing 35.37 acres was transferred from the War Department to the War Assets Administration (WAA) . An additional 5.36 acres was quitclaimed to the Two Rock Union School District on 11 December 1951.

Advances in satellite technology eventually made the antenna fields at Two Rock Ranch Station obsolete and the installation was closed on 30 June 1971. On 29 July 1971, the Department of the Army transferred the remaining 835.68 acres to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Department of Transportation (DOT) for use as a USCG training center. The USCG also obtained the 35.37-acre tract that had been transferred to the WAA in 1947.

My TRRS duty
I served in the US Army Medical Corps as a general medical officer (captain) from late summer, 1969 (after first moon landing) through summer 1971 (TRRS base closure).  While Two Rock Ranch Station was an Army Security Agency (ASA) base, I worked in its medical facility which was part of the US Army Medical Corps, Sixth Army out of Ft. Ord (Monterey, California). 

 

After discharge in 1971, I moved to Los Angeles, California where I did a residency in diagnostic radiology at L.A. County- University of Southern California Medical Center.  I was born in Brooklyn, NY, but raised in Detroit, Michigan.  My college and medical education were at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  I am retired and live in Los Angeles, California.
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Videos
Hymn To The Fallen

Arlington Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans - Pt. Loma, California

Links
Army Security Agency (ASA) Short History
Bob DiLibero's Two Rock Ranch Station
Ken Cates 1969 TRRS photo pages
Tom Callahan's old TRRS photos
Arlington Hall
United States Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma
U.S. Army Medical Corps
Presidio of San Franisco Officer Club photo
Presidio of San Francisco (National Park Service)
Two rocks photo, history and TR Volunteer Fire Department
 

Photos from TRRS 1970-1971
Mouse click on any of the thumbnail images below for an enlargement
 


TRRS Front Gate, 1968

 


Two Rock Ranch Station 1970

 


TRRS lakes and antennae


 
       


lake

 


Salamander Canyon

 


Salamander Canyon (crop)

         


TRRS buildings


Operations


TRRS Dispensary


 
       


Dispensary front entrance

 


TRRS ambulance

 


Medics


 
       


Dispensary Waiting Room

 


Cpt. Michael Stecker, M.D.

 


Pharmacy


 
       


X-ray

 


James French & Sgt. Sion

 


Cpt. John Johnson, DDS


 

 

 

 

 


Sgt. Lemuel Bruce

 


Sgt. Fred Sion

 


Lab Tech James French


 
       


Sonoma coastal Highway 1

 


Army Security Agency Patch

 


Russian River


 
       


Sonoma County Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

Photos from Two Rock, California Revisited in 1994
Mouse click on any of the thumbnail images below for an enlargement

 


Two Rock pumpkins

 


USCGTC entrance

 


USCGTC buildings


 
       


Fire Station at Two Rock

 


Two Rock Church

 


Health Service main entrance


 
       


Medical/Dental Clinic

 


My refurbished office

 


Road to Bodega Bay


 
       


Sonoma Coast, 1994

 


small Sonoma beach

 


sandbar


 
       


Sonoma coast near Jenner

 


Italian dinners

 


Presidio of San Francisco Officer Club