Michael A. Stecker
Two Rock Ranch Station
and Medical Dispensary |
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. 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
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. Videos Links
Photos from TRRS 1970-1971 |
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Photos from Two Rock, California
Revisited in 1994 |
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