Yakima Training Center, Washington

A 500-square-mile training and firing range in eastern Washington state, near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, used by soldiers from Fort Lewis (located south of Tacoma) and all other branches of the armed services. The largest military landspace in Washington State, and previous known as the Yakima Firing Range. Includes both Vagabond Army Airfield and Selah Airstrip. Some practice bombing takes place here, though the primary use is as a firing range for guns, mortars, grenades, and cannons. Used by British, Japanese, and other allied armed forces. Most of the roads are unpaved, and after a modest cantonment area near the highway, the principal structure is the Range Control building, a few miles into the range. For years this was the location of the highly secure and sensitive Yakima Research Station, known to be an NSA satellite monitoring station. In 2013, the NSA announced its intention to close the Yakima Research Station, and transfer its intercept functions to the Aerospace Data Facility at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.