The true function of the system and the shore terminals, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed by means of the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR), was classified and the term "Naval Facility" was intentionally vague.

[3] The visible shore installations and obvious cable work done in connection with their construction required a cover story explaining them as oceanographic research facilities and that data gathered by oceanographic and acoustic surveys with ships could at times be collected "more expeditiously and more economically by means of shore stations.

"[4] The "oceanographic" cover included the entire span of the facility's existence and decommissioning on 30 June 1976 with the SOSUS mission being declassified in 1991.

[6] In 1958 the facility was still in Quonset huts housing both the sensitive electronic equipment and eight officers and eighty-nine enlisted men.

The complement had grown to ten officers and ninety-four enlisted men and new combination administration building and barracks was requested along with a mess hall and recreation facilities.

[3][7] It was evident that the classified details of the system and its shore terminal was not clear even to some high ranking Senators as the same request for replacement buildings was met by questions in the Senate Committee as to why it could not be moved to another location, including the Boston Navy Yard, and why its "oceanographic work" could not be done at Woods Hole.