Bases in plain sight? inside normal buildings?

Situated in a lush and remote valley in the Allegheny Mountains five hours' drive southwest of Washington, the Greenbrier is one of the nation's premier resorts, a place that touts itself as a playground for foreign princes and America's political elite. Twenty-three men who were or would become U.S. presidents have stayed there. Dinners are six courses. The most elaborate are set with 24-karat-gold vermeil and served by waiters in forest green livery. A fleet of bottle-green stretch limos idles in front of the columned portico. Spread over 6,500 manicured acres, complete with golf courses, skeet shooting, spas and a stream stocked with rainbow trout, the Greenbrier wants to be seen as a resort of distinction and aristocratic carriage. It is designated a National Historic Landmark -- and seems among the last places one might expect to find a Strangelovian bunker.

Though the resort has knowingly hosted both the ultra-sensitive congressional hideaway and the people who maintain it, there seems to have been little concern that any of the Greenbrier's 1,600 employees would reveal the facility's existence. Many have heard rumors about what lies beneath the vast extension known as the West Virginia Wing, which houses luxury rooms and a complete medical clinic. Some have direct knowledge of the installation, but no one will talk openly about it. The Greenbrier is the only significant private employer in hardscrabble Greenbrier County, and its workers -- many of whom are second- and third-generation employees -- don't have to be reminded of the strictness with which the resort manages its public image. "Anyone who doesn't work here and who is of working age, there's a reason they're not here," says the hotel's president, Ted Kleisner. "Everyone comes to work for life here. People die. People retire. And a couple of people get fired each year. That's it."

Even before the facility was built, the Greenbrier and the U.S. government were no strangers. In the winter of 1941-42, the hotel served as a U.S. internment facility for Japanese, Italian and German diplomats. On September 1, 1942, the U.S. Army commandeered the entire resort -- purchasing it for $3.3 million from its owner, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad -- then converted it into a 2,200-bed military hospital. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was twice a patient there. (He returned to celebrate a wedding anniversary in 1945.) After the war, the rail- road bought the resort back. Other governmental links followed. In 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson met at the Greenbrier with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretaries of the Army, Air Force and Navy for what a history of the Greenbrier called a "top-secret discussion of postwar military strategy." In 1956 Eisenhower hosted an international conference there with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. Hotel operators at the time answered the phone: "Good morning, Greenbrier White House." The hotel has three connecting "Eisenhower Parlors," and Ike's bust is on display in the North Parlor.

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