NSGA Azores, Decommissioned June 30, 1994

In 1952, a Navy High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) station was established at Villa Nova, a civil parish in the municipality of Praia da Vitoria on the island of Terceira in the Portuguese Azores. The site was subsequently moved in 1954 to Lajes, two miles to the East, when the Secretary of the Navy established the United Station Naval Communication Unit, Number 42 (NCU-42), under an Officer-in-Charge with 26 enlisted members. In 1958, the Secretary of the Navy designated the unit as the United Station Group Activity (NSGA), Terceira Island, Azores.

In order to provide primary power, two 60 KW generators become operational in 1960. The personnel allowance increased to two officers and fifty-five enlisted members in 1962. In 1963 that number increased to seventy-six enlisted and in 1965 the numbers again increased to three officers and eighty-six enlisted members. The NSGA was established by the Chief of Naval Operations as a shore (field) activity of the Navy under a Commanding Officer in 1968.