Naval Support Activity Charleston

Coordinates: 32°51′09″N 79°57′24″W / 32.85250°N 79.95667°W / 32.85250; -79.95667

Map of the southern portion of NSA Charleston

Naval Support Activity Charleston, originally designated Naval Weapons Station Charleston, is a base of the United States Navy located on the west bank of the Cooper River, in the cities of Goose Creek and Hanahan South Carolina.[1][2][3][4] The base encompasses more than 17,000 acres (69 km²) of land with 10,000 acres (40 km²) of forest and wetlands, 16-plus miles of waterfront, four deep-water piers, 38.2 miles (61.5 km) of railroad and 292 miles (470 km) of road. The current workforce (military/civil service/contractor) numbers more than 11,000 with an additional 3,600 people in on-base family housing.[5]

Under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure plan the Air Force is to jointly manage Naval Weapons Station Charleston and Charleston Air Force Base as Joint Base Charleston.[6]

History

Commissioned on November 5, 1941 as the United States Naval Ammunition Depot, (NAD) consisted of 6,368 acres this is now the Station’s Southside area including the Cooper River waterfront. The facility was used as an ammunition collection and distribution point during World War II. Ammunition manufactured throughout the country was sent to the base and then used to supply ordnance to Atlantic fleet vessels. Following WWII, the Depot was charged with the removal of ordnance from ships being deactivated and was used as a weapons storage site. The NAD’s status changed from caretaker to inactive to maintenance to active from 1947 through 1952.

During the mid-1950s, the installation was expanded, the Northside area, another 5,219 acres, was acquired by the Navy in January 1954 and called the Naval Weapons Station Annex and charged with new duties that included the handling of guided missiles and the docking, servicing and loading of submarines. Base personnel were tasked with arming submarines with the UGM-27 Polaris missile.

In 1960 the Polaris Missile Facility Atlantic (POMFLANT) was constructed within the base to enable the handling of Terrier, Tarter, and, Hawk, missiles. Buildings were added again in 1969 for the Standard and Red Eye missiles. The base continued to grow through the 1970s, the Marrington area, an additional 2,894 acres located between Red Bank Road and Foster Creek, was added to the Station. The Navy designated the eastern half as the Marrington Plantation Outdoor Recreation Area and used the western half for the construction of MenRiv Housing and the adjacent support facilities. On September 30, 1981, the Station acquired the nearby Charleston Army Depot. The station's name was then changed to Naval Weapons Station South. In 1995 POMFLANT was decommissioned and the fleet ballistic missile operations moved to Kings Bay, Georgia.

The Naval Nuclear Power Training Command school opened in 1998 and occupies over 50 acres in the central part of the original Marrington tract.

Under the 2005 BRAC the Naval Weapons Station was combined with Charleston Air Force Base to create Joint Base Charleston.

Naval Support Activity Charleston has expanded its mission and Department of Defense support role with over 40 tenant commands, and today is a training center, with the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command (NNPTC), Nuclear Power Training Unit, Propulsion Facility, and Border Patrol satellite academy; Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston; Navy Munitions Command Unit Charleston; Explosive Ordnance Detachments; Marine Corps Reserve Center; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center engineering complex (SPAWAR, the largest employer in the Charleston area); 269 above-ground ammunition magazines, maintenance and storage of military ordnance including mines, and serves as an Army logistics hub, the busiest continental United States surface port in the defense transportation system. In addition, it contains more than 1,800 on-base houses for Navy enlisted and officer dependents as well as Coast Guard dependents. NSA Charleston also has a child care facility, elementary and middle schools. A large medical clinic near NNPTC in Goose Creek was added in 2008.

Current status

The Naval Support Activity has expanded its mission and Department of Defense support role with over 40 tenant commands, and today is a training center, with the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command (NNPTC), Nuclear Power Training Unit, Propulsion Facility, and Border Patrol satellite academy; Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston; Navy Munitions Command Unit Charleston; Explosive Ordnance Detachments; Marine Corps Reserve Center; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center engineering complex (SPAWAR, the largest employer in the Charleston area); 269 above-ground ammunition magazines, maintenance and storage of military ordnance including mines, and serves as an Army logistics hub, the busiest continental United States surface port in the defense transportation system. In addition, it contains more than 1,800 on-base houses for Navy enlisted and officer dependents as well as Coast Guard dependents, and has a child care facility, elementary and middle schools. A large medical clinic near NNPTC in Goose Creek was added in 2008.[7]

Today, Joint Base Charleston, encompassing over 20,877 acres and supporting 53 Military Commands and Federal Agencies, provides service to over 79,000 Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, DOD civilians, dependents, and retirees.

In supporting Joint Base Charleston, the former Charleston Naval Base has been transformed into a multi-use Federal Complex (231 acres) with 17 Government and Military tenants, as well as homeport for 6 RO-RO Military Sealift Command Ships, 2 Coast Guard National Security Cutters, and 2 NOAA Research Ships.

Tenants

Navy

Air Force

Marines

Coast Guard

Army

Federal Complex (former Naval Base Charleston), North Charleston

The former NAVBASE Charleston has been transformed into a multi-use Federal Complex (231 acres) with 17 Government and Military tenants, as well as homeport for 6 RO-RO Military Sealift Command Ships, 2 Coast Guard National Security Cutters, and 2 NOAA Research Ships.

References

  1. ↑ "History". Naval Support Activity Charleston. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Goose Creek city, South Carolina." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Hanahan city, South Carolina." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 30, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Charleston Base Map." Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston. Retrieved on May 30, 2010.
  5. ↑ About Naval Weapons Station Charleston
  6. ↑ Joint Basing with Naval Weapons Station moves forward, July 28, 2006.
  7. ↑ Jill Coley, "Military striving to fix health care ills", The Post and Courier, January 4, 2008.

External links

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