Naval Weapons Station Charleston (Goose Creek, South Carolina)

 arsenal / weapon and ammunition storage, military, United States Navy

Naval Weapons Station Charleston encompasses more than 17,000 acres of land with 10,000 acres of forest and wetlands, 16-plus miles of waterfront, four deep-water piers, 38.2 miles of railroad and 292 miles 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.

Commissioned on November 5, 1941 as the United States Naval Ammunition Depot, 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 loaded onto ships being built at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. After the war, the station oversaw the removal of ordnance from deactivated ships. There was minimal activity at the base for the next several years until the mid-1950s when the station experienced renewed activity when its mission was expanded to include the handling of guided missiles. Base personnel were tasked with arming submarines with the UGM-27 Polaris missile, and in 1960 the Polaris Missile Facility Atlantic (POMFLANT) was constructed within the base. More land was acquired and facilities were built in 1965 to accommodate the handling of Terrier, Tartar, and Hawk missiles. Buildings were added again in 1969 for the Standard and Red Eye missiles. The base continued to grow through the 1970s and, on September 30, 1981, acquired the nearby Charleston Army Depot. The station's name was then changed to Naval Weapons Station South.

Presently the Naval Weapons Station is one of forty 40 tenant commands making up the combined joint Naval and Air Force Weapons Station and utilizes 269 above-ground ammunition magazines for the maintenance and storage of military ordnance including mines, missiles, shells. The station serves as an Army logistics hub in addition to its weapons storage role, and it is presently the busiest continental United States surface port in the defense transportation system.

The Weapons Station has expanded its mission and DoD support role, and today is a training center, with the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, Nuclear Power Training Unit, an engineering center with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center and nearby Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and as the Army logistics hub, the busiest CONUS surface port in the defense transportation system. Sixty W-80-0 Tomahawk SLCM munitions and 85 nuclear aerial bombs for deck-based aircraft are stored at Charleston Naval Weapons Station, located on the west bank of the Cooper River, 40 km from Charleston, South Carolina.

Order of battle

Naval Nuclear Power Training Command,
Nuclear Power Training Unit,
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (Southern Division)

Commanding Officer : Naval Weapons Station Charleston
2316 Red Bank Road, Goose Greek, SC 29445-8601
Base Information: 843-764-7000

www.cnic.navy.mil/charleston/index.htm
www.militarynewcomers.com/NWSCHARLESTON/resources/08_te...
www.militarynewcomers.com/NWSCHARLESTON/Guide.html
www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/charleston_nws...