05-10-2024 MAW - Flipbook - Page 7
Baltimore Sun Media | Friday, May 10, 2024 7
Bases
from Page 6
Naval Support Facility
Indian Head
Founded in 1890, as a gun
test facility on the Potomac
River in Charles County,
Naval Support Facility
Indian Head has evolved
and expanded to include
numerous missions serving
all branches of the military
– Navy, Air Force, Army and
Marines. Its main tenant
is the Indian Head Naval
Surface Warfare Center,
which researches, develops
and tests explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants
for application in warfighting systems. About threefourths of all explosives
deployed in U.S. weapons
were developed at Indian
Head.
Naval Air Station
Patuxent River
Also known as NAS
Pax River, the St. Mary’s
County naval air station
near the mouth of Patuxent River is the headquartersoftheNavalAirSystems
Command. The Naval Air
Warfare Center Aircraft
Division and the U.S. Naval
Test Pilot School are among
the programs located there.
The site was commissioned
in April 1943, after the onset
of World War II required an
expansion of armed forces
and significant changes to
naval aviation’s infrastructure.
Carderock Division of
Naval Surface Warfare
Center
The Carderock Division is a state-of-the-art
research, engineering,
modeling and test center
Incoming plebe Ezekiel Guzman, of California, studies his
Reef Points during Induction Day at the U.S. Naval Academy
in Annapolis on July 1, 2022. Reef Points is the plebe“bible,”
containing facts, rules and vital information about the
Academy. JERRY JACKSON/STAFF
for U.S. Navy ships and ship
systems. Headquartered in
West Bethesda with other
sites around the country,
it serves both U.S. naval
forces and the maritime
industry. The Caderock
facility consists of multiple
test basins, including the
David Taylor Model Basin,
one of the largest ship
model basins in the world.
Camp David
Officially known as the
Naval Support Facility
Thurmont, Camp David is
best known as the retreat
for the President of the
United States, located in
theCatoctinMountainPark
in Frederick County. It’s
approximately a 30-minute
helicopter ride from the
White House, according to
the Camp David website.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt namedit “Shangri-La”
in 1942, but it was President
Dwight D. Eisenhower who
came up with the more
permanent name in honor
of his father and grandson,
both named David.
Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center
Walter Reed, sometimes
referred to as Bethesda
Naval Hospital or Navy
Med, opened in 2011 after
the Base Realignment
and Closure Act (BRAC)
of 2005 closed both the
National Naval Medical
Center and Walter Reed
Army Medical Center. The
medical center combined
the Army, Navy, Air Force
and Uniformed Services
University healthcare
systems. Walter Reed is
the world’s largest military
medical center, with 2.4
million square feet of clinical space and providing
care and services to more
than 1 million beneficiaries annually, according to
its website. It remains on
the grounds of the former
National Naval Medical
Center built in 1939, which
was designed to hold 1,200
beds as well as the Naval
Medical School, Naval
Dental School and Naval
Medical Research Institute.
Thunderbolt II jets sit at the ready at Martin State Airport before a training mission.
LLOYD FOX/STAFF