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Guided Missile School, Dam Neck, Virginia

Recognizing that once such weapons systems were deployed, sailors would be required to perform maintenance on both the weapons themselves and the launch systems - a school would be needed to train them. The Navy began a search for a suitable facility - one that would have room and a low profile from a security perspective. The Fleet Anti-air Warefare Training Center at Dam Neck fit the bill. It had available capacity with the reductions made after WWII; and it's location on a very secluded beach south of Virgina Beach, Virginia made was indeed low key - in fact few people in the area were even aware of what was "out there" beyond some vauge notion of being some Navy training base. In July 1952 the Navy's Guided Missile School was established using existing buildings for the first phase of training (a specialized version of the Navy's Electronics "A" School) - while new buildings were built to house more modern and complex facilites dedicated to the special needs of missile technology, handling and maintenance.

At first - the US Navy experimented with "conversions" based on the German V1 "buzz-bomb" with the early "Loon" missile (first launched in 1947). Later Regulus came into use - first aboard surface craft - then in 1953 aboard USS Tunny becoming America's first submarine launched guided missile. By this time GMS Dam Neck was in full operation.

By the mid 1950s - the Navy had already looked at several submarine launched missile systems - ranging from more modern "hanger" type submarines launching larger - but similar designed cruise type missiles to the Regulus already deployed - to huge submarines large enough to cary and launch 4 giant ICBMs (Navy Jupiter type) . The Navy was concerned about the liquid fueling systems of all of these types of missiles - plus the need to surface to launch them. All of these were abandoned in favor of smaller solid fueled design that could be launched from below the surface. This system became the Polaris missile system, which was begun in 1956.

When the Soviet Union first "threatened"* the United States with it's new ICBMs - (advertised by the launch of Sputnik I in October 1957 powered into orbit by one of their ICBM capable missiles) Polaris was the only deterrent that could effectively answer the threat - but of course - it was still a long way from being "deployable". Since niether the Air Force nor the Army had even a plan - President Eisenhower elevated the priority of the Polaris program to the highest level. To meet this urgent need - it was decided to take five nuclear attack submarines under construction and turn them into FBMs. By using submarines already under constuction - several years could be saved in getting the Polaris system deployed.

Those submarines were a combination of all that the navy had learned about nuclear propulsion, ultra quiet and efficient hull design, and new and extraordinarily sophisticated technologies in weapons and navigation. Now - in addition to those systems - were being added new missiles, fire control and navigation systems at the cutting edge of technology. So advanced, in fact - that no training programs existed that could adequately train the technicians needed to operate, repair and maintain those systems. The Navy had already established several nuclear training programs at Charleston and Mare Island (among others), but needed a training facility dedicated to the new ballistic missiles and their guidance and navigation systems.

*"Threatened" is, of course - a matter of perspective. The Soviets had made only a token effort to hide the development of their heavey lift rockets - including the R-7 that launched Sputnik.  Until then - the United States had considered the primary threat from the Soviet Union to come as a massive attack against NATO in Europe. However - with the launch of Sputnik making it painfully clear that the Soviets had the ability to deliver a sizeble warhead to US soil... the United States considered that threat a new and serious one. From the Soviet perspective - they were just proving their intentions of peaceful use of their technology - though making no secret of their resolve to use such - should they be provoked.

The answer, of course - was to expand the courses and facilities at the Guided Missile School, Dam Neck. Some of the old buildings were quite suitable for traditional class rooms - and the barracks - while old - were quite serviceable and comfortable. These were used for the first six months of training which prospective technicians would attend - a somewhat "tuned" version of Navy Electronics "A" school. Towards the south end of the complex of buildings - were the newer and "special" built buildings where the graduates from "A" school - as well as fleet sailors returning for additional training would attend various "C" schools - where the various "specialties" of technicians would learn their craft. Missile Technicians would learn various parts of the Polaris (and later Posiden and Trident) missiles from propulsion and navigation, to handling / testing, REB/Payload, etc.

It's been estimated that over it's 40 year contribution to the fleet - more than 30,000 techs were trained in one of the "C" schools at GMS Dam Neck. The "down-sizing" of our fleets saw the end of GMS in March, 1994. However - even to this day - much of the "facilities" are still visible - though empty. As many of us spent a year (and some spent much more) at Dam Neck - it's fitting that it be remembered "somewhere".