Navy Nuclear Weapons

Plank Owner USS JFK

Thanx Sneidi

I served 1967-71. Was in W division, commisioning crew, John F. Kennedy. Sent to Portsmouth Naval Hospital prior to the maiden Med Cruise. After rehab last duty station was Skiffs Creek Annex, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va.

NW-Class 72- 61
USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) 61-64
Yorktown 65-68
NavMag Guam 68-70
USS MIDWAY (CVA-41) 70-71
POMFPAC 71-74
USS HOLLAND (AS-32) 75-77
Interservice NUWPNS School Alb 77-80
Retired 1980
Retired Civil Service 1996

I live in Silverdale, WA and will be glad to help anyone coming to the reunion in Bremerton with questions, etc.

Hi there, I am not a US Navy veteran but a RAF Policeman and I served along side the US Navy techs at the USNWF, RAF St Mawgan, Cornwall, United Kingdom from 1987 to 1992 when the site closed. I came across your site whilst looking on the web for any patches related to the USNWF there. I had a lot of great times there as it was my first unit and the US Navy were fantastic guys. If anyone has a spare patch for the USNWF, St Mawgan I'd be prepared to buy it off them as it would bring back so many memories. By the way, if either Gary Wells or Warren Wiedrich (both USN but probably ret'd by now) read this, it was great working with you guys!

I've been a member of the Association since the early 1990s, but with an 81 year-old wife now in the severe stage of Alzheimer's disease that I'm caring for at home, I've been unable to attend reunions for a number of years. But since this has been a quiet, lazy day, I thought you might find interest in hearing about a 36-year Naval career, 1946-'82. Interestingly, prior to changes by Congress in enlisted and officer legislation in 1958, my college years, '48-'52, in the Inactive Ready Reserve counted towards retirement. Hence I could have retired on 30-years in 1976, but was also entitled to remain active until completing 30-years commissioned service.
I was recalled to back to active duty as an AT3 in 1950 for Korea, was accepted for officer candidate training, and commissioned in 1952. My first orders were to the Navy 1233 SWU in Albuquerque, 1952-'53, and training as a Nuclear Officer; then off to SWUPAC San Diego, deploying with teams aboard Wasp, '53-'54, and Kearsarge, '54-'55. Then off to CIA in Washington, DC, '55-'57, as a intel analyst, and back to NWTC, San Diego, as a Nuclear Weapons Employment Instructor, '57-59.

To enhance promotional opportunities, I left NucWeps for good in '59 for East Coast duty in three DDs: Wm. R. Rush as Eng. and Ops, '59-'61; Warrington as XO, '64-65; and J.R. Pierce as CO, '69-71; and a 2nd tour aboard Wasp in Boston as Eng. Off., '66-'67.

Shore duty after '59 included Navy Plant Rep, Allegany Ballistics Lab, Cumberland, MD., with a team of twenty Navy Civil Service specialists monitoring Hercules Powder Co. performance in the development of solid rocket motors for the Navy Polaris program, and a variety of Army, Air Force, and NASA space programs, '61-'64.

The next shore duty was as an instructor in Weapon Systems Project Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, '67-'69.

Finally, the last ten years, '71-'82, was in the Ship Design Office of the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, leading a Comparative Naval Architecture Project to determine for Fleet operators what the Russians were up to in '60s and '70s in the design of a number of large, handsome, and well armed warships, including a VTOL aircraft and helicopter carrier. The task involved analyzing available all-source photography and traveling the globe with small teams of ship design naval architects and naval marine engineers to survey new Russian warships operating at sea and when they made visits to friendly foreign ports. When back home the data gathered was analyzed to determine Russian design practices and to compare their practices with Navy design practices. Then an estimate was made comparing such characteristics as speed, seakeeping, firepower, endurance, vulnerability, and habitability, and publishing the results to the Fleet and the Naval Engineering and Intelligence communities. These reports gave the Fleet operators a better idea of the threat the Russians posed and well as an assessment of their vulnerabilities.

served in w div on the uss america from 68 to 71 this site is great it brought back some old memories and i found some shipmates i served with too

USS NIMITZ CVN68 W DIV 1980 1984

Roy Asher is gone now, He was W division officer on th Oriskany 67 & 68. He was the best LCDR I ever worked with. A great officer and one hell of a man. Of course, CWO-4 Jim Hinkle is up there too.

At Lake Meade Base(1954-1957) "A" div Elect. Elect Mate 2. Does LMB have a patch? If there was one, where could I buy one? Love to hear from fellow shipmates.

I am trying to put together a patch jacket and need a NW2 patch. That is the one with the bomb and neutrons circling around it. Anyone have one they want to sell? I would like to have this completed to wear to the reunion in Bremerton. It will be my first reunion. I got out in 1963. 3 1/2 years in W Division on the Saratoga

I just found out about this site, and have seen lots of names that I served with. I was an east coast sailor who also served aboard Clarsville base TN, Holy Loch, and Machrihanish Scotland.

See old GMTC in the guest book. I was in the 1958 Class 2 and also retired a GMTC. Served aboard the USS Bennington, Oriskany and Ticonderoga.

We are trying out a new guest book since the old one is getting close to 70 spams a day. We will be archiving the entries from the old guest book and they will be accessible from the NNWA website.