Hoyer Celebrates 125th Anniversary of Naval Support Facility Indian Head
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) submitted the following statement for the Congressional record in observance of the 125th anniversary of the Naval Support Facility Indian Head. The NSF Indian Head was founded in 1890 as the Naval Proving Ground and was the first military installation in Southern Maryland.
"Mr. Speaker, on September 26, 2015, people throughout Maryland and the Fifth District will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Naval Support Facility Indian Head and the unique role it has played in strengthening our national security and growing the local community.
"The facility traces its beginnings to Assistant Naval Constructor Robert Brooke Dashiell, a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis who was dispatched by the Bureau of Ordnance to build a testing ground to support America's growing naval power at the turn of the century. Opened in 1890 as the Naval Proving Ground, NSF Indian Head was the Navy's first installation in Southern Maryland, beginning a long tradition in the region. Throughout its history, NSF Indian Head has been the site of development and testing for some of the most important weapons in the Navy's arsenal. Some of the world's most powerful rockets were created there, along with technologies used in pilots' ejection seats and life-saving armor.
"Today, NSF Indian Head is home to several Navy tenants, including the Indian Head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center; the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force; the Joint Interoperability Test Center; and the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division. The work these tenants carry out at NSF Indian Head is critical to helping our seamen and Marines conduct their missions around the world and to ensuring their safety as they do so. I've been proud to visit NSF Indian Head many times over the more than two decades I have represented the installation and meet with those who serve there – as well as to support robust funding in Congress for the Navy to continue doing great work at NSF Indian Head.
"For 125 years, residents of the Town of Indian Head and of Charles County have been extraordinary in their support for the men and women stationed at NSF Indian Head. Since the early part of the twentieth century, the town has grown up around the base, and communities across Charles County have benefitted from the economic activity that NSF Indian Head generates by employing some of our nation's top energetic scientists and engineers. NSF Indian Head continues to be important not only to our national security but as one of the largest employers in Charles County and Southern Maryland.
"I join in congratulating the men and women of NSF Indian Head on the facility's 125th anniversary and look forward to continuing to work with the Indian Head community to make sure the base has every resource it needs to carry out its work, which is so critical to our national defense."