[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 138 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY INDIAN HEAD

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 24, 2015

  Mr. HOYER. 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.

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