[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 112 (Monday, June 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E703-E704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAVAL SUBMARINE MEDICAL 
                          RESEARCH LABORATORY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 28, 2021

  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 75th 
anniversary of the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, which 
occurred on Friday, June 25, 2021. Located at the Naval Submarine Base 
New London in Groton, Connecticut, the research center has served 
Connecticut's second district, the region, and the nation as a hub of 
excellence, ensuring the readiness and primacy of the United States' 
undersea deterrence efforts by way of cutting edge health and 
performance research.
  Although Friday's date marks the official date of the Naval Submarine 
Medical Research Laboratory's 75th anniversary, the Research 
Laboratory's origins date back to as early as 1942 when it was created 
as an arm of the Naval Submarine Base New London Dispensary. During the 
earliest stages of America's direct involvement in the Second World 
War, when our nation's submarine force was put to one of its greatest 
tests, the center was created to provide answers to problems in 
communications, vision, personnel, selection, and environmental 
medicine resulting from wartime demands. The success of the Research 
Laboratory was evident from its earliest beginnings when in March 1944 
it separated from the dispensary and became the independent Medical 
Research Department of the Submarine Base. Throughout the remainder of 
World War II, this department became responsible for the organization, 
development and operation of numerous training programs, including the 
school for Pharmacist Mates entering the submarine service, the Lookout 
Training School, the Voice Communication School, and the school for 
Second Class Divers.
  By June 1946, with the full conclusion of the War, the Research 
Laboratory formally gained

[[Page E704]]

command status as the Medical Research Laboratory, under the direction 
of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. From there, its mission 
grew to the selection of all officers and enlisted for training at the 
Naval Submarine School, specialized training in submarine medicine for 
hospital corpsmen and medical officers and research into the medical 
aspects of submarines and diving. As our maritime national security 
policy evolved to meet the demands of the Cold War Era and new age of 
nuclear deterrence, so too did the Research Laboratory's avenues of 
focus and innovation, including its innovative work in submarine rescue 
experiments.
  The Research Laboratory has worked tirelessly to push the field of 
underwater safety forward in the decades since. For example, it has 
developed countless reliable products including the International 
Orange high-visibility color enhancing rescue at sea, the Farnsworth 
Lantern color vision test, the improved Submarine Escape Immersion 
Equipment suit, the enhanced Disabled Submarine Survival Guide as well 
as numerous generations of the Navy's diving and decompression tables 
which are still in use today. In fact, the Research Laboratory's work 
has also been instrumental in evolving our nation's submarines to 
become more healthy, productive and disciplined places of work. This 
includes its adoption of smoke-free submarine environments, production 
of studies that supported women serving aboard and studies that have 
produced a better understanding of effective shifts of duty as a result 
of changes to an individual's natural circadian sleep cycle while 
aboard a submarine. The sleep research resulted in a healthy change in 
submarine work and sleep schedules that has since been embraced by the 
modem U.S. submarine force. In the wake of tragic ship collisions in 
2017 that resulted in devastating loss of lives, the New London based-
research is now being applied to our nation's surf ace fleet.
  Madam Speaker, as the Congressman who has the honor to represent 
Submarine Base New London, and has visited the lab, I can attest to the 
talent and passionate commitment of the workforce at that facility, 
whose unique mission is truly a national treasure. Employing 
sophisticated, one-of-a-kind equipment, the Naval Submarine Medical 
Research Laboratory and its dedicated staff of scientists remain 
experts in many highly specialized areas to this day. They serve the 
fleet and support our Nation's undersea troops by conducting studies 
that ensures the readiness and effectiveness of submariners and divers 
operating aboard submarines, those operating in the undersea battle 
space, and warfighters fighting from the sea. To that end, on this 75th 
Anniversary of its founding, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring 
all those who have served, currently serve, or will serve at the Naval 
Submarine Medical Research Laboratory.

                          ____________________