Welcome to Naval Support Facility Dahlgren. The history of this unique naval installation dates to 1918 when the “Lower Station“ of the Naval Powder Factory at Indian Head, Md., was established in Virginia’s Northern Neck on 4,000 acres bounded by the Potomac River and Machodoc Creek in King George County. What began as a gun test facility has since evolved and expanded to include numerous scientific and response-force missions serving all branches of the United States armed forces. In addition to its military value, today Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren makes a significant economic contribution to the local community and the installation’s Navy commands, as a whole, serving as the largest employer in King George County.

The final quarter of 2003 brought a major change to the organizational structure of the Dahlgren naval base. Effective Oct. 1, 2003, Commander Navy Installations (CNI), a new Echelon II Command, officially stood up with the sole charter of providing shore installation management (SIM) services to all Navy activities. All land and buildings at all Navy bases transitioned to this new claimant, creating 16 regional commands within CNI.

The Navy's goal in establishing CNI is to have a single advocate for shore installations, to establish Navy-wide business practices, and to generate savings for Navy investment. CNI will create a more focused, leaner organization, while improving services. The objective is to reduce redundancy in the SIM process, and enable mission activities to focus on their primary missions.

The goals of CNI are:

• To be a single voice and advocate for shore installations
• To increase program efficiencies through economies of scale
• To allow mission claimants to focus on core mission

As part of CNI, all Naval installations within the National Capital Region aligned with Naval District Washington (NDW), one of 10 regional commands in the United States. NDW now provides SIM services to naval installations inside in the National Capital region.

On Nov. 3, 2005, a new command—Naval Support Activity South Potomac—was commissioned. Naval Support Activity South Potomac includes Naval Support Facility Indian Head, Md., Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, Va., Naval Support Facility Andrews AFB, Md., and Naval Support Facility, Fort Belvoir, Va.

As Naval Support Activity South Potomac adapts and fine-tunes the new organizational structures at NSF Dahlgren, we look forward to playing our part in the Navy's overarching goal of achieving efficiencies so that our troops will have the ships, aircraft and weapon systems necessary to effectively carry out their missions. The commands at Dahlgren will, as always, achieve this goal with the same passion and enthusiasm that is inherent to their core, continuing to provide the most innovative and sound products necessary to support our Armed Forces.

Within this publication, you will find information on Dahlgren facilities, to include the military value, economic impact and community outreach of the commands resident at Dahlgren. We hope this 2007 Base Guide proves to be an informational and useful tool in helping you to get acquainted with Naval Support Facility Dahlgren.

Capt. Judy L. Smith
Commanding Officer
Naval Support Activity South Potomac