"Keepers of the Dragon"©™

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NUCLEAR WEAPONS TRAINING GROUP, PACIFIC

COMMAND HISTORY

 The Nuclear Weapons Training Group, Pacific is an outgrowth of the early Special Weapons Unit Pacific (SWUPAC) which was established by the Chief of Naval Operations under. Commander Naval Air Force, Pacific, in June 1953. Personnel were drawn from Naval Special Weapons Units, then located at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. These units provided technically trained teams temporarily to aircraft carriers which had a nuclear weapons delivery posture. By 1958, sufficient commands in the Pacific fleet had developed nuclear weapon capabilities necessitating assignment of teams as a permanent part of the ships' company. In June of that year, this command was reorganized as the Nuclear Weapons Training Center Pacific, with a mission to conduct training for both officer and enlisted personnel of Pacific Fleet units. With this expansion to provide training for all type commanders of the fleet, a logical step was to establish this organization under the Training Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet. On 15 September 1970, Nuclear Weapons Training Center Pacific was disestablished and the command was reestablished as Nuclear Weapons Training Group, Pacific.

  NUWPNTRAGRUPAC has a military staff of 48 officers, 103 enlisted personnel, including two officers and six enlisted personnel of the U.S. Marine Corps, and 16 civilian employees. We provide nuclear weapons orientation, employment planning, and technical training for about 4,200 officer and enlisted personnel each year, in 36 courses varying from one to 61 days in length. NUWPNTRAGRUPAC is the only activity in CINCPACFLT offering courses in Nuclear Strike Warfare and Employment of Conventional Weapons. NUWPNTRAGRUPAC provides mobile training for various weapon systems aboard ship, and Team Training on the only shore installed ASROC System for operational training in the U.S. Navy.

In addition to training in all phases of Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Warfare and Employment of Conventional Weapons, a large percentage of NUWPNTRAGRUPAC's effort is devoted to inspections. Our Technical Inspectors, who conduct Navy Technical Proficiency Inspections and Navy Weapons Acceptance Inspections in support of the requirements of CINCPACFLT and the type commanders, ensure the highest state of readiness in our Navy Nuclear Forces.

 Provided by Allen Autrey March 2003: