[As we approach the celebration of Naval Support Facility (NSF) Indian Head 125th Anniversary, the South Potomac Pilot will be featuring a series of articles to spotlight the tenants, employees and community that have been such an integral part of NSF Indian Head’s past and shape its future.]
Week Three Spotlight -Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) Prior to the establishment of the Naval Ordnance Center (NOC), the Navy’s weapons and explosives safety program office was located within Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Headquarters, in several different codes over the years, with the last organization being NAVSEA (SEA 06), Weapons and Combat Systems Directorate in 1993. With the establishment of the NOC, as a tenant command at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head NAVSEA (SEA 06) was subsequently disestablished, with the various organizations and offices within SEA 06 transferred to other Navy commands and organizations. The Navy’s Weapons and Explosives Safety Office was transferred from SEA 06, with the existing staff, duties, and responsibilities, to the NOC in 1993, and physically located at Farragut Hall, NSWC Indian Head, Md. as a tenant command. With the subsequent disestablishment of the NOC in March 1998, the Navy’s Weapons and Explosives Safety Office was combined with several other Navy ordnance safety-related organizations and was re-named the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity, with a Navy Captain (O-6) as the Commanding Officer (CO). Since its official establishment in Sept.1999 as an Echelon III activity of NAVSEA, the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) has been located at Farragut Hall, NSWC Indian Head, now known as Naval Support Facility (NSF) Indian Head, MD).
As part of the Navy’s commitment to weapons and explosives safety, NOSSA was created to continue the long tradition of an independent organization responsible for establishing policy and practices for explosives and weapon safety within the Department of the Navy (DON). Upon establishment in 1999 as a NAVSEA Echelon III level command NOSSA CO was assigned as a direct report to the Deputy Commander for Surface Ship Technology (SEA 53), and was also double hatted as SEA-53M. The reason for assigning NOSSA as a direct report to SEA 53, vice some other code within NAVSEA, was due to the incumbent in the SEA 53 position, Rear Admiral (RADM) Mike Mathis. RADM Mathis was the last Commander of the NOC and understood the rationale for the disestablishment of the NOC, the establishment of NOSSA, and was the driving force behind the consolidation of all ordnance related surety functions within the NOSSA.
NOSSA’s functions support three of the main NAVSEA lines of business: engineering, industrial operations and business and operations. NOSSA’s explosives safety technical and programmatic leadership is not limited to the U.S. Navy and U.S Marine Corps. We also support U.S. Joint Programs and our foreign allies, to include North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In order to assure the continued evolution of technical leadership needed to meet future requirements we have aligned ourselves with Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), and NAVSEA objectives, as indicated by our strategies, goals, and metrics. This alignment allows for optimal Fleet operational readiness and national combat capability by effectively identifying objectives and managing risks throughout the lifecycle of ammunition and explosives.
NOSSA is an echelon three command reporting directly to the NAVSEA Deputy Commander for Ordnance Safety, SEA 00V. NOSSA’s Executive Director is delegated by NAVSEA as the Technical Warrant Holder for weapon systems safety and security. NOSSA’s Executive Director is the principal authority on all matters related to naval ordnance transportation, safety, and security worldwide.
Since its inception, the NOSSA has played an important role in stabilizing and improving explosives safety within the DON. The legacy of Navy explosives and weapon safety has since been positive. The number of catastrophic and significant mishaps occurring within the DON, a service that lives in proximity to ordnance and weapon systems aboard ship, has dramatically reduced. The Navy is deployed worldwide 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Approximately 560,000 sailors and civilians’ research, develop, test, monitor, maintain, store, handle, transport, and use tons of energetic-based weapons and perform that work safely. NOSSA has been critical in establishing that legacy.