[CPEO-MEF] Dahlgren firing range has been a fixture on the Potomac River since t

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Virginia
THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Dahlgren firing range has been a fixture on the Potomac River since turn
of the century.
By Rusty Dennan
Date published: 7/20/2003

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Staying on TARGET
Mission evolves at Dahgren lab.
Part 1: Potomac River test range booming since 1918.
Part 2: Navy lab aims to stay vital as new round of base closings loom.
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THE POTOMAC RIVER widens to a mighty ribbon of brown below the Harry W.
Nice Memorial Bridge.

Lumbering barges and fishing boats share the waves with Jet Skis,
pleasure craft and flocks of squawking seagulls.

This could be any big river in America, except for one thing: It's home
to the Navy's most unusual firing range.

A throwback to World War I, the Potomac River Test Range runs from the
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, more than 20 miles down
river. It's the only spot in the nation where weapons fired from shore
can be tracked and tested over a vast expanse of water.

That fact has been an important advantage to Dahlgren in an era of
military downsizing and could be significant as another round of
military base closures looms in 2005. The range is a reminder of a
bygone era as the base has evolved into a high-tech research and
development center.

In a surreal ballet that has become as familiar as the tides, boats
skirt the danger area as the boom-boom-boom of Dahlgren's guns send up
plumes of white spray where the shells hit the water.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.freelancestar.com/News/FLS/2003/072003/07202003/1006633

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