Published Dec. 28, 2001/Tribune & Georgian

Trident conversion funding approved in Defense Appropriations Bill
By Jill Helton

Camden County got an early Christmas present this year with the Dec. 20 passage of the Defense Appropriations Bill, which includes initial funding for a conversion plan that will give Trident submarines new life.

The SSGN program, meaning “submarine, guided missile, nuclear-powered,” would detour aging Trident submarines from decommission. The program includes changing the submarines to carry Tomahawk missiles and special operations forces. The subs’ nuclear reactors also would have to be recharged before being returned to the fleet as SSGNs (a Navy term that means “submarine, guided missile, nuclear-powered).

  The Fiscal Year 2002 Defense Appropriations Act Conference Report recommends $365 million for the conversion. According to the bill, that amount devotes $112 million to “the procurement of an additional reactor core to support a four-boat SSGN program.”

The submarines to be converted would be the USS Ohio, USS Michigan, USS Georgia and USS Florida, which are currently homeported on the West Coast. When they leave, two Tridents from Kings Bay — USS Pennsylvania and USS Kentucky—will be transferred to the West Coast to replace them, bringing the local contingent of submarines from 10 to eight.  When subs are converted, however, they may return to Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay.

Sheila McNeill, a local advocate for the conversion plan and a national vice president of the Navy League of the United States, will likely turn her focus to lobbying for the conversion work to be done at Kings Bay.  “We know the work at [Trident Refit Facility] is done cheaper than at many other places,” she said.

McNeill and other local officials praised Georgia’s legislators, particularly U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), for being vocal supporters of the conversion program.

“These ... appropriations are huge victories for Kings Bay, Georgia and our national security. I am proud that Congress continues to recognize the quality work of the folks at Kings Bay. These funds will help ensure the safety of our armed forces around the world and the prosperity of our economy in southeast Georgia.

The conversion plan calls for the nuclear reactor that powers each boat to be refueled and the missile tubes to be reconfigured to fire seven smaller cruise or land-attack missiles. The conversion would remove the long-range nuclear weapons on each sub and replace them with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and a team of special operations commandos.  “The submarines would also be equipped to carry dozens of commandos, with at least two of the tubes reserved for entry and exit while under water,” said a press release from Kingston’s office. “Some configurations would have more tubes reserved for ordnance or equipment that would be used by special forces soldiers.” The conversion also would require the installation of a new combat suite for operating the new equipment, including the Navy’s newest sonar gear.