Navy Nuclear Weapons Electronics Calibration and Maintenance Course; WB-EC-ER

Defense Atomic Support Agency, Field Command, Atomic Weapons Training Group

Published by Defense Atomic Support Agency, Field Command, Atomic Weapons Training Group, Sandia Base, Albuquerque, NM, 1965

About this Item

Various paginations (approximately 350 pages). Illustrations. Fold-outs. Formulae. Cover worn, torn, soiled, and chipped. Name in marker on front cover and fore-edge. This workbook was designed as a study aid during resident instruction and was not to be used as a substituted for technical publications. The contents included an Introduction, Arithmetic Operations, Algebra, Trigonometry, Logarithms, Fundamental Concepts of Electricity, Electrical and Shop Safety, Circuit Symbols and Diagrams, Theory of Direct Current, Series and Parallel Direct Current Circuits, Theory of Alternating Current Circuits; Series and Parallel Alternative Current Circuits; Voltage Dividers and Bridge Circuits; Meter Movements and Meters, Vacuum Tubes and Amplifiers, Magnetic Amplifiers, Synchros, with Appendixes on Table of Logarithms and Table of Trigonometric Functions. While this is fundamentally a technical training manual/workbook, the instruction and trainee orientation was clearly focused on naval nuclear assets. Among the equipment addressed are T-75, T-160 Test Set and Firing Set, and T-3021. The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP) was a United States military agency responsible for those aspects of nuclear weapons remaining under military control after the Manhattan Project was succeeded by the Atomic Energy Commission on 1 January 1947. These responsibilities included the maintenance, storage, surveillance, security and handling of nuclear weapons, as well as supporting nuclear testing. The AFSWP was a joint organization, staffed by the United States Army, United States Navy and United States Air Force; its chief was supported by deputies from the other two services. Major General Leslie R. Groves, the former head of the Manhattan Project, was its first chief. The early nuclear weapons were large, complex, and cumbersome. They were stored as components rather than complete devices and required expert knowledge to assemble. The short life of their lead-acid batteries and modulated neutron initiators, and the heat generated by the fissile cores, precluded storing them assembled. The large quantity of conventional explosive in each weapon demanded special care be taken in handling. Groves hand-picked a team of regular Army officers, who were trained in the assembly and handling of the weapons. They in turn trained the enlisted soldiers, and the Army teams then trained teams from the Navy and Air Force. As nuclear weapons development proceeded, the weapons became mass-produced, smaller, lighter, and easier to store, handle, and maintain. They also required less effort to assemble. The AFSWP gradually shifted its emphasis away from training assembly teams, and became more involved in stockpile management and providing administrative, technical, and logistical support. It supported nuclear weapons testing, although after Operation Sandstone in 1948, this was increasingly in a planning and training capacity rather than a field role. The Defense Reorganization Act of 1958 was signed by Eisenhower in August 1958. It increased the authority of the Secretary of Defense, who was authorized to establish such defense agencies as he thought necessary "to provide for more effective, efficient and economical administration and operation". The first field agency established under the act was the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA). The new agency reported to the Secretary of Defense through the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was given responsibility for the supervision of all Department of Defense nuclear sites. Otherwise, known as Top Secret military expeditionary instillation such as Sandia Base, Manzano Base, Bossier Base Clarksville Base, Killeen Base and Lake Mead Base to name a few its role and organization remained much the same, and its commander, Rear Admiral Edward N. Parker, remained as its first director. In 1959, the AFSWP became the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA), a field agency of the Department of Defense. Presumed First Edition,

Seller Inventory # 85757

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Navy Nuclear Weapons Electronics Calibration and Maintenance Course; WB-EC-ER
• Publisher: Defense Atomic Support Agency, Field Command, Atomic Weapons Training Group, Sandia Base, Albuquerque, NM
• Publication Date: 1965
• Binding: Three-hole punched with pins
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Nuclear Weapons