Unites States Navy Submarine School Groton, CT
The United States Navy Submarine School (NAVSUBSCOL), Groton CT, has trained our "Silent Service" since 1916. NAVSUBSCOL has grown to the largest single tenant unit on Sub Base New London, with over 30,000 graduates from over 170 different courses annually. It maintains and operates state-of-the-art trainers, which are vital tools in providing realistic individual and team training for a submarine fleet striving for excellence in both officers and enlisted Sailors. Navy's only Pressurized Submarine Escape Training (PSET) tower staffed by 40 U.S. Its primary mission is submarine escape & immersion equipment familiarization and use in a realistic training environment. Although PSET has been a part of the Navy's submarine training pipeline since the 1930's, it was absent for over 25 years from 1983-2009. PSET training resumed in November 2009 and has completed over 5000 pressurized ascents without incident. The Medical Department, which is comprised of two Undersea Medical officers, two Independent Duty Corpsmen, and three corpsmen, is charged with screening every student to ensure safe training as well as providing medical support for any injuries. They maintain all emergency medical gear and recompression chamber equipment per U.S. Navy Dive manual and serve as a regional recompression chamber for any Department of Defense diving casualty in the Northeast.
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Naval Undersea Medical Institute
The Naval Undersea Medical Institute (NUMI) is responsible for providing training and technical support in undersea medicine, radiation health, and related matters, to meet the requirements of Navy Medicine and to provide technical support in those matters to the United States naval operating forces and activities worldwide. Naval Undersea Medical Institute is the source of training for submarine force Independent Duty Corpsmen, Radiation Health Technicians, Undersea Medical Officer candidates, and Radiation Health Officers. It also provides the Navy's only Radiation Health Indoctrination Course for officers and enlisted personnel. The institute is committed to educational excellence and technical expertise, which will create a learning environment that instills competence, confidence and integrity, fosters innovation, creativity, and teamwork, and produces graduates whose performance exceeds the expectations of our customers and makes a positive impact on the health, safety, and well-being of Sailors and Marines worldwide. Naval Undersea Medical Institute is the former School of Submarine Medicine, which started as a division of the Submarine Medical Research Laboratory during World War II. In 1964, the school became a department of the Naval Submarine Medical Center and changed its name to NUMI in 1973. In 1975, NUMI was designated as a detachment of the Naval Health Sciences and Education and Training Command in Bethesda, MD. In 1998, NUMI became a detachment of the Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, located in Pensacola, FL.
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Naval Submarine Support Center
The Naval Submarine Support Center’s mission is to centralize administrative and support functions, economize resources and provide a common pool of experts who provide complete functional support to the commanders of Submarine Squadron 4 and Submarine Development Squadron 12. NSSC provides support in the areas of administration, medical, legal, chaplain, supply, combat systems, engineering, communications, and operations to improve readiness. Staff performs other functions as may be directed by higher authority. The NSSC Medical Department supports the submarine fleet by performing all of the administrative medical exams, such as periodical special duty physicals, as well as performing all the required medical and radiation health audits. In addition, NSSC Medical serves as a medical and administrative resource for the Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) on the waterfront. The waterfront Undersea Medical Officers serve as the physician supervisors to the IDCs, provide weekly didactic teaching, perform regular quality assurance audits, and continuing “bedside” clinical education. Periodically, the UMOs go underway on a submarine to focus on maintaining the boat’s readiness and ensure positive audit outcomes.
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Naval Submarine Medical Research Lab
The Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL), based at the New London Submarine Base (SUBASE) in Groton, CT, is the only Department of Defense laboratory dedicated to research in submarine and diving medicine. NSMRL researchers have access to three submarine squadrons in Submarine Group Two; the Navy Submarine School; the Naval Submarine Support Facility; Naval Undersea Medical Institute; and the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, which builds the nation’s submarines. Established in World War II to conduct mission critical studies in night vision, sonar sound discrimination, and personnel selection, NSMRL continues to serve the fleet by taking the lead in undersea human factors, sensory sciences and operational medicine. NSMRL conducts research into undersea human systems integration, submarine survival and rescue, submarine medicine, diver bio-effects, hearing conservation, and situational awareness. All of the laboratory’s efforts relate to its mission of protecting the health and enhancing the performance of today’s war fighters. NSMRL works with government, industrial, and university partners in order to achieve its mission, including the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Naval Medical Center San Diego, NASA, NAVSEA Naval Expeditionary Diving Unit (NEDU), United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), University of Rochester, MIT, Sensimetrics, Lockheed-Martin, and others. The laboratory is staffed by a diverse group of psychologists, audiologists, physicians, physiologists, and electrical, biomedical and nuclear engineers.
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Commander Submarine Group Two Medical
Commander Submarine Group 2 exercises command of North Atlantic attack submarine forces administratively assigned as well as operational control of Atlantic submarine units and other forces when assigned. Squadrons directly under its command include Submarine Squadrons Four, and Submarine Development Squadron Twelve in Groton as well as Submarine Squadrons Six in Norfolk. Commander Submarine Group 2 also exercises responsibility for the training and certification of new construction and overhaul ships and crews at Electric Boat, Portsmouth Naval Shipyards, Newport News Shipbuilding, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The Medical Department is comprised of LCDR Wesley Boose and HMCM (SS) Andre Carpentier. Their primary duties are the supervision of submarine medical operations for Groton and Norfolk waterfront NSSC Clinics, rendering primary care for the 27 submarines’ crews, and ensuring operational medical readiness for North Atlantic attack submarine forces.
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Naval Branch Health Clinic Groton, CT
1916-1920: The first Navy Hospital in New London was located on Garfield Ave in New London, CT.
01 July 1964: U.S. Naval Submarine Medical Center was
Commissioned. It was located in Building 86 on SUBASE New London. Captain C. Waite, MC, USN was named Commanding Officer.
25 June 1971: A groundbreaking ceremony was held for Naval Hospital, Naval Submarine Medical Center New London, Building 449.
22 January 1974: Dedication of Naval Hospital, Naval Submarine Medical Center New London. The only “Full Fledged” Navy Hospital in the New England area. Captain V. A. Burkhart, MC, USN was named Commanding Officer. Dedicated: “To the men who follow the sea, in our underwater Navy, Defending principles upon which our country was founded…”
01 February 1974: Officially replaced the six-building hospital complex on lower base.
01 March 1974: Naval Hospital Naval Submarine Medical Center New London becomes fully operational.
01 June 1998: Naval Hospital Groton closes inpatient services and Becomes Naval Health Care New England, Naval Ambulatory Care Center, Groton.
01 October 2006: Naval Health Care New England, Naval Ambulatory Care Center, Groton becomes Naval Health Clinic New England, Naval Branch Health Clinic Groton.
