POLARIS MISSILE FACILITY, ATLANTIC 34 Years of Service to the Fleet 29 March 1960 - 05 January 1995

Website Addition - I have added a link to a downloadable and or printable version of the newsletter. It is located at the top of the website newsletter and under the title “POMFLANT Alumni Newsletter.” It is in Acrobat format and will require the free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Which can be downloaded from:

Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) – SSP now has a public website with all programmatic history and facts about SSP, the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program and current initiatives (Click Here).

Follow-On Commander Evaluation Test (FCET) – 25 August 2008 The US Navy conducted FCET 39 of the Trident II (D5) Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) system on the Western Range, off the California coast. Two D5 missiles were successfully launched fro the USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) followed by successful deployment of the reentry bodies. This represents 124 successful test launches in a row. This performance not only demonstrates D5's reliability, but also the commitment and expertise of the entire Fleet Ballistic Missile team. Thank you for achieving 100% mission success. Congratulations and well done! This came from the Vice President, Fleet Ballistic Missile Programs at Lockheed Martin Space System Company.

POMFLANT Patches – I will be notifying those individuals who have requested patches shortly on where to send the monies for the patches requested. Thank you for your patience.

Website Hosting – I have had some problems with my web hosting company that hosts my websites. As these problems were complicated by the merger with another company X7 hosting and could not be resolved to my satisfaction. I have changed hosting companies and will be transferring my websites as time allows. Hopefully, this will work out well for me. Sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

1. Please verify that the following E-Mail addresses are in your allow list and not blocked by your E-Mail Program or Internet service provider: E-Mail 1 and E-Mail 2.

2. I would like all of your snail mail addresses, if you have not already sent them to me. This will allow us to keep in touch with you if your E-Mail address changes or has other problems. We do not release this information to anyone outside of this association. Thank you for your support.

3. For those members using their work E-Mail address from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is rejecting E-mails from the mailing list, with an error message of “556 5.7.1 Message refused by Lockheed Martin due to content or security policy violation.”  I will need another non-LMCO e-mail address or a snail mail address if you wish further updates from the POMFLANT Remembered Website.  Please respond with your name an alternate E-Mail or Snail Mail address to Thunderer.  I am sorry for this inconvenience.

4. AOL and CompuServe (cs.com) have now started blocking my mailing list as SPAM on some AOL and CompuServe accounts. For those AOL and CompuServe members please read item 1 above. Your names will be removed from the e-mail list. You may try contacting AOL customer service and see if they will unblock the e-mails from my domain. I am sorry for this inconvenience.

5. Comcast is now blocking the POMFLANT update e-mails as SPAM. Please resolve this issue with your provider or I will be forced to remove your address from the e-mail update lists. I might suggest that you get a Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail account for the newsletter and website update E-Mails.

Congratulations on being Grandparents again. Sounds like retirement is a good fit for you. We stay busy here.  I am working 3 days a week as a hearing aid specialist for a local practice here....days off are full of everything else. Dean is working at the IRS as a customer service information specialist. He spent 2 weeks in Oakland this summer and also 3 weeks in Fresno....lots of training. I should have gone to visit in Oakland but they didn't give enough notice for decent air fare. Maybe next time. They stay busy with tax questions.

One of our sons, Matthew, just graduated from college with a degree for radiology technologist and is seeking employment. He wants to stay in this area but will move if necessary.

Summer weather has been really nice....we were able to get several motorcycle rides in and our local chapter had a rally for a children's respite facility. Newsletter says you're traveling....if you guys ever want to see the Pacific Northwest, give us a call. The Seattle area has higher and prettier mountains but we have some great areas too.

I was there in early 1960 when the base was in the early stages of construction, I remember it well.  Since there was not much I could contribute at the time, I went to Sunnyvale to work in the Lockheed plant, specifically to study the guidance system and its calibration and test methods. GEOS was the prime contractor for the guidance system and it was our job to establish the procedures that would be used at POMFLANT for the first submarine loading.

I have one of the original 17 inch A3 missile models that Lockheed made for key personnel. It is on my living room mantle. Engraved on its base are the words: “Polaris, Roaming the Oceans of the World.” I look at it every day and realize that what we did there at POMFLANT was of world wide significance.  With the advent of Polaris, we trumped everything that the Russians had.

When the first successful launch of Polaris from a submarine took place, Admiral Raborn gave a picture of the launch to Captain Levering Smith, on the picture Raborn wrote some appreciative greetings to Smith and added the words, “Polaris.  From out of the deep into history.”   When Levering died, that picture with Raborn's handwriting on it was sent to me. I treasure it.  Without Levering Smith, Polaris might have been delayed for a decade; his knowledge of solid rocket fuels was a key ingredient in our remarkable success. He was probably our greatest uniformed scientist, and he was an exceptionally accomplished manager.  He later took Raborn's job as director of the Special Projects organization.  I have an excellent writing about him.  I will send it to you if you wish.

It is interesting to note that the success of our nation's Apollo program, where I worked after Polaris, was dependent on the rocket fuel and guidance system technology that was developed in the Polaris program.

I have one of the tactical Polaris gyro units, disassembled and a model of the guidance system, that I use for lectures to explain Inertial Guidance concepts to engineers and students. Thanks again for your kindness and devotion.

My children wanted to know what I did when I went to work each day while we lived at Huntington Woods, Charleston, SC.   I was an engineer with General Electric Ordnance Systems (GEOS) at the time.   Here is the story that I wrote for them. See letter attached Click Here!

Rosalie is in her 7th year of volunteering 1 day each week at Trident Hospital, and she stays active in church activities, and her hobby of Rubber Stamping.  Jim is commencing his 26th year (with a concealed weapons permit) riding on patrol weekly with Berkeley County Sheriff's Department.  He also volunteers l day each week at the Retired Affairs Office at the Naval Weapons Station, and has for 8 years now.  Our daughter, Kimberly Steele, who is married to the son of former POMFLANT employee Leon Steele, teaches dance full time at two of the Arts Infused Magnet Schools here in Goose Creek.  They have 2 daughters, Gracy, age 7, and Karson Rose, l8 months old.  Kim's husband, Mike, is in charge of all mechanical operations, for South Carolina Public Railroad.

Our son, Jimmy, is currently the Math Lead Coach, at the same elementary school where he once went.  He has been teaching 10 years now.  His wife, the former Kimberly Pippin, is also an elementary school teacher, and they have two sons from her previous marriage, Ed, age 15, and Cooper, age 13.

On a sad note, in April of this year we had to have our beloved dachshund, Razzle, put to sleep.  We had him for 12 of his 15 years, and we certainly miss him a lot.

In July we went to Rosalie's 50th High School reunion in upstate New York, and in June we went to the 30th reunion of the USS Whitehurst (DE-634) in Knoxville TN.  Jim served aboard the ship in 1961, in Seattle, and this was the 21st straight year we have gone to the reunion. 

Our side business, Southeastern Synthetics, will continue to sponsor the website and the newsletter at no cost whatsoever to the Alumni Association. This includes the web, newsletter materials and any applicable postage costs.

Since our last newsletter, I have received information that the following co-workers, co-workers family members and friends have died:

Gayl Mino – Civilian, Passed August 1987

James E. Trick – Military, Passed 30 December 2002

William “Bill” G. Duncan – Lockheed, Passed July 2007

Herbert “Herb” G. Thylin – Lockheed, Passed 11 May 2008

Luther E. Cowart - Civilian, Passed 03 June 2008

Frederick Boyd Taylor – Lockheed, Passed 10 August 2008

Robert M. Gilbert – Civilian, Passed 19 August 2008

Thelbert O. “Bud” Grantham – Lockheed, Passed 24 August 2008

Narvie Lee Bilbray, Sr. – Civilian, Passed 05 September 2008

John P. Dailey – Lockheed, Passed 18 September 2008

Haskett Wilburn - Civilian, Passed 22 October 2008

Murphy Cochran – Civilian, Passed 01 November 2008

Harry “Happy” R. Holseberg – Lockheed, Passed 02 December 2008

Robert W. Chinn – Military, Passed 09 December 2008

Arvel Freneau Dixon – Civilian, Passed 14 December 2008

Pauline L. Dube' Deschenes – Former Military Wife, Passed 14 December 2008

Bobby L. Peele – Civilian, Passed 03 January 2009

Llwyn L. Howland – Civilian, Passed 15 January 2009

Calvin Cumbee – Civilian, Passed 19 January 2009

Wilbert Ramirez – Civilian, Passed April 2009

Our Deepest Sympathy goes to those and their families who have lost their loved ones.

Take Care,
Ron and Nancy