Naval Support Activity Panama City
The United States Naval Support Activity Panama City (NSAPC), is located in Panama City, Florida and is a United States Navy military base. The NSAPC was founded as the U.S. Navy Mine Countermeasures Station on July 20, 1945, as a result of the transfer of the test station from Solomons, Maryland, but was renamed ca. 1955 to the U.S. Navy Mine Defense Laboratory. In 1972, it was renamed the Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory. The base has been a subsidiary of several other commands in the past including Naval Surface Warfare Center: Carderock Division, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, under which it was designated Naval Surface Warfare Center: Coastal Systems Station. It obtained its current name in 2007 after changing from the prior command structure to the tenant command structure used by the Navy today in its command of research and development centers.
Tenant Commands
NSAPC consists of several tenant command organizations: The Naval Surface Warfare Center: Panama City Division (NSWCPCD), which is the Research and Development arm of the base and part of the NAVSEA System of Navy research labs, as well as the Experimental Diving Unit. NSAPC employs approximately 2000 civilian and military personnell, including 1100 scientists & engineers within NSWCPCD.
The Experimental Diving Unit is the training facility for Navy SCUBA Divers. These divers are trained for such missions as wreckage recovery, mine defusing, and reconnaissance.
Research
NSWCPCD conducts basic research in all systems-related areas and pursues scientific disciplines including optics, acoustics, mine warfare and robotics.
Engineering projects of historical Swimmer delivery Vehicle. Current projects include the majority of US research into hovercraft technology and weapons integration for the Littoral combat ship. Work also includes research for the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS)
Economic Impact
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division is a major research, development, test and evaluation laboratories of the Naval Sea Systems Command NAVSEA. It is one of the largest employers in Bay County, Florida with an annual payroll of about $117 million. NSWC Panama City Division contracts services, buys local goods, and maintains an active construction program. Its economic impact on Bay County is about $336 million annually.