Naval Weapons Station Charleston is a United States Navy base that is located near the Cooper River near Charleston, South Carolina. The base covers more than 17,000 acres and was first established as a United States Naval Ammunition Depot in 1941.
Mission
To enable Warfighter Readiness by providing installation management and infrastructure support to all Lowcountry Warriors and their Families.
Training
Naval Weapons Station Charleston provides training to make sure military personnel are combat ready. NWS Charleston trains Sailors for duty aboard nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines as well as shipping cargo and supplies worldwide.
Lodging
For those looking for off-post housing, contact the Housing Welcome Center for a current list of available properties. The housing office can be contacted at 800-362-2399. Bachelor housing for soldiers with rank of E-6 and below are two-person apartments. Each unit includes private bedrooms and a living room and dining room. Other amenities include a basketball and volleyball court. Senior enlisted housing offers 3-4 bedroom townhouse units that have washers and dryers.
Temporary lodging at Naval Weapons Station Charleston has visitors’ quarters for personnel in pay grades E-1 and above. Service members are asked to contact the Housing Welcome Center to make reservations.
Foster Creek Villas are provided by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation department and offer two, three and four bedroom on-base vacation rental units. Call 843-764-2120 for reservations. If students are arriving for Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, they will be picked up at the Charleston International Airport and assigned a room.
Other temporary housing options include on-base vacation rentals, local hotel or motels or the visitors’ quarters provided by Naval Weapons Station Charleston. Charleston Air Force Base also has over 200 rooms at the Inns of Charleston available if need be. Rooms for Navy personnel are considered priority one, and reservations can be made 24 hours, 7 days a week. The lodging office also has a current listing of all hotels in the nearby communities including those offering military discounts. Call 843-764-2120 for more information.
Population served:
By the mid-1950s, the base was handling guided missiles and arming submarines with UGM-27 Polaris missiles. The base continued to grow in the 1970s, and the current workforce at the base is 11,000 military and civilian contractors with 3,600 living on base.
Ordnance
With a capacity for more than 60 million pounds of conventional ordnance, the Navy Munitions Command CONUS East Division Detachment Charleston is responsible for the receipt, storage and issue of Navy and Marine Corps ordnance to Fleet and base units.
Engineering
Engineers and computer technicians assigned to Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Atlantic, work together to integrate revolutionary advances in information and communications technologies into war fighting capabilities for the Department of Defense.
Corrections
Rehabilitation is the primary goal of the Naval Consolidated Brig which houses military prisoners from all branches of the military service.
NWS Charleston Commissary
Building 1004
Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703
Phone: (732) 532-2845
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday & Wednesday: 1000-1900
Thursday: 1000-2000
Friday: 1000-1900
Saturday: 0900-1900
Sunday: 1000-1800
Units
Naval Weapons Station Charleston is home to over 11,500 military and civilian employees. Major units stationed at Naval Weapons Station Charleston include the Nuclear Power Training Unit and Border Patrol Satellite Academy, the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Naval Weapons Station Charleston is also home to the busiest CONUS surface port in the defense transportation system.
| Army Strategic Logistics Activity Charleston | 843-764-4428 |
| Marine Corps Reserve Training Center, Company C | 843-743-2220 |
| Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command – 841ST | 843-743-0383 X 113 |
| Naval Consolidated Brig | 843-743-0306 |
| Naval Health Clinic Charleston | 843-794-6000 |
| Naval Health Clinic Charleston (Dental) | 843-764-7944 |
| Naval Munitions Command Unit Charleston | 843-764-7457 |
| Naval Nuclear Power Training Center (NNPTC) | 843-574-8000 |
| Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) | 843-863-3084 |
| Naval Weapons Station (Joint Base Charleston – WS) | 843-764-7000 |
| Navy Operational Support Center Charleston, SC (NOSC) | 843-743-2620 |
| Personnel Support Detachment | 843-764-7771 |
| Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command | 843-218-4000 |
| U.S. Coast Guard Base | 843-720-7712 |