The Orange County Register (California) March 19, 2003
Much of the weaponry that would be used in an attack on Iraq is distributed in Seal Beach.
By Gary Robbins, The Orange County Register
Terrain-hugging Tomahawk cruise missiles. High-impact mortar shells. Heat-seeking projectiles. Withering machine-gun fire.
If war erupts with Iraq, the United States is expected to use almost every type of conventional weapon and ammunition it has. And much of the materiel will come from three deceptively serene depots in Southern California -- the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and the detachments it runs in Fallbrook and San Diego.
Seal Beach is the largest naval and Marines weapons supplier on the West Coast. About 20 of the San Diego-based warships now in the gulf are carrying weapons from the Orange County depot.
The Camp Pendleton Marines stationed in Kuwait -- and those still on ship -- got most of their ammunition from Fallbrook. And an undisclosed number of Los Angeles -class submarines took on Tomahawks and torpedoes before heading to the gulf from San Diego.
Here's a look at the three depots and the type of ordnance they provide.
Graphic:
George Turney, Gary Robbins / The Register
Sources: US Navy, US Marine Corps, Globalsecurity.org
GRAPHIC: Capt. Robert A. Mirick // Loading up: Workers load Standarad SM-2 missiles on the cruiser USS Valley Forge during a visit to Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station in the late 1990s. The Valley Forge is currently in the Persian Gulf region. // Torpedo being loaded onto a submaraine in Point Loma. MAP: Locations of Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, Camp Pendleton/Fallbrook, and Point Loma Naval Base in San Diego. // Illustrations of ships and weapons stocked at Seal Beach, missiles and planes at Fallbrook, torpedo and missile at Point Loma.
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