8 Dahlgren 



In the meantime, controversy arising from the design and cost of the Com- 

 mander's quarters sparked an investigation of the necessity of maintaining the 

 Proving Ground. The House Committee on Naval Affairs conducting this 

 investigation heavily debated the need for proof-testing ordnance under condi- 

 tions similar to those on shipboard. However, by the closing days of 1921, the 

 issue was settled and the Dahlgren Proving Ground had decisively become a 

 permanent fixture. 



Even while Dahlgren's fate was being decided by the House Committee, an 

 organizational structure and pattern of daily existence were developing at the 

 Proving Ground that would remain largely unaltered until World War U. The 

 primary area of professional activity centered around the Main Battery within 

 which were sections that at a later date were to become independent batteries 

 and departments. As the first permanent activity at the Proving Ground, the 

 Main Battery furnished trained personnel to other ordnance activities as they 

 developed.'^ 



From 1919 to 1921, the Main Battery (later the Armament Department) was 

 the sole ordnance materials testing unit at Dahlgren, including in its organiza- 

 tion a Broadside Battery, a Fuze Testing Battery, and Ammunition, Velocity, 

 Range, and Interior Ballistics Sections. The critical year 1921 also saw the 

 submission of the first powder test report, dated March 10, to the Bureau of 

 Ordnance.'^ After 1921, the Fuze Testing, Ammunition, and Velocity Sections 

 were converted to other departments.''' 



The original personnel complement of the Main Battery consisted of four 

 officers: Proof Officer, Experimental Officer, Assistant Proof Officer, and 

 Battery Officer. The civilian complement consisted of 75 members in 1921, 

 dropping to 25 the next year as a result of the government policy of naval 

 disarming.'* During the early development of the Main Battery, each indi- 

 vidual assigned obtained a general knowledge of the complete activity; how- 



The first buildings constructed at the Lower Station were officers' barracks and a 

 temporary office building. 



