Olney Support Center

{{Use American English|date=August 2025}} The '''Olney Support Center''', formerly the '''Olney Federal Support Center''', is an underground facility of the Carderock Division of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) located in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sterling |first=Kelley |title=Carderock Division Changes Command |date=July 10, 2020 |publisher=Naval Sea Systems Command |url=https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/2270654/carderock-division-changes-command/ |access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref><ref name=nist>{{cite book |last=Lew |first=H.S. |title=Supporting Document for Rehabilitation Cost Estimates of FEMA Existing Buildings |work=NIST |publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology |year=1999 |url=http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build99/PDF/b99025.pdf |accessdate=March 24, 2013}}</ref> The center occupies {{convert|75|acres}} of property {{convert|2.0|mi}} east of Laytonsville, Maryland, on the site of a former Project Nike base (W-93, launch area).<ref name=clui>{{cite news |title=Bunkers Beyond the Beltway: The Federal Government Backup System |magazine=The Lay of the Land |publisher=Center for Land Use Interpretation |date=Spring 2002 |url=http://www.clui.org/newsletter/spring-2002/bunkers-beyond-beltway |accessdate=March 21, 2013}}</ref><ref name=gsa>{{cite web |title=Olney O&M Support |publisher=General Services Administration |date=July 25, 2010 |url=https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=1551242914f327322cfbbe3e22cf6e58&_cview=0 |accessdate=March 21, 2013}}</ref> The NSWC acquired the facility from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in March 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carderock recognizes the best of the best |publisher=Naval Sea Systems Command |date=September 16, 2020 |url=https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/2349388/carderock-recognizes-the-best-of-the-best/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030190441/https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/2349388/carderock-recognizes-the-best-of-the-best/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref>

Prior to its acquisition by the NSWC, the center was a communications, satellite teleregistration and data network facility. It at one time housed the FEMA Alternate Operations Center (FAOC)<ref>The Alternate National Warning Center (ANWC) was renamed the FEMA Alternate Operations Center (FAOC) in 1999. See {{cite book |title=National Warning System Operations Manual |publisher=Federal Emergency Management Agency |year=2001 |url=http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/1550_2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030312234417/http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/1550_2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 12, 2003 |page=1-3 }} The FAOC may have since relocated to the FEMA Regional Center in Thomasville, Georgia. See {{cite web |author=Rivera |title=The Government Underground: FEMA/Military Bases Itch to be Only Game in Town |publisher=Portland Independent Media Center |date=June 2, 2004 |url=http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/06/289918.shtml |access-date=March 22, 2013 |archive-date=March 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325125914/http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/06/289918.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> as a control center for the U.S. National Warning System.<ref name=clui /><ref name=fas>{{cite web |title=Alternate Special Warning Facility: Olney Special Facility |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |date=July 25, 1998 |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/olney.htm |accessdate=March 21, 2013}}</ref><ref name=gsn>{{cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Jacob |title=FEMA Needs Armed Guards at Secretive Federal Support Center in Gaithersburg, MD |magazine=Government Security News |date=August 7, 2010 |url=http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/21193 |accessdate=March 21, 2013 |archive-date=May 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521004815/http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/21193 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was also part of the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS), a high-frequency radio network that links FEMA's emergency operations centers.<ref name=clui />

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Olney, Maryland Category:Federal Emergency Management Agency Category:Nuclear bunkers in the United States Category:Subterranea of the United States Category:Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Maryland Category:Continuity of government in the United States Category:Disaster preparedness in the United States Category:Systems command installations of the United States Navy Category:Government buildings in Maryland Category:Military installations established in 2019