USNTC Bainbridge Newsline
written by
USNTC Bainbridge/NAPS Association
The former United States Naval Training Center, named in honor of Admiral
Bainbridge, occupied over a 1,000 acres on the bluffs and rolling hills above
the town of Port Deposit, Maryland situated on the banks of the Susquehanna
River where it enters the northern reaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Bainbridge,
consisting of 4 independent regimental areas designed to accommodate 20,000
recruits, was one of three Naval training facilities established by congress
following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The sister bases, Sampson in New York
State and Farragut in Idaho, have long since reverted to their respective
states and are now scenic state parks. Bainbridge is scheduled to revert to
the state of Maryland in 1999. Navy personnel formerly stationed and trained
at the Bainbridge are currently in the process of forming a Bainbridge/NAPS
Association. The recruits and students for the several service schools
originally came from up and down the East coast. They are now spread across
the United States. Thus far 250 former personnel from 37 states have joined
together in search of other men and women who were associated with Bainbridge.
USNTC Bainbridge grew from an 1890s campus of classical buildings known as the
Tome Institute, a school which to this day echoes the massiveness and grandeur
of contemporary universities of the time. The original stone buildings are
currently undergoing preservation. During the operation of Bainbridge these
buildings were used primarily as the location of the Naval Academy Preparatory
School (NAPS). Other buildings being preserved are those homes originally
used by instructors at the Institute and later used for officer housing.
Several volunteer work crews have been clearing years of growth and debris
while the Navy continues to remove contaminated soil from the asbestos used in
the dismantled and buried WW II frame buildings. A few buildings of the 1st
regimental area remain including the ‘new’ WAVES barracks dating from the
1970s.
Memorabilia including autobiographies, graduation pictures/books and materials
related to the base are currently being accumulated to form an archive. The
local Paw-Paw museum in Port Deposit is mounting a Bainbridge exhibit to open
in April of this year.
The motivation for the formation of a USNTC Bainbridge/NAPS Association is
expressed by Paul Fleming, archivist for the association: "The period of time
in which Bainbridge existed was unique. Values were different. As a training
center Bainbridge outlasted both Farragut and Sampson. Bainbridge has a
greater legacy; a bigger story to tell. As the military has been continually
downsized the opportunity to become part of a truly interdependent team has
become less and less available to youth seeking direction in their lives.
Perhaps, if the time capsule of Bainbridge can be preserved, future
generations may be able to conceptualize a time, a spirit, a birthing process
to manhood/womanhood that seems to have faded from the American fabric."
For further information you may contact Paul L. Fleming, at 2927 Duncan Road,
Wilmington, DE 19808-2379 or via e-mail at Sailor6804@aol.com
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