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Virginia
and defense
The
defense industry and Virginia go back at least a couple
of centuries. On Dec. 10, 1798, for instance, the keel
was laid for the USS Chesapeake, sister ship of the
famed frigate USS Constitution, at the Gosport Shipyard
in Portsmouth. Both vessels were built to defend the
nascent United States from adversaries, especially the
British, who made a point of burning the yard in the
War of 1812.
In
time, Gosport would become the Norfolk Naval Shipyard
and would continue to play a big role in the history
of the U.S. In 1862, the yard rebuilt the burned USS
Merrimac as the CSS Virginia, the world's first ironclad
that shot it out with the USS Monitor in Hampton Roads.
In World War I, the yard expanded to three dry docks,
which later helped build the nation's first aircraft
carrier. In World War II, some 43,000 workers thronged
through the yard's gates, building 101 ships. By 1962,
the yard was the first in the country to service nuclear
submarines. When the subs were in dry dock, giant canopies
were placed over the work areas to keep Soviet spy satellites
from photographing details from space.
So,
it's hardly a surprise that the nation has once again
turned to the Old Dominion in this time of adversity.
As our special report shows, the state is well suited
to build the high-tech computer systems and weapons
needed to sniff out and crush al-Qaida networks around
the world believed to be responsible for the horrific
terrorist attacks against the U.S. last September.
Defense
contracting is a logical endeavor here given the state's
proximity to the nation's capital, its great seaport
and plethora of military bases. Not only is Virginia
turning out traditional weapons systems such as aircraft
carriers, it's supplying software for unmanned drones
and encrypted communications. Usually, however, defense
work pulls the state out of economy doldrums. Maybe
not this time. While the war work is giving opportunities
to out-of-work telecom and dot-com professionals in
Northern Virginia, it hasn't yet done much to help the
state recover from the recession.
Our
report was put together by our usual Virginia Business
team, including Richmond free-lance writer Garry Kranz,
with strong art contributions from Chris OBrion and
Ed Gorham. Also contributing was our summer intern,
Alexander H. Haislip. Alex's a rising senior studying
economics at Princeton. He'll spend the rest of the
summer as an intern with U.S. Sen. George Allen in Washington.
And,
there's one more person. I am delighted to tell you
that we have hired Robert L. Burke Jr. as a full-time
senior editor. Bob's been writing for us for more than
four years and has authored many of our better cover
stories and is our in-house telecommunications expert.
A most-welcome addition, Bob brings a fine reporter's
eye and a deft editor's hand to Virginia Business.
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