Today in a ceremony at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Governor Sonny Perdue and other officials welcomed home the USS GEORGIA (SSGN 729) and celebrated its Return to Service (RTS).  Governor Perdue served as Honorary Chairman of the Return to Service Committee.

“It’s a special time when a state can serve as home port for its namesake vessel and Georgia is proud to welcome the USS GEORGIA to Naval Station Kings Bay,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.  “Many people have worked diligently to bring this vessel to Georgia and I would like to commend them for their efforts in seeing this to completion.”

The submarine’s future was jeopardized in 1994 when the Nuclear Posture Review determined that the U.S. military had a surplus of Trident Submarines – 10 on the East Coast at Kings Bay and eight on the West Coast at Bangor, WA.  The Nuclear Posture Review committee made a decision that four of the 18 submarines would be eliminated.

This sparked the U.S. Navy to keep in service the four submarines and convert them from strategic deterrence submarines to precision strike and special operation force capable submarines.  The USS GEORGIA (SSGN 729) was designated for conversion from a SSBN (strategic ballistic submarine) to a SSGN (strategic guided missile submarine).  The conversion was completed in December 2007. 

Governor Perdue also presented Captain Brian McIlvaine and Captain Mike Brown, commanding officers of the USS GEORGIA, with a Georgia state flag as part of the USS GEORGIA Flag Project. 

The USS GEORGIA Flag Project, sponsored by the RTS committee and led by Don Giles (Captain, U.S. Navy Ret.), was an effort to take a Georgia state flag across the entire state and into all 159 Georgia counties.  Giles worked with the Georgia Regional Development Centers in planning the USS Georgia Flag Project.  The project included a stop at the state capitol on January 14, 2008 and concluded yesterday with an event held at the entrance to the new home port of the USS GEORGIA at Kings Bay.

Sheila M. McNeill, a past National President of the Navy League of the United States, served as Chairman of the committee and of the events surrounding the Return to Service ceremony.   

U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and Congressman Jack Kingston also served as honorary members of the Return to Service Committee.

The USS GEORGIA (SSGN 729) is 560 feet in length, displaces over 18,000 tons submerged and can carry a crew of 15 officers, 139 enlisted crew members and up to 66 Special Operations Forces for a sustained, long endurance deployment.  The vessel is also capable of holding 154 Tomahawk missiles and has the ability to carry and launch special operation forces through lockout chambers.

The USS GEORGIA (SSGN 729) is scheduled to deploy in 2009.