History Of The Naval Weapons Center China Lake California

12-year journey through the turbulent Vietnam War era and the myriad of cultural and political changes shaping one of the Navy's - and the nation's - most valuable RDT&E bases. The years 1968 to 1979 are a crucial time period in China Lake's history, embodying the many challenges inherent in rapidly developing weapons and their associated technologies in the midst of cultural and organizational upheaval and bolstering a foundation of tenacious innovation for the many creative minds and unshakable spirits still yet to come. Through many conflicts, reorganizations, restructuring, policy transitions, and other periods of unrest, the China Lake spirit of ingenuity and grit endured. What would have broken creative, curious minds elsewhere only strengthened China Lake's determination to press on in pursuit of the Center's predominant goal of equipping the nation's servicemen and -women with the cutting-edge weapons systems needed to defeat its enemies.