Key Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the military camp was located. No visible remains exist. The gun site was closer to the main entrance of the school.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2009 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum and written by Jim Young:

FIGHTING THE COLD WAR
FRANCONIA’S AAA GUN SITE
By Jim Young

Yes, it may be hard for you to remember, or even believe for that part, but an Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Site did exist in Franconia. The Gun Site was located where Frances Scott Key Intermediate School is now located, next door to the Ogden’s (Herbert, Flossie, Herbie and Kathryn) home at 6412 Franconia Road.

At first the site had four 90mm (millimeter) AAA guns. Later even larger 120mm guns were installed. They were aimed by radars and a computer; and were part of the air defense protection of our nation’s capitol against a possible Soviet air attack. The guns protected the southern air approaches to the Capitol. Other gun sites protected the east, west, and northern approaches to the city.

The AAA gun site land was leased by the Federal Government from the Ogden family in 1950, in response to the Communist Soviet threat. The Cold War started around 1950 with the beginning of the Korean Conflict. Both Communist China and Russia supported North Korea, and both were hostile to United States interests. Russia had developed the atomic bomb, and the United States feared a Soviet air attack on our cities, especially the Capitol. America’s response was to ring our cities with AAA guns.

This was not the first time the government had leased the Ogden’s property; the first time was in 1940 at the beginning of World War II. The land adjacent to Fort Belvoir and the Ogden property were leased for the duration of the war, to train army engineers. The Young’s 40-acre farm, located next door to Anthony T. Lane Elementary School (7139 Beulah Road), was also leased in 1940. I remember the soldiers conducting map practice (land navigation) on our farm. The soldiers would ask me to pick up sodas and snacks for them at Miss Nellie Simms’ Country Store (front room at 7437 Beulah Road). They would give me money to purchase the items and a tip to deliver.

Life was pretty good back then. The Ogden property was also leased in 1940. Fort Belvoir used the Ogden property as a camping area. Soldiers would march to Franconia, pitch tents on the Ogden’s open field, spend the night, and march back to Fort Belvoir the next day. In summary, the Franconia site was leased to train soldiers at Fort Belvoir from 1940 to 1945, and then from 1950 to 1964 for the AAA Gun Site.

The active Army (regular) manned the AAA gun site from 1950 to 1954, and the Virginia National Guard (VANG) took over manning the site until 1964. That year they were moved to operate the two Nike (Ajax) Missile Sites, one at Lorton Reformatory, and the other site near Fairfax City, on Popes Head Road. The VANG could man the site with just forty full-time technicians, and support them with eighty part-time Guard volunteers. It took 120 full-time regular Army personnel to achieve the same AAA protection. The economy of resources was a major factor in the VANG taking over and manning the AAA gun and missile sites.

Organization of an AAA gun site consisted of three platoons or sections. The Headquarters Platoon had the administrators, cooks, vehicle drivers, mechanics, and security personnel. The Gun Platoon comprised the four gun crews and machine gun sections. The radar platoon included the two separate types of radar operators (acquisition radar and gun pointing radar, computer operators and maintenance personnel.

The administrative housekeeping part of the AAA Gun Site consisted of six to eight Butler Huts—10x30 prefab metal buildings like sheds erected on concrete blocks; a permanent modern well-equipped mess hall built on a concrete slab; and a large permanent latrine in a separate building also on a concrete slab. Sewage was handled by a septic system. Each site was surrounded by a six foot chain link fence with security lights. We often considered ourselves “concrete soldiers” because of our semi-permanent buildings, and the inability to readily move the equipment.

Yes, the Franconia AAA Gun Site area supported the War effort in both World War II and the Cold War. VANG soldiers manned the 90mm and 120mm guns from June 1954 to 1964. Local Guardsmen living in Fairfax and Prince William Counties, and Alexandria, Virginia protected the nation’s capitol against air attacks by operating the guns located on Franconia Road.

Thank goodness the Russian bombers never came, the Cold War eventually ended, the Russians did not employ nuclear weapons, and we now live in peace. A list of those who served in World War II and the Cold War is being compiled by the Franconia Museum. If you have information about veterans that live, or have lived in Franconia, please contact the museum.

Colonel James N. Young (retired), then a Captain with the VANG, was the first National Guard commanding officer of the AAA Gun Site (June 1954) at the intersection of Telegraph Road and Kings Highway. The property is now Huntley Meadows Park, owned by Fairfax County Park Authority. There is an exhibit at Huntley Meadows Park with pictures of the AAA Gun Site (Battery D, 125th Gun Battalion, and VANG.) Later he was the commanding officer of the Franconia AAA Gun Site until 1964. Colonel Young then became the first VANG Commander of the Popes Head Road Nike Ajax Missile Site, located near the town of Fairfax. Jim went on to serve over thirty years in the Army. He and his wife, Connie, now reside in the Monticello Woods subdivision which is adjacent to Franconia Road. Jim considers himself a lifetime resident of Franconia, and we thank him for sharing this story with the museum.