Photo By Shelby Thompson | Senior Chief Adrian Rowe (left), the Strategic Weapons System master chief for pre-commissioning unit (PCU) District of Columbia, and Petty Officer 1st Class Austin Baker (right), the missile division lead petty officer for PCU District of Columbia, participate in a tour of a Boeing KC-46A Pegasus led by the 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., between May 18-22, 2026.
The tour was part of Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) Reverse SWS Week between May 18-22.
PAE SSP’s Reverse SWS Weeks are educational training opportunities modeled after the regularly occurring SWS Weeks at submarine bases on the East and West Coasts. SWS Weeks bring ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) and guided missile submarine (SSGN) crews, Navy support commands, and industry partners together to share new updates to the weapons system, troubleshoot issues, and forecast upcoming needs for the submarine fleet. Reverse SWS Weeks go a step further by bringing crew members out to PAE SSP’s program management offices (PMO) and detachments – dispersed throughout the nation – providing an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the weapons system they maintain and operate while on strategic patrol. see less
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Lake Forest Park Native Creates a Bridge to the Future for Missile Techs
Petty Officer 1st Class Austin Baker, a native of Lake Forest Park, Washington, and the missile division lead petty officer for future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) pre-commissioning unit (PCU), mentored junior Sailors and fostered valuable knowledge transfer during his participation in a training event held in Sunnyvale, California, May 18-22.
Baker was one of a handful of Sailors hand selected to participate in Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) Reverse Strategic Weapons System (SWS) Week.
PAE SSP’s Reverse SWS Week serves as a powerful realization of the Chief of Naval Operations’ priority to strengthen the vital connection between the foundry and the fleet. By bringing the warfighter directly to the industrial base, PAE SSP ensures that the comprehensive modernization occurring across the entire sea-based leg of the nuclear triad is not just a theoretical concept, but a tangible, collaborative effort between the Navy’s acquisition community and the final end-users.
At this year’s Reverse SWS Week, Sailors discussed the needs, challenges, and opportunities related to the Trident II D5LE system deployed on today’s Ohio-class SSBNs, and engaged with members of PCU District of Columbia.
As part of his roles and responsibilities with PCU District of Columbia, Baker and his team are moving the first-in-class Columbia-class SSBN toward its operational state.Although the D5LE missile used on today’s Ohio-class will be the same one used in the initial loadout on the USS. District of Columbia, the Columbia-class will have platform upgrades that improve the overall capability of the weapon system.
“This consists of a lot of training, particularly for USS District of Columbia given that she is a brand new first in class submarine,” said Baker.
A key aspect of building useful and sustainable training for PCU District of Columbia, including training that can be used as a baseline for PCUs for follow-on Columbia-class SSBNs, is getting ground-truth from the partners involved in the design, development, and production of the strategic weapons system and weapons system integration components that will be deployed on the Columbia-class.
Baker engaged hands-on with industry counterparts as he received an inside look at the production of the Trident II D5 Life Extension (D5LE) missile launch tubes. Peering down into the 35-foot pit in the factory floor that supports the production and testing of the launch tubes, he and his fellow Sailors found themselves face-to-face with the raw parts of the same weapon system they will operate while on strategic patrol.
“I’m really interested in getting that direct interface...” said Senior Chief Adrian Rowe, a native of King William, Virginia, and the SWS master chief for PCU District of Columbia. “Being able to talk directly to the people who are developing the systems and proofing the technology – I think it puts the pieces in order and helps us to have a fuller understanding of what we are doing.”
PAE SSP’s Reverse SWS Week gave Baker and Rowe the opportunity to have in-depth conversations with the industry partners leading technology upgrades and process improvements that will be incorporated into USS District of Columbia. Their hands-on interactions on the production-floor gave the PCU District of Columbia representatives insight into opportunities for how certain functions on the future SSBN class can be done more efficiently, and they were eager to share their discussion with the rest of their PCU team.
"We are learning how to be more efficient in how we conduct procedures and tasks on USS District of Columbia,” said Baker. “I’m interested to see how this experience helps us come up with in terms of increasing the efficiency of how we do things, which we can then hand off to the Sailors coming up after us.”
Baker brought an experienced eye to the week’s industry engagements, but his interactions with the junior Sailors participating in Reverse SWS Week were equally valuable. Baker hopes that the week helped connect the dots for younger submariners, and he was encouraged by the conversations that happened over the course of the week where Sailors received clarity on technical aspects of the system.
For Petty Officer 1st Class Blake Weiskittel, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a missile technician instructor at the Trident Training Facility in Bangor, Washington, the chance to interact with Rowe and Baker gave him a preview of what his future might look like.
“I’m very excited about the Columbia-class,” said Weiskittel. “I’ve asked them a lot of questions and have learned a lot about how those systems work through our conversations this week.”
“This opportunity helps the younger Sailors put together the full picture of what’s going on and it puts a lot of things into context,” explained Baker.
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