The Defense Nuclear Weapons School (DNWS), in existence since 1947, is located on Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico. This Defense Threat Reduction Agency school is a unique entity that provides training in nuclear weapons; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incident command, control and response, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) modeling for the Department of Defense (DOD), other federal, state, and local agencies.

Mission: The mission of the DNWS is to provide nuclear weapons core competencies and response training for weapons of mass destruction and CBRN incidents to DOD, national laboratories personnel, and other federal, state, and local agencies.

Training Objectives: The school’s training objectives are to create, develop, and implement professional training through both traditional methods and innovative training technologies. DNWS training helps to ensure that our nation maintains a safe, reliable, and credible nuclear deterrent and a robust incident response capability.

Courses: The DNWS delivers instructor-led courses in-residence and via Mobile Training Teams (MTTs) and offers distance learning courses online. The DNWS catalog includes 36 courses and 24 partnership modules. While most courses are taught in-residence at the DNWS, an expanding array of courses is offered via distance learning or MTT. The DNWS also hosts courses presented by the U.S. Army Nuclear and CWMD Agency and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, providing facilities, instructors, subject matter expertise, and administrative support. Additionally, the DNWS provides experts who teach modules within courses taught by other federal entities such as the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

History: The Manhattan Engineer District, which developed the world’s first atomic bomb, established the Nuclear Weapons Technical Training Group under the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project in January 1947. The Group’s mission was “to provide training, both resident and non-resident, in support of nuclear weapon training programs worldwide; to be responsive to requests for training services and support required to meet the needs of all DOD components and other cognizant agencies.” The Nuclear Weapons Technical Training Group later became the Special Weapons School located on the U.S. Army’s Sandia Base, today part of Kirtland Air Force Base.

In 1971, the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) was directed to transfer the Special Weapons School to the U.S. Air Force, which renamed it the Interservice Nuclear Weapons School. In 1993, the school was transferred back to DNA and was subsequently renamed the Defense Nuclear Weapons School in 1997. DNA is a DTRA legacy organization.

Throughout its history, DNWS has supported the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military Services, and the Combatant Commands by providing training, advice, and services in the field of nuclear weapons.

The DNWS operates DOD’s only radiological training sites. These sites are thorium-seeded fields that DNWS instructors use as an integral part of field training for radiological emergency team members. DNWS conducts a variety of radiological accident exercises at these training sites, providing a realistic environment where students can apply their classroom knowledge. Students receive hands-on instruction and experience in the use of radioactivity monitoring instruments, the proper donning of personal protective equipment, and the collection of airborne radioactivity samples; in procedures for cleaning, inspecting, and proper wear of respirator protection; and in the setup and operation of contamination control stations. Students must integrate various modules of classroom instruction into intricate scenarios and determine what steps and equipment are required.

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