A Sagebrush Navy

Wed Oct 22nd, 2025

A Sagebrush Navy

by CAROLINE LOBSINGER Hagadone News Network | October 20, 2025 1:07 AM

SANDPOINT — A documentary exploring Idaho's naval ties is a celebration of the present and future as well as the past.

Recent showings in Sandpoint, Coeur d'Alene and Moscow of "Anchors of Freedom: Celebrating America250 and America's Sagebrush Navy" gave a sneak peek at the soon-to-be-released documentary by Idaho Public TV.

Part of the America250 semiquincentennial celebrations, "Anchors of Freedom" celebrates the historic milestones achieved as part of Idaho's naval history. In Idaho, events are planned through 2027 to recognize the U.S. Navy's launch by the Second Continental Congress on Oct. 13, 1775, and America's 250th birthday July 4, 2026.

The rough cut of the soon-to-be-released documentary by Idaho Public TV paid tribute to the state's naval history, from the training of the nation's sailors during World War II to Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy" for his development of the U.S. Navy's nuclear propulsion program.

Sponsored by the USS Idaho Commissioning Foundation, Idaho Public TV and the Idaho Historical Society, the event also served to highlight the USS Idaho, a Virginia-class submarine will be commissioned in 2026. The fifth vessel, named after the state, the submarine showcases Idaho's advanced acoustic and nuclear technologies, both touched on in the film.

The documentary connects Idaho's "remarkable journey to the enduring legacy of American liberty and maritime strength," said Idaho Sen. Jim Woodward, one of a handful of speakers at the Sandpoint event.

"The Continental Congress understood that securing American ports and waters required more than individual colonial efforts could provide," Woodward told the several hundred people attending the event.

Those first tentative steps into naval warfare yielded success, setting the stage for what would become the U.S. Navy. From that moment forward, American sailors have helped shape the course of American history.

"This long legacy connects directly to Idaho — a landlocked state — through training and research support as well as direct service and namesake battleships and submarines," Woodward said.

Woodward, who grew up in Bonners Ferry, graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in mechanical engineering before serving in the U.S. Navy and the Navy Reserves.

While it may seem somewhat counterintuitive that Idaho would have such an extensive naval history, event emcee Richard Colburn said it was after the attack on Pearl Harbor that the U.S. Navy moved much of its infrastructure inland — both to ramp up naval programs and make its infrastructure less susceptible to maritime attack.

"Idaho was one of the primary beneficiaries of that effort, and the Navy has touched on almost every corner of our great state," said Colburn, a retired U.S. Navy captain who also serves on the USS Idaho commissioning committee.

Coming from a long line of naval officers, Susan Buxton has served as the Director of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. When the department had the chance to collaborate with the Idaho State Historical Society and Idaho Public TV on "Anchors of Freedom" to tell the story of Idaho's Sagebrush Navy," Buxton said it was an immediate yes in terms of her involvement.

Located just 26 miles from Sandpoint, the former U.S. Naval Training Center at what is now Farragut State Park is a key part of the Navy's story in Idaho.

As the department has worked to restore the center's brig, Buxton said she's had the chance to talk with many former sailors who once spent time at Farragut. Among them was a 99-year-old former sailor who worked as a swim instructor at the base.

"I think there must have been a look of horror on my face when he told me he was a swim instructor because, for some reason, I didn't remember that we'd had six pools there," Buxton told the chuckling crowd. "But he did teach the lessons in the pools and not the lake, as I was thinking."

At its height as a training center, Farragut had six camps with a large drill field in the center, as well as the swimming pools, a mess hall and double-deck barracks and a prisoner of war camp for captured German prisoners.

Roughly 300,000 sailors went through basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence, with the last recruit checking through the gates Dec. 3, 1944. After it was decommissioned in June 1946, the center was transformed into Farragut College, where many sailors and soldiers found their education through the GI Bill. The site would be purchased by Idaho Fish & Game in 1950 and operated as the Farragut Wildlife Management Area until the formation of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation in 1965 and the site became a state park.

"I think the Farragut displays all that is remarkable about our country," said Buxton, noting it holds a meaningful personal connection as her grandfather, Leland Deal, was a pharmacist mate at the base.

The family later found the welcome booklet he received upon his arrival at Farragut in August 1944.

"The foundations of the navy are based on honor and integrity, discipline and obedience," Buxton read from the book. "And, while you are Navy men, it is your duty to live up to the Navy's traditions by your every act. Never forget, every station, office and activity ashore exists but to serve the Navy, afloat, under the seas and in the air, yours is a great responsibility."

While much of the former training center was turned over to the state of Idaho, 30 acres were kept by the Navy. Located in Bayview, the U.S. Navy Acoustic Research Detachment, the site is home to the Navy's submarine testing and development.

"In 2000, Vice Admiral (Edmund) Giambastiani said Lake Pend Oreille was the most important body of water in the world to the U.S. submarine force because of the acoustic research and development that goes directly into the Virginia-class submarines, of which the USS Idaho is one," Colburn said.

The Navy's history in Idaho isn't limited to the north or to its role as the second largest training center in World War II, Colburn said. The role extends into Sun Valley, where the Navy operated a convalescent hospital and to Moscow, where more than 4,000 men were trained as radio operators at the University of Idaho.

The role continues to what is now known as the Idaho National Laboratory, which played a key role in the development of nuclear power and the Navy's nuclear propulsion program.

"These innovations included the first electricity generated by nuclear power at Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 and the first nuclear propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy submarines, and aircraft carriers," said Janet Gallimore, executive director and state historic preservation officer at the Idaho State Historical Society. "This has a very special place in our state and our country's history. It's vibrant and wrapped in human memory of transformational technological innovation, but also in the family stories of the people who lived there and the tribal traditions of the surrounding community."

Now a National Historic Landmark, EBR-1 is one of only four Idaho buildings recognized at the highest level of American history and culture, Gallimore said.

When the decision was made to decommission the original nuclear propulsion prototypes at the facility, Gallimore said her office was included in deciding the best preservation strategy "suited to capture the remarkable story of Idaho's nuclear navy."

It was through those conversations, and through collaboration with Idaho Public TV and others, that stakeholders realized the opportunity to capture the story in "Anchors of Freedom."

While a rough cut, the documentary will continue to be polished with a planned release of Nov. 10, just before Veterans Day.

"This is a powerful and compelling story," Jeff Tucker, general manager of Idaho Public TV, said.

The film delves into the story of Idaho's maritime history, fondly known as the "Sagebrush Navy" due to the high-desert location where the first-generation naval reactor was tested. Built for a submarine, the pressurized water thermal reactor was built by the newly formed nuclear power branch of the Navy and the Atomic Energy Commission and overseen by future Adm. Hyman G. Rickover.

From the men and women part of the program to those serving on the USS Idaho Commissioning Foundation, the documentary blends historical footage and present-day interviews to capture Idaho's maritime heritage. From World War II to the present day, from Rickover's drive and determination to the men and women he inspired, the story is rich and lengthy, those speaking at the showing said.

The film is the second of three planned documentaries: the first on Idaho's nuclear navy and a third will focus on the commissioning of the USS Idaho and its construction.

Following the film, Seth Lambrecht, site director of the Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview, Woodward and Kunz, Idaho Public Television producer and director, shared their connections to Idaho's maritime history.

"I've always wanted to tell the story of NRF and every time I tried to tell this story, I was kind of shut down," Kunz said of periodic efforts over the years.

However, a few years ago, officials with the State Historical Society and the State Historic Preservation Office contacted Tucker and asked if Idaho PTV wanted to be a part of capturing the story of Idaho's role in the Navy's nuclear propulsion program, as some of the INL sites were decommissioned.

His response was an immediate, "Yes."

"This has been a great story to tell," Kunz said.

The most frequent question he gets is why the Navy has a base on Lake Pend Oreille, Lambrecht said. The answer is fairly straightforward: created by a glacier more than 30,000 years ago, the lake is more than 2,000 feet deep with roughly 800 feet of sediment at the bottom. Steep mountain walls on both sides create a nice geometric shape.

While the north end of the lake is fed by the Columbia and Pack rivers, the southern end of the lake is static with no underwater currents.

"We want a nice laboratory environment, which makes Lake Pend Oreille ideal," Lambrecht said. "When sound propagates through the lake, it's the same profile from top to bottom, side to side, so you take out of the variables that you get in a normal environment, so you can understand the physics of acoustics."