largest naval bases in the world. On 1 January 1953, the name of the naval base was officially changed to Naval Station Norfolk (NS Norfolk), after being known as the NOB. In 1968, the Naval Air Station was given a major role in John F. Kennedy's vision of putting a man on the moon. The air station became Recovery Control Center Atlantic, which provided command, control, and communications for the ships and aircraft that participated in the recovery operations of Apollo 7. Due to the end of the Cold War, a drawdown began in the 1990s, and the Navy began reducing shore installations to help with operating costs. Due to this, the Navy merged the separate Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Norfolk into a single installation to be called Naval Station Norfolk, which became official on 5 February 1999. Following the attack on USS Cole and 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the base had some major upgrades to its security gates, costing more than $12.5 million. On 26 January 2017, NS Norfolk celebrated its centennial at the Pennsylvania House, a historical building built for the Jamestown Exposition, located on the base. Incidents On Easter (3 April) of 1988, members of the anti-nuclear group Plowshares boarded the battleship with visitors for a ship's tour and left their group to do symbolic damage to the ship's empty Tomahawk missile launchers, using hammers and their own blood. On March 24, 2014, a shooting at NS Norfolk resulted in the death of a sailor and a civilian. The shooting occurred around 11:20 p.m. EDT aboard . Security forces shot and killed the civilian who had allegedly shot the sailor aboard the vessel. The base was closed for a short time after the shooting on USS Mahan. On 26 July 2022, a severe thunderstorm with winds of and over caused nine helicopters assigned to Naval Station Norfolk to be damaged. Damaged aircraft include the MH-60 Seahawk and MH-53E Sea Dragon, according to the Navy. Operational Units Naval Station Norfolk is home port of four carrier strike groups and their assigned ships. In addition, the Naval Station plays host to several Military Sealift Command ships, as well as the submarines of the Atlantic Fleet. As of October 2022, the following operational units are headquartered or homeported at Naval Station Norfolk: Carrier Strike Groups (CARSTRKGRU) Carrier Strike Group Two Carrier Strike Group Eight Carrier Strike