Seal Beach Naval Facility Shares Some of Its Secrets : Military: The weapons station lets down its guard so 10,000 visitors can take a tour.

SEAL BEACH — In one big swoop, the Naval Weapons Station here dropped half a century of secrecy and revealed itself Saturday to anyone who wanted a peek.

And thousands did: The young, the curious and the nostalgic, more than 10,000 in all, lined up to tour the 5,200-acre base that until now most could only wonder about.

The base did not fail them. It offered up a grand show of everything it had: bunkers, secret weapons, rare birds, hot dogs and loudspeakers blaring Johnny Mathis and Janet Jackson. It was a kind of Disneyland, for a day, brought to you by the United States Navy.

“I’ve been driving by here for years,” said Ann Chlebicki, a 23-year Huntington Beach resident who brought her daughter and family friend. “They’ve opened up the mystery behind the walls.”

Secrecy has been the order of the day since 1944, when the base began providing weapons and munitions to the ships of the Pacific Fleet. High fences and armed guards kept out most everyone. The ships came and went.

But times have changed, budgets have shrunk and enemies have melted away. The people who run the base decided it was time to open up. They tried it once, last year, for the base’s 50th anniversary, and it was such a huge success the Navy brass decided to do it again.

“There is a lot of curiosity about what we do here,” said Cmdr. Joel Steadley, the base’s boyish-looking leader. “We want to be a good neighbor. We want people to know how their tax dollars are being spent.”

So the Navy put on its best face. Navy men in their signature dungarees and white caps led tours for the legions who trooped through the grounds. In one corner of the base, seamen fielded questions from children about the intricacies of the guided missile. In another corner, Navy divers showed off in see-through aquariums. On the docks, dozens streamed through the Rentz, a frigate recently returned from the South Seas.

“You get flashbacks, “ said Joseph Arreguin, 47, a former Navy man, running his hands along the walls of the ship. “The smell of the paint, the feel of ship--they bring back a lot of memories.”

One of the biggest draws Saturday had nothing to do with war. The base is home to a sprawling 1,000-acre National Wildlife Refuge. Lying on a choice route along the Pacific flyway, the salt marsh is home and rest stop for a dazzling array of migratory and native fowl.

Zealous bird watchers have longed to get into the place, knowing that it hosts no fewer than five endangered species: the California least tern, light-footed clapper rail, American peregrine falcon, California brown pelican and Beldings savannah sparrow.

“Anywhere I can see wildlife, that’s my thing,” said Marilyn Long, binoculars in hand, peering into the gray swamp. “I love it.”

Anticipating the response, base leaders have decided to open up the weapons station to bird watchers every Thursday, starting next week. They’ve even built an observation deck and mounted high-powered ship binoculars known among seamen as “Big Eyes.”

At some moments Saturday, the base hardly seemed like a weapons station at all. Music blared, children screamed, families walked hand in hand all through the once-mysterious grounds.

For the ultimate in military openness, Cmdr. Steadley and his second-in-command, Executive Officer G.C. Whitfield, weaved their trucks through the crowds, offering free rides. Their graciousness managed to ignite some not-yet-dormant military rivalries.

“Need a ride?” queried Steadley, sidling up to Russ Rametta of Mission Viejo.

“Even though I’m an Army man,” Rametta said, “I’ll take a ride from a Navy man.”

And he hopped in.