Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst
Near Wrightstown and Lakehurst, New Jersey in the United States
A C-17 Globemaster III from the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, performs touch and go landings while another C-17 prepares for take-off on Wednesday.
A C-17A Globemaster III from the 305th Air Mobility Wing performs touch and go landings while another C-17A prepares for take-off at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is located in the United States
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
Location in the United States
Coordinates40°00′56″N 074°35′30″W / 40.01556°N 74.59167°W / 40.01556; -74.59167 (Air Base)
40°01′09″N 74°31′22″W / 40.01917°N 74.52278°W / 40.01917; -74.52278 (Army Base)
40°02′00″N 074°21′13″W / 40.03333°N 74.35361°W / 40.03333; -74.35361 (Naval Station)
TypeUS military Joint Base
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Air Force
Controlled byAir Mobility Command (AMC)
ConditionOperational
Websitewww.jbmdl.jb.mil
Site history
Built1916 (as Camp Kendrick)
1917 (as Camp Dix)
1937 (as Fort Dix Airport)
In use2009 (2009) – present (as Joint Base)
Garrison information
Current
commander		Colonel Anthony L. Smith (USAF)
Garrison
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: WRI, ICAO: KWRI, FAA LID: WRI, WMO: 724096
Elevation42.9 metres (141 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
06/24 3,052.2 metres (10,014 ft) 
18/36 2,172 metres (7,126 ft) 
Other FacilitiesSee Lakehurst Maxfield Field for its airfield data.
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst (JB MDL) is a United States military facility located 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. The base is the only tri-service base in the United States Department of Defense and includes units from all six armed forces branches.

The facility is an amalgamation of the United States Air Force's McGuire Air Force Base, the United States Army's Fort Dix and the United States Navy's Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, which were merged on 1 October 2009.

It was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of the three facilities which were adjoining, but separate military installations, into a single joint base, one of 12 formed in the United States as a result of the law.

The installation commander is Air Force Colonel Anthony L. Smith.[2]

Overview

The 42,000-contiguous acres of JB MDL are home to more than 80 mission partners and 40 mission commanders providing a wide range of combat capability. The base spans more than 20 miles, from east to west. It is situated in the two largest counties in New Jersey, Burlington and Ocean, and includes portions of eight municipalities: the borough of Wrightstown and the townships of New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton, and Springfield, in Burlington County, and the townships of Jackson, Manchester, and Plumsted in Ocean County. The 87th Air Base Wing provides installation management support for 3,933 facilities with an approximate value of $9.3 billion in physical infrastructure. More than 44,000 airmen, soldiers, sailors, marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians, and their family members live and work on and around JB MDL, which has an economic impact on the state of New Jersey.[3]

McGuire/McGuire AFB

See: McGuire Air Force Base for additional information and history.

The base originated in 1941 as Fort Dix Army Air Force Base. Closed briefly after World War II, it reopened in 1948 as McGuire Air Force Base. The base was named after Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., Medal of Honor recipient, and the second leading ace in American history.[4]

McGuire grew famous as the Air Force's "Gateway to the East", when its core mission became global mobility in 1945. In 1992, it became part of the newly reorganized Air Mobility Command.[4]

The 305th Air Mobility Wing served as the host wing from October 1994 to March 2009, when the newly activated 87th Air Base Wing assumed installation command. The 305th, along with the 108th Air Wing (ANG), 621st Contingency Response Wing, and the 514th Air Mobility Wing (AFRES), has supported every major type of air mobility mission over the past 15 years.[4]

McGuire organizations

Source:[4]

Dix

See: Fort Dix for additional information and history.

The facility originated in 1917 as Camp Dix, named in honor of Major General John Adams Dix, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and a former United States Senator, Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of New York.[7] It was renamed Fort Dix in 1939.

Dix has a history of mobilizing, training and demobilizing Soldiers from as early as World War I through the present day. In 1978, the first female recruits entered basic training at Fort Dix. In 1991, Dix trained Kuwaiti civilians in basic military skills so they could take part in their country's liberation.[7]

Dix ended its active Army training mission in 1988 due to Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations. It began a new mission of mobilizing, deploying and demobilizing Soldiers and providing training areas for Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers.[7]

In 1994, the United States Air Force Expeditionary Center was established as the Air Mobility Warfare Center on Dix.[7]

Fort Dix organizations

Source:[7]

Lakehurst

See: Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst for additional information and history.
A CH-53E Super Stallion slingloads a Humvee.

Lakehurst history begins as a munitions-testing site for the Imperial Russian Army in 1916. It was then gained by the United States Army as Camp Kendrick during World War I. The United States Navy purchased the property in 1921 for use as an airship station and renamed it Naval Air Station Lakehurst.[8]

The Navy's lighter-than-air program was conducted at Lakehurst through the 1930s. It was the site of the 1937 LZ 129 Hindenburg airship disaster. During World War II, anti-submarine patrol blimps were operated from Lakehurst. Since the 1950s, Aviation Boatswain's Mates have been trained at Lakehurst to operate catapults and arresting systems on aircraft carriers. Lakehurst conducts the unique mission of supporting and developing the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment and Support Equipment for naval aviation. The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and the Advanced Arresting Gear system that will replace the existing steam catapults and the Mk-7 arresting gear are being developed and tested at Lakehurst at full-scale shipboard representative test facilities here.[8]

Lakehurst organizations

Source:[8]

History

The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station.

Education

The U.S. Census Bureau lists "Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst" in Burlington County as having its own school district.[9] Students attend area school district public schools, as the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) does not operate any schools on the joint base. Students in Lakehurst are zoned to Lakehurst School District and Manchester Township High School (of Manchester Township School District). Students on McGuire and Dix may attend one of the following, with all siblings in a family taking the same choice: North Hanover Township School District (Pre-Kindergarten through grade 6), Northern Burlington County Regional School District (grades 7-12), and Pemberton Township School District (K-12).[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Airport Diagram – McGuire Field (Joint Baes McGuire Dix Lakehurst (KWRI)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. ↑ DiMascio, Sabatino. "JB MDL Change of Command 2023". 87th ABW Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 2023-07-13.
  3. ↑ "Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst". www.jbmdl.jb.mil. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst McGuire Archived 2012-12-12 at archive.today
  5. ↑ Shay, Stuart. "2nd ARS says goodbye to KC-10". Archived from the original on 2023-07-13.
  6. ↑ Evans, Sean. "https://www.514amw.afrc.af.mil/News/Display/Article/3254836/end-of-an-era-for-the-514th-air-mobility-wing/". Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Dix Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 3 "Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Lakehurst". Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  9. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Ocean County, NJ" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2022-08-07. - Text list
  10. ↑ "Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Education". Military One Source. Retrieved 2022-08-07. - This is a .mil site.
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