Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst

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Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst
Near Wrightstown and Lakehurst, New Jersey in the United States
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.
Site information
Type	US military Joint Base
Owner	Department of Defense
Operator	US Air Force
Controlled by	Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Condition	Operational
Website	www.jbmdl.jb.mil
Location
JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Show map of Burlington County, New Jersey JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Show map of New Jersey JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Show map of the United States
Coordinates	40°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)
Site history
Built	1916 (as Camp Kendrick) 1917 (as Camp Dix) 1937 (as Fort Dix Airport)
In use	2009 (2009) – present (as Joint Base)
Garrison information
Current commander	Colonel Anthony L. Smith (USAF)
Garrison	87th Air Base Wing (Host) Army Support Activity Dix Naval Support Activity Lakehurst
Airfield information
Identifiers	AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 06/24 3,052.2 metres (10,014 ft)  18/36 2,172 metres (7,126 ft)
Other Facilities	See 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

It was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005

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

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]

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

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

• 87th Air Base Wing (Host organization for JB MDL)
• KC-10 Air Refueling) (Air Mobility Command
  )
• 621st Contingency Response Wing (Rapid Response unit of Air Mobility Command)
• 514th Air Mobility Wing (C-17 Airlift, KC-46 Pegasus Air Refueling^[6]) (Air Force Reserve Command)
• KC-135 Air Refueling, C-32B) (New Jersey Air National Guard
  )
• Nellis AFB
  , Nevada)
• Air Force Recruiting Service
  )
• HQ New Jersey Wing, Civil Air Patrol
• Detachment 1, 373rd Training Squadron

Source:^[4]

See: Fort Dix for additional information and history.

The facility originated in 1917 as Camp Dix, named in honor of Major General

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

Source:^[7]

See:

Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst

for additional information and history.

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

• NAVAIR
• NAWCAD
• Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Detachment Lakehurst (CNATT DET Lakehurst)
• Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 21 (NMCB 21)
• Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion, 1st U.S. Army Recruiting Brigade
• EAGLE FLAG
• 1st Battalion (Assault), 150th Aviation Regiment, NJARNG

Source:^[8]

The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, 6 May 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 then-Naval Air Station Lakehurst.^{[citation needed]}

The

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

• Official website
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective March 20, 2025
• Go.MDL.com – 87th Force Support Squadron