McGuire Air Force Base

McGuire Air Force Base Air Mobility Command
Aerial photo - April 16, 1995
IATA: WRI ICAO: KWRI FAA LID: WRI
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	United States Air Force
Operator	Air Mobility Command
Location	New Hanover / North Hanover / Wrightstown, New Jersey
Occupants	87th Air Base Wing
Elevation AMSL	131 ft / 40 m
Coordinates	40°00′56″N 074°35′30″W
Website	www.jointbasemdl.af.mil
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 6/24 10,001 3,048 Asphalt 18/36 7,140 2,176 Asphalt
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

McGuire AFB

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Location of McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey

Team McGuire Logo

McGuire Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: WRI, ICAO: KWRI, FAA LID: WRI) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 35 miles (56 km) east of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On October 1, 2009, McGuire officially became part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Base officials refer to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as "JB MDL".

The host unit at JB MDL is the 87th Air Base Wing (87 ABW), assigned to the Air Mobility Command United States Air Force Expeditionary Center. The 87 ABW provides installation management to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The wing also provides mission-ready, expeditionary Airmen to support Unified Combatant Commanders in on-going military operations. The wing consists of more than 3,100 officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel from the Air Force, Army and Navy.

McGuire AFB was established in 1937 as part of Fort Dix by the United States Army, and control was assumed by the USAAF on 3 July 1942 as Fort Dix Airport. In 1948 it was re-named in honor of Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. (1920–1945), who was the second highest scoring American ace during World War II. The 87th Air Base Wing is commanded by Colonel Gina M. Grosso. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Lee Wofford.

Overview

McGuire (part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst) is home to the 87th Air Base Wing, 305th Air Mobility Wing (305 AMW) and the Air Force Reserve Command's 514th Air Mobility Wing (514 AMW) which comprises C-17 Globemaster III and KC-10 Extender aircraft. McGuire is also home to the 108th Air Refueling Wing (108 ARW) - an Air Mobility Command-gained unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard, flying the KC-135 Stratotanker.

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 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, 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.

Units

The following units are assigned to McGuire Air Force Base :

• 87th Air Base Wing
• 305th Air Mobility Wing

305th Maintenance Group

305th Medical Group

• 514th Air Mobility Wing (AFRC)
• 108th Air Refueling Wing (New Jersey ANG)

McGuire the only base in both the Air Mobility Command and the entire U.S. Air Force hosting three AMC-gained flying wings of the Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.

McGuire is also host to:

• United States Air Force Expeditionary Center (USAF EC) - physically located on Dix and is a tenant unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
• 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force [1] (EMTF)
  • 621st Contingency Response Wing [2] (CRW)
• 373rd Training Squadron (373 TRS), Detachment 1
• AMC Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES)

McGuire hosts the flying needs of its mission partners on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Air Force and civilian AMC-contracted aircraft use McGuire's two runways to facilitate this mission. Many hundreds of thousands of Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps personnel have left the United States for overseas locations from McGuire Air Force Base.

History

Major Thomas McGuire next to his P-38 "Pudgy (V)" in 1944

Fort Dix Army Air Base, 1943

Major Thomas Buchanan McGuire, Jr

McGuire Air Force Base was established as Fort Dix Airport in 1937 and first opened to military aircraft on January 9, 1941. On January 13, 1948 the United States Air Force renamed the facility McGuire Air Force Base in honor of Major Thomas Buchanan McGuire, Jr, (1920–1945). Medal of Honor recipient and second place Flying ace of World War II, Major McGuire died on January 7, 1945 when his P-38 Lightning spun out of control and crashed on Los Negros Island in the South Pacific as he attempted to aid his wingman during an aerial dogfight.

World War II

Flight operations to support Camp Dix at an adjacent airfield took place as early as 1926. Facilities and runways to support an air mission began in 1937 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. This was on newly acquired land for the great Army Air Forces expansion approved by the Roosevelt Administration. This nascent airfield and wooden structures was named "Rudd Field." To meet the requirements for a possible World War, Rudd Field was renamed Fort Dix Army Air Base in 1939, and underwent massive expansion from 1940–1941. Runways constructed consisted of three concrete surfaced, 7100x150(N/S), 7100x150(NE/SW), 5400x150(E/W), and one macadam surfaced, 8100x150(NW/SE).

The base had its first permanent Army Air Force occupant in November 1941 when the 59th Observation Group took up station on 14 November. Initially during 1941–42 the Group operated a wide range of aircraft, including the BC-1A, L-59, O-46, O-47, O-49 Vigilant, and O-52 Owl, engaging in antisubmarine patrols along the East coast.

After the United State's entry into World War II, Fort Dix Army Air Base was used as a training and facility for numerous service units under First Air Force. Once organized and prepared for overseas duty, these units provided support and technical sections for the group requirements as a whole: Flying control, Ordnance, airfield security, firefighting, Post Exchange (PX), Special Services, Mail, Transportation ("motor pool"), Communications, Radar, Gunnery instruction, Personal Equipment, and Weather (Meteorology). The service group also had its own mess section. The service group had approximately 30 officers and 300 to 400 enlisted men. This training continued until 1944.

In late 1942, Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command (AAFASC) took up tenant status at Fort Dix AAB. The 378th Bombardment Group patrolled with a mission to search for German U-Boats in the coastal waters of the Atlantic Coast and to fly aerial coverage of friendly convoys off the east coast with Douglas O-46 and North American O-47 light observation planes. In August 1943, this mission was turned over to the United States Navy.

Air Technical Service Command began using the base in 1943 overhauling, servicing and preparing aircraft for overseas shipment to North Africa and to the United Kingdom. This mission continued until the end of the war in 1945, then received returning aircraft from Europe and arranged their shipment to operational bases or to storage locations. Part of this mission was the temporary basing of returning combat (primarily bombardment) groups from the overseas combat theaters and, with the Army Service Forces coordinating their inactivation.

Fort Dix Army Air Base was phased down in the fall of 1945 and was placed on Temporary Inactive Status on 15 February 1945; which changed to Inactive Status on 1 March 1946. Jurisdiction of the base was transferred to Strategic Air Command at Andrews Field, Maryland on 1 August 1947, the base remaining in inactive status.

United States Air Force

Strategic Air Command

Fort Dix Army Air Base was taken out of inactive status and activated as a primary installation on 29 August 1948. Initially reactivated under Strategic Air Command, the facility underwent a modernization program to convert the World War II base into an base for postwar jet aircraft. In addition, support facilities were upgraded from World War II temporary wooden structures to permanent structures for long-term use.

SAC activated the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at the newly re-designated McGuire Air Force Base on 10 November 1948. The 91st SRW was a long-range photographic reconnaissance unit quipped with a mixture of RB-17 Flying Fortresses and RB-29 Superfortresses equipped with wide variety of photographic reconnaissance and mapping cameras in the bomb bays. It moved to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, on 1 October 1949.

Air Defense Command

F-82F-NA 46-414 of the 52d Fighter Group, McGuire AFB, New Jersey in black night fighter motif

SAGE Data Center DC-01 at McGuire AFB. On the far left are cooling towers for the generators located in the (low) middle building. The "cube" has four floors, with air conditioning and wiring on the ground, the computers on the second floor, offices on the third and the combat center on top. The "big screen" shown at the top of this article extends from the third to fourth floor.

CIM-10A Bomarc Surface-to-Air missiles of the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron

With the departure of the 91st SRW, control of McGuire AFB was reassigned to Continental Air Forces (ConAC). ConAC assigned the base to Air Defense Command, at the time an operating agency of ConAC.

The 52d Fighter Wing, All Weather was assigned to the base, being moved from Mitchel Field, Long Island on 4 October 1949. Equipped with very long range F-82 Twin Mustangs, the 52d Fighter Group, All Weather engaged in interceptor training missions against SAC B-29 and B-50 Superfortress bombers simulating air defense missions against incoming Soviet Tupolev Tu-4 bombers. The 52d remained at McGuire until 6 February 1952, when it was inactivated along with the F-82s.

The Twin Mustangs of the 52d were replaced by the ADC 4709th Defense Wing on 1 February 1952. Under the Eastern Air Defense Force, the 4709th DW (later Air Defense Wing), controlled interceptor squadrons at McGuire, as well as at Suffolk County AFB and Stewart AFB, New York, and Dover AFB, Delaware. Interceptor squadrons stationed at McGuire were the 2d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. These were replaced in 1955 by the 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.

These squadrons flew a variety of ADC interceptors in the 1950s, starting with the F-94 Starfire in 1952, upgrading to the F-84 Thunderjet in 1953, and finally the interceptor F-86D Sabre later in 1953.

Military Air Transport Service took over jurisdiction of McGuire AFB on 1 July 1954 and took over the flightlne of McGuire in 1956, with the ADC interceptors being reassigned. Air Defense Command became a tenant organization on the base, with the 4709th ADW being re-designated as first the 4621st Air Defense Wing on 1 April 1956, and shortly afterwards as the New York Air Defense Sector (NYADS) on 1 October 1956 under the 26th Air Division.

The NYADS was in large part responsible for one of the foundational projects of the computer era: the development of the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) air defense system, from its first test at Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1951, to the installation of the first operational Data Center (DC-01) at McGuire AFB in 1957, becoming operational on 1 July 1958. The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack.

Developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers and scientists, SAGE monitored North American skies for possible attack by manned aircraft and missiles for twenty-five years. The heart of the system, the AN/FSQ-7 computer, was the first computer to have an internal memory composed of "magnetic cores," thousands of tiny ferrite rings that served as reversible electromagnets. SAGE also introduced computer-driven displays, online terminals, time sharing, high-reliability computation, digital signal processing, digital transmission over telephone lines, digital track-while-scan, digital simulation, computer networking, and duplex computing.

The NYADS was reassigned from 26th AD on 1 April 1966 to First Air Force, until 30 September 1968 when both the sector was inactivated along with DC-01, when budget restrictions along with when technology advances allowed the Air Force to shut down many SAGE Data Centers. The SAGE network, however, remained active until 1983.

In 1959, Air Defense Command deployed the CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missile to McGuire AFB. The Bomarc was the only surface-to-air missile ever deployed by the United States Air Force. All other U.S. land-based SAMs were and are under the control of the United States Army. The Bomac site Bomarc site was located 4 miles ESE of the main base 40°02′06″N 074°26′29″W in a separate facility, and was manned by the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron, activated on 1 January 1959. Two models of the Bomarc were deployed to McGuire, the liquid-fuled CIM-10A (28 missiles), and later the CIM-10B (56 missiles).

The supersonic Bomarc missiles were the first long-range anti-aircraft missiles in the world, and were equipped with a W40 nuclear warhead. The site at McGuire went operational in 1959 under the NYADS. Within a year of becoming operational, a Bomarc-A with a nuclear warhead caught fire on 7 June 1960 following the explosive rupture of its onboard helium tank. While the missile's explosives didn't detonate the heat melted the warhead, releasing plutonium which the fire crews then spread around. The Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission cleaned up the site and covered it with concrete; fortunately, this was the only major incident involving the weapons system.

The Bomarc site remained in operation for several years following the fire, but after its closure in 1972, the accident resulted in the site remaining off limits to the present day, primarily due to low levels of plutonium contamination. Due to the accident the McGuire complex has never been sold or converted to other uses and remains in Air Force ownership, making it the most intact site of the eight in the United States. It has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Sites.

With the closure of the Bomarc site in 1972, Aerospace Defense Command ended its activities at McGuire AFB.

As the Air Force prepared to reopen by the installation as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation, Fort Dix AAB was renamed McGuire AFB in January 1948 in honor of USAAF Maj. Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., a World War II P-38 pilot, fighter ace, and Medal of Honor recipient, The U.S. Air Force officially reopened McGuire AFB as a primary installation August 29, 1948.

While initially a combat base, operating primarily bombers and fighters of SAC and the Air Defense Command (ADC), the strategic airlift mission and the Eastern Division of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) (later the 21st Air Force and today's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force) transferred to McGuire from Westover AFB, MA, in 1954. Under MATS (later Military Airlift Command (MAC) and Air Mobility Command, McGuire became the "Gateway to the East," serving the U.S. Military and its allies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with cargo and transportation. Over the years McGuire's mission aircraft have been: the C-54, C-118, C-135 (McGuire was the first base to operate the world's first all-jet strategic airlifter), C-130, C-141 and C-17 airlifters, as well as KC-97, KC-135 and KC-10 tanker aircraft. From 1967 through 2004, McGuire was the best-known C-141 base in the world, possessing up to a quarter of AMC's fleet of that aircraft.

Team McGuire has provided support in almost every major American contingency operation from 1955 to the present, including Operation SAFE HAVEN, Vietnam, NICKEL GRASS, the Grenada rescue effort, Operation DESERT SHIELD/STORM in 1990, and Operation DESERT CALM following the first gulf war. In 1992, McGuire AFB became a major part of the newly activated AMC. A newly created concept, an air mobility wing (AMW) possessing both tankers and airlift aircraft, activated on McGuire in 1994. The storied 305th Air Refueling Wing, "Can Do!" moved to McGuire to become the host 305 AMW on October 1, 1994. The 21st Air Force, coupled with the stand up of the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group (621 AMOG) and its later reorganization to the 621st Contingency Response Wing (621 CRW), partnered with the 305 AMW and spear-headed virtually every contingency over the past 14 years, from Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR in the Balkans to Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. McGuire itself, through its support organizations, has also been a key component in the transport of materials and personnel to global crisis points. In 1999, McGuire served as the lead staging base for the evacuation of Kosovo refugees in Operation OPEN ARMS; McGuire was the rally and staging point for FEMA operations in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks; in 2005, the base lent key support for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2006, McGuire AFB hosted over 1,800 Lebanese Americans evacuated from the battles there between Israel and Hezbollah insurgents. In 2008, McGuire assumed responsibility for the no-fail "Red Ball Express" aerial port mission, supplying efforts in ENDURING FREEDOM.

Today the men and women of McGuire AFB continue to be in the forefront of operations, with regular deployments of airlift and aerial refueling aircraft as well as support elements for combat operations. McGuire hosted a rapidly assembled STRATCOM Joint Task Force satellite recovery team with no prior notice in February 2008, winning praise for its flexibility and support. Team McGuire remains engaged in providing direct combat support to two regional conflicts and provided personnel, resources and aircraft.

Due to the Department of Defense (DoD) initiative, McGuire will be the lead service in the first tri-service Joint super-base, combining its infrastructure support with the support of Fort Dix (Army) and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (Navy). Additionally, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) commission identified several units to be added to Team McGuire over the next few years, including contingents from every service branch. Construction of many new facilities, a beautification effort, and new privately owned contract family housing, make McGuire one of the premier Air Force installations.

Major commands to which assigned

• First Air Force, July 3, 1942
• Air Service Command, October 13, 1942
• First Air Force, May 1, 1944
• Air Transport Command*, June 1, 1945
• Strategic Air Command*, April 30, 1947
• Continental Air Command, October 1, 1949
• Air Defense Command

Eastern Air Defense Force, January 1, 1951

• Military Air Transport Service

Eastern Transport Air Force, July 1, 1954

Redesignated: Military Airlift Command

Twenty-First Air Force, January 8, 1966

• Air Mobility Command

Twenty-First Air Force, June 1, 1992 – October 1, 2003

Eighteenth Air Force, October 1, 2003 – January 7, 2011

United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, January 7, 2011 - present

.* McGuire put on temporary inactive status, February 15, 1946; inactive status, March 1946; transferred to jurisdiction of Selfridge Fld, Michigan, May 1, 1947; transferred to jurisdiction of Andrews AFB, Maryland, August 1, 1947; transferred from jurisdiction of Andrews Fld to Topeka AFB, Kansas, August 16–28, 1948; reactivated as primary installation, August 29, 1948. During inactive status, field remained under major command jurisdiction.

Major units assigned

• 15th Bombardment Squadron, 14 October 1941-1 February 1942
• 59th Observation Gp, November 1, 1941 – October 18, 1942
• 95th Air Base Sq, February 10, 1942

Redesignated: 95th Base HQ and Air Base Sq, June 20, 1942 – April 1, 1944

• 14th Fighter Group, July 19 – August 6, 1942
• 377th Bombardment Group, October 14 – December 9, 1942
• Eighth Air Force, June 29 – August 5, 1942
• 4107th AAF Base Unit, April 1 – May 1, 1944
• 116th AAF Base Unit, June 1, 1944 – May 31, 1945
• 453d Bombardment Group, June 12 – September 12, 1945
• 455th Bombardment Group, June 9 – September 12, 1945
• 4149th AAF Base Unit, December 1, 1944 – February 26, 1946
• 592d AAF Base Unit, May 25, 1945 – February 15, 1946
• 4202d Base Service Sq, August 1 – November 10, 1948
• 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, July 20, 1948 – September 30, 1949
• 52d Fighter Wing, October 4, 1949 – February 6, 1952
• 84th Fighter Wing, October 10, 1949 – June 2, 1951
• 568th Air Defense Group, February 1, 1952 – July 8, 1954
• 4709th Air Defense Wing, February 1, 1952

Redesignated: 4621st Air Defense Wing, 1 April 1956

Redesignated: New York Air Defense Sector, 1 October 1956-1 April 1966

• 1611th Air Transport Wing, July 1, 1954 – January 8, 1966
• 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, August 18, 1955 – July 9, 1959
• 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, August 18, 1955 – August 31, 1967
• Aerial Port of Embarkation, April 15, 1955 – February 15, 1978
• Atlantic Division, Military Air Transport Service

Redesignated: Twenty-First Air Force, June 1, 1955 – October 1, 2003

Redesignated: 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, October 1, 2003 – present

• 4730th Air Defense Group, February 8, 1957 – August 1, 1959
• Naval Air Transport Squadron Three (VR-3), July 16, 1957 – July 19, 1967
• Naval Air Transport Wing, Atlantic, May 15, 1958 – March 1, 1966
• 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron, January 1, 1959 – October 31, 1972
• 305th Air Refueling Squadron, January 15, 1960 – March 25, 1965
• 514th Military Airlift (later Air Mobility) Wing, March 15, 1961 – present
• 903d Troop Carrier (later Military Airlift) Group, December 28, 1962 – July 1, 1973
• 108th Tactical Fighter (later Air Refueling) Wing, July 1, 1965 – present
• 438th Military Airlift (later Airlift) Wing, January 8, 1966 – October 1, 1994
• 305th Air Mobility Wing, October 1, 1994 – present
• 621st Contingency Response Wing, March 2005 – present
• 87th Air Base Wing, March 3, 2009–present

References for history introduction, major commands and major units

Aircraft flown

Designation	Years
C-17	2004–present
KC-10	1994–present
C-141	1967–2004
KC-135	1991–present
F-4E	1985–1991
F-4D	1981–1985
F-105B	1964–1981
F-94	1950–1952
F-86	1962–1964
F-86	1962–1964
F-84F	1958–1962
F-84E	1955–1958
F-82	1949–1951
F-51H	1952–1955
P-47D	1952
F-106A	19XX-1967
C-7	19XX-19XX
C-121	19XX-19XX
C-54	19XX-19XX
C-118	19XX-19XX
C-135	19XX-19XX
C-130	19XX-19XX

Joint basing

Base Realignment and Closure is a congressionally authorized process the Department of Defense has previously used to reorganize its base structure to more efficiently support US forces, increase operational readiness and facilitate joint basing. The current process began with a threat assessment of the future national security environment, followed by the development of a force structure plan and basing requirements to meet these threats. BRAC law set into effect the Joint Base initiative which led to the establishlishment of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. McGuire will receive assets and support functions from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, which will be closed by BRAC.

Under BRAC law, McGuire and Fort Dix, will host Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps assets and will build new structures to support these additions. New support facilities will include; Navy Fleet Logistics Operations Facility, C-130 flight simulator, Marine Air Group Headquarters and helicopter hangar, Aviation Support Division/ Aviation Intermediate Maintenance division facility, munitions facility and a joint use reserve training center.

Once the BRAC initiative is complete, McGuire will be home to 37 aircraft from NAS JRB Willow Grove; C-130s, C-9s, C-12s and CH-53 Super Stallions. AH-1s' UH-1 Hueys coming from Johnstown. The initiative will also bring over 1,700 joint support personnel.

Under a BRAC-directed Joint Base initiative, Fort Dix and NAES Lakehurst have been combined with McGuire AFB to support the three installations as a single entity. While each installation continues to maintain its own operational identity, the consolidation will streamline installation support, while increasing mission effectiveness.

Although the installation management functions have been consolidated, the missions of each of the three installations will continue. The Air Force will provide global mobility and expeditionary combat support; the Army will mobilize and train soldiers; and the Navy will continue to assure fixed and rotary wing aircraft operate safely and effectively worldwide. McGuire has a long history of providing a total force global mobility. BRAC and Joint Basing provide the opportunity to grow this into a joint capability.

Of the three main armed services participating in JB MDL (Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst) the Air Force and McGuire are the lead Agent. Thus, the 87th ABW is in charge of operating McGuire AFB and its commander is in charge of overseeing all aspects of JB MDL.

Geography

McGuire AFB is located at 40°2′45″N 74°35′9″W (40.045969, -74.585733)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the base has a total area of 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²), all land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1970	10,933		—
1980	7,853		−28.2%
1990	7,580		−3.5%
2000	6,478		−14.5%
source:

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 6,478 people, 1,498 households, and 1,466 families residing in the base. The population density was 1,208.3/km² (3,131.0/mi²). There were 1,652 housing units at an average density of 308.1/km² (798.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the base was 69.30% White, 18.91% African American, 0.71% Native American, 2.76% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.18% from other races, and 5.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.71% of the population.

There were 1,498 households out of which 79.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.0% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.1% were non-families. 1.9% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.51 and the average family size was 3.53.

In the base the population was spread out with 35.6% under the age of 18, 22.8% from 18 to 24, 39.9% from 25 to 44, 1.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 130.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 153.3 males.

The median income for a household in the base was $36,347, and the median income for a family was $36,136. Males had a median income of $22,000 versus $21,659 for females. The per capita income for the base was $12,364. About 5.5% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Hazardous waste

In July 2007, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued an order to the US military to clean up the contaminants at McGuire AFB. Areas requiring cleanup include landfills, fire training areas, pesticide mixing shops, fuel storage and leak areas, underground tanks and fuel lines, a PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) spill site, and a wastewater treatment plant sludge disposal area. [3]

Education

The North Hanover Township School District serves children in public school for grades K–6 from North Hanover Township and from McGuire Air Force Base. Schools are located on the base and in Jacobstown.

The Northern Burlington County Regional School District serves children in public school for grades 7 through 12. Students are served from Chesterfield Township, Mansfield Township, North Hanover Township and Springfield Township, along with children of USAF personnel based at McGuire Air Force Base.

In popular culture

In the eighth season of the television series 24, the President and high ranking members of the United Nations are evacuated to McGuire after Manhattan is attacked by terrorists.

In the early issues of the Marvel Comic book G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, McGuire was often used by the fictional G.I. Joe team as a departure and arrival point for various missions, and storage for the teams aircraft.

See also

• New Jersey World War II Army Airfields

Other sources

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: McGuire Air Force Base
• Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-02-1).
• Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989

External links

• Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) official website
• Team McGuire webpage (JB MDL official website)
• McGuire - Retiree Activities Office webpage (JB MDL official website)
• Air Mobility Command official website
• "The Last Great Ace" book written about Maj. Thomas B. McGuire written by Charles A. Martin
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective May 16, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for WRI, effective May 16, 2024
• Resources for this U.S. military airport:
  • FAA airport information for WRI
  • AirNav airport information for KWRI
  • ASN accident history for WRI
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KWRI