[280PLUS]

Philadelphia Inquirer
November 9, 2005

Three Military Bases Become One

Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station formed the first tri-service super base.

By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer

South Jersey is now officially the home of the nation's first tri-service super base.

Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station became a joint base - by law - at 12:01 a.m. yesterday after the deadline passed for congressional action on the recommendations of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

More than 20,000 people live or work at what is now Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The installation will receive as many as 47 additional Army, Navy and Marine aircraft and more than 1,000 new jobs. It will host Marine, Navy, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard personnel.

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

Not nearly as bad as a HMWVV...

And consider the possibilities. To honor our state and our governor-elect, we need to change "McGuire" to "Corzine" and "Lakehurst" to "New Jersey."

Say it out loud. :D

- NF

[Pilgrim]

I spent two and a half years stationed at NATF/NAEC Lakehurst, basically a Navy industrial facility run by 2200 civilians and hosting 35 naval officers and 200 enlisteds for color and atmosphere.

One of my achievements was thinking out loud that every military installation should have a five year plan for shutting down. That quickly became altered in the rumor mill to NAEC Lakehurst was closing in five years. This resulted in panicked calls to Congress protesting the closure from the unions and local government officials. There was a short lived hunt for the guy who started the rumor. Fortunately, it wasn't traced back to me.

Pilgrim

[Devonai]

Great, like we don't have enough problems with soldier/airmen West Side Story-style showdowns at the chow hall at Camp Edwards.

[wingnutx]

Great, like we don't have enough problems with soldier/airmen West Side Story-style showdowns at the chow hall at Camp Edwards.

Dancing around each other with switchblades?

[Devonai]

Hey, when breakfast costs $1.35 for all-you-can-eat, things get dicey.