JBMDL Chronology 1917-2017

CAMP DIX – JBMDL CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIRST 100 YEARS

1798 – John Adams Dix born in Boscawen, New Hampshire 

1812 – Dix serves in War of 1812

1861 – Dix named chairman of the Union Defense Committee in New York and made Major General in US Army. 

1872 – Dix elected Governor of New York 

21 April 1879 – Dix dies in New York City 

1909 – A.D. Irwin and A.O. Leighton form Philadelphia construction company

1915 – Lakehurst Munitions Storage facility opens.

6 April 1917 – US enters World War I – Congress authorizes the construction of 16 Army Camps to be built

19 May 1917 Selective Service Act 

12 June 1917 – Major Harry C. Williams named first commander of Camp Dix.

June 1917 – Irwin & Leighton given $13 million contract to convert New Jersey corn fields into army mobilization and training camp. 

June 1917 – First American troops arrive in France 

28 June 1914 – Construction begins on 1,655 buildings. 

16 July, 1917

1917 – Harker family house sold to government and converted to the residence of the base commander. 

23 August 1917 – Major General Chase W. Kennedy named commander of Camp Dix.

September 1917 – First 17,000 troops arrive at Camp Dix. Eventually 35,000 troops in training, filling all barracks and tents used to house the rest, including 87th and 34th Infantry Divisions, 349th and 350th Field Artillery Battalions of the 92nd Division, and 15th Infantry of New York (369th). 311th Ambulance Company. 153rd Depot Brigade. British, French and Scottish solders at Camp Dix to advise US soldiers on the role of tanks and trench warfare. 

October 1917 – Camp Dix Fire Company organized by soldiers, and the library opens with volunteers from the American Library Association. Howard L. Hughes, Harold F. Brigham librarians. 

22 October 1917 – Camp Dix base hospital opens with 61 buildings with 1,000 bed capacity, located east of the Wrightstown Circle. 

28 November 1917 – Brigadier General John S. Mallory (ad Interim) assumes command of Camp Dix.

28 December 1917 – Brigadier General James T. Dean (ad interim) assumes command of Camp Dix.

2 January 1918 – Major General Hugh L. Scott assumes command of Camp Dix

May 1918 – 78th Infantry Division, under Maj. Gen. Chase Kennedy leaves Dix and sails to Europe. 

May 1918 – YMCA, Red Cross and Knights of Columbus begin providing programs and services to entertain the soldiers.

August 1918 – Fort Dix has 55,000 soldiers in training.

September - October 1918 – 7,970 cases of influenza and pneumonia reported, 774 deaths.

11 November 1918 – War ends. 

3 December - Camp Dix demobilization center opens that processes over 300,000 soldiers.

8 March 1919 – Camp Dix becomes Fort Dix – named permanent Army post. 

12 May 1919 – Major General Harry C. Hale assumes command of Camp Dix

31 July 1920 – Commander Hale promoted to Brigadier General.

1 August 1920 – Thomas Buchanan McGuire, Jr. born in Ridgewood, N.J. 

3 September 1920 Brigadier General William S. Graves assumes command of Camp Dix

1 October 1920 Brigadier General Clarence R. Edwards assumes command of Camp Dix

1 November 1920 Major General Charles C.P. Summerall assume command of Camp Dix

10-11 1920 – 1st Infantry Division observes first anniversary of end of WWI at ceremony presided over by Gen. John J. Pershing.

1920 – Camp Dix used as a training center for Army Reserves, National Guard and the Citizens Training Camp.

1921 – Navy establishes Lakehurst Naval Air Station 

1921 - Animal Transportation School operating. 

July 1921 – Major General David C. Shanks assumes command of Camp Dix

November 1921 – Major General Charles T. Meneher assumes command of Camp Dix.

December 1921 – Major General Harry C. Hale returns to command of Camp Dix

November 1922 – Brigadier General William S. Graves returns to command of Camp Dix

17 January 1923 – Captain Noe C. Killian commander of Camp Dix

16 May 1923 – Brigadier General William S. Graves returns to command Camp Dix

5 September 1923 – Captain Noe C. Killiian commander of Camp Dix

1923 – Camp Kendrick is open at Lakehurst Proving Grounds

8 April 1924 – Lieutenant Colonel James T. Watson commander of Camp Dix

19 May 1924 – Brigadier General William S. Graves returns to command Camp Dix

21 June 1924 – Colonel Charles Gerhardt commander of Camp Dix

26 June 1924 – Colonel John J. Bradley commander of Camp Dix

3 July 1924 – Brigadier General Frank Parker assumes command of Camp Dix

26 July 1924 – Lieutenant Colonel James T. Watson commander of Camp Dix

27 April 1925 – Colonel Stanley Ford commander of Camp Dix

21 May 1925 – Brigadier General Preston Brown assumes command of Camp Dix

10 August 1925 – Lieutenant Colonel James T. Watson commander of Camp Dix

25 September 1925 – Major Nicholas W. Campanole commander of Camp Dix

15 October 1925 – Captain Herbert D. Gilison commander of Camp Dix

16 November 1925 – Captain Richard L. Pemberton commander of Camp Dix

1925 – Mock Invasion staged at Fort Dix – first landing of an airplane on base.

6 May 1926 – Captain George Rankin commander of Camp Dix

1 June 1927 – Brigadier General Frank McCoy commander of Camp Dix

22 July 1928 – Colonel Arthur Poillon commander of Camp Dix

21 September 1928 – Brigadier General Otho B. Rosembaum commander of Camp Dix

1 October 1930 – Captain Charles Perfect commander of Camp Dix

20 October 1930 – 1st Lieutenant Richard T. Mitchell commander of Camp Dix

17 December 1930 – Major Andrew G. Gardner commander of Camp Dix

1930 – Federal Bureau of Prisons establishes prison on site. 

1930s – Citizens Military Training Camp (CMTC) offers signal, infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineering training. After 4, 30 day courses qualify for commission in Army Reserve. 

December 1931 – Captain Samuel L. Metcalfe commander of Camp Dix

March 1932 – Lieutenant Colonel Lewis H. Watkins commander.

June 1932 – Brigadier General Howard L. Laubach commander

September 1932 – Captain Horace K. Heath commander

November 1932 – Major Alexander C. Sullivan commander

March 1933 – Lieutenant Colonel Lewis H. Watkins commander

31 March 1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs bill creating CCC that continued until 1942 – Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted trees, controlled soil erosion, constructed roads, dams, bridges and fire towers, operates reception, training and discharge center with two forestry companies, a physical conditioning company and cook and baker’s school. The CCC built the first airplane runway at Camp Dix. 

April 1933 – Brigadier General Howard L. Laubach commander

December 1933 – Lieutenant Colonel Torrey B. Maghee commander

March 1934 – Brigadier General Howard Laubach commander

August 1934 – Brigadier General John L. DeWitt commander

October 1934 – Major Ford Richardson commander

April 1935 – Lieutenant Colonel Albert S. Williams commander

November 1936 – Colonel Robert S. Knox commander

1936 – Telephone switchboard installed.

6 May 1937 – Hindenburg dirigible disaster at Lakehurst 

23 October 1937 – Colonel Arthur Poillon commander

1938 – Works Progress Administration and Public Works Administration funds construction of new buildings – Building 5416 – housed field grade officers. 

8 March 1939 – Camp Dix named a permanent installation and renamed Fort Dix

9 January 1940 Colonel Bernard Lentz commander

13 May 1940 – Colonel John W. Downer commander

1940 – Federal government purchases 17,000 additional acres of adjacent land and constructs new runways. 

8 September 1940 – President Roosevelt declares limited national emergency and approved the first peacetime draft. 

16 September 1940 – Peacetime draft inductees begin arriving at Fort Dix reception, training and deployment center. 44th Infantry Division assigned to Fort Dix for training. Ten other divisions trained at Fort Dix before being deployed overseas.

25 October 1940 Major General Clifford R. Powell commander

1941 – Pointville cemetery and town acquired by government for base expansion. 

18 March 1941 Colonel Cassius M. Dowell commander

1941 – McGuire leaves Georgia Tech to join US Army Air Corps, Randolph Field 

May 1942 – Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps established 

April 1943 – Dodgers and Giants play a baseball game at Fort Dix baseball field. 

July 1943 – Auxiliary Corps renamed Women’s Army Corps (WACS), working as administrative clerks, truck drivers, photographers and mechanics. 

18-19 August 1943 – McGuire with 431st Fighter Squadron Wewak, New Guinea, shoots down five Japanese Ki-43 and Ki-61 fighters, eventually scoring 38 aerial victories, second only to Maj. Richard I. Bong, US AF all time ace (40)

1 October 1943 – Colonel Holmes G. Paullin commander

25-26 December 1943 – McGuire downs seven Japanese fighter aircraft over Luzon, Philippines, and earns Medal of Honor for action on these days. 

19 January 1944 – Brigadier General Madison Pearson commander

7 Jan 1945 – McGuire killed when his P-38 crashes over Fabrica aerodrome, Negros Island.

1945 – At war’s end Fort Dix becomes demobilization center processing 1.2 million soldiers back to civilian life. 

26 October 1945 – Major General Leland S. Hobbs commander

16 March 1946 – Major general Frederick A. Irving commander

7 August 1946 Major General W. W. Eagles commander

1947 – United States Air Force established and air base transferred to Air Force 

15 July 1947 – Fort Dix becomes a Basic Training Center and home of 9th Infantry Division. 

8 April 1948 Major General Arthur A. White commander of Fort Dix

September 1948 – USAF names McGuire AFB

1949 – McGuire’s remains recovered and returned to the United States

17 September 1949 – USAF base at Fort Dix renamed McGuire Air Force Base

1 October 1949 – Major General John M. Devine commander

17 May 1950 – McGuire buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery

25 June 1950 – Korean War begins, basic training reduced from 14 to 8 weeks. 

1 September 1950 – Major General William K. Harrison commander

January 1952 – Major General Roderick R. Allen commander

July 1952 – Major General Homer W. Kiefer commander

31 July 1953 Major General C. E. Ryan commander

1954 – 9th Infantry Division assigned to Europe and 69th Infantry Division moves in

28 February 1955 – Major General John W. Harmony commander

16 September 1955 – Major Robert W. Ward commander

1956 – Chubby Checker entertains the troops

16 March 1956 – 69th deactivated and Fort Dix renamed U.S. Army Training Center, Infantry

1 November 1956 – Majro General Earl C. Bergquist commander

20 March 1959 – The Ultimate Weapon statute unveiled – designed and constructed at Fort Dix by soldiers Steven Goodman and Stuart Scheer.

1 September 1959 – Major General Sidney C. Wooten commander at Fort Dix

5 June 1960 – BOMARC anti-missile missile catches fire and two nuclear warheads melt in Broken Arrow event. 

10 June 1961 - Major General Reuben H. Tucker, III commander at Fort Dix

1 February 1962 – Major General Charles E. Beauchamp commander at Fort Dix

3 September 1964 – Fort Dix chapel dedicated

1 May 1966 – Major General John M. Hightower commander at Fort Dix

1967 – Fort Dix Information Office publishes a History of Fort Dix New Jersey – 50 Years of Service to the Nation 1917-1967

2 November 1968 – New York City students picnic at Wrightstown-Fort Dix

5-7 June 1969 – 250 prisoners in Fort Dix Stockade riot over conditions and torture. 38 were prosecuted and became known as the Fort Dix 38.

1973 – New brick reception center opened.

1978 – First female recruits enter basic training. 

1982 – 10 Stained glass windows installed in the Fort Dix chapel honoring WW I soldiers.

20 May 1982 – Last train to Fort Dix ends rail service that began in 1917.

1985 – Fort Dix Headquarters renamed Sharp Hall in honor of Gen. Richard Sharp

1987 – USAF Security Police Air Base Ground Defense School moved from Camp Bullis Texas 

1988 – Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommends ending basic and advanced individual training at Fort Dix.

17 August 1990 – A new The Ultimate Weapons statute constructed of bronze replaces original

1990 – Around the clock operations begin mobilizing and deploying troops for Desert Shield and Desert Storm. 

1991 – Kuwaiti civilians trained in basic military skills 

1991 – Active Army training mission ends. 

1992 – Fort Dix begins mobilizing, deploying and demobilizing soldiers and providing training areas for Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers

1992 – Reception center that opened in 1973 transferred to Air Force as Air Mobility Warfare Center.

1992 – Department of Defense Police replace military police

1992 – US Department of Justice – Bureau of Prisons opens a federal prison 

1993 – Somalia 

1995 – Bosnia 

1995 – Telephone switchboard, installed in 1936 replaced with fiber optic system. 

1999 – Albanian, Kosovo refugees resettled. 

August 2000 – Range 65 tank training area opens. Bryant Range named after Larry Bryant

2005 – Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst – JBMDL Established 

2007 – A memorial to McGuire placed at his fatal crash site on Negros Island by former fighter pilot David Mason 

2010 – Census 7,716 people living in 784 households with 590 families residing in CDP

2016 – Cassidy and Associates issue report on the future of the base and the state of NJ grant them another contract to continue their work. 

2017 – DOD recommends JBMDL as home of new refueling tankers.

July - 2017 – 100th Anniversary of Camp Dix-JBMDL 

Lakehurst NAS History

Naval Air Station Lakehurst – Images of America – Arcadia – By Kevin Pace, Ronald Montgomery, and Rick Zitarosa

ZR-3 – USS Los Angeles – Airship at Lakehurst 1927

ZRS-4 USS Akron – at Hanger 1 at Lakehurst 1931

Lakehurst’s history is that of airships in the U.S. Navy, but many other aspects of the base are largely unknown, including its background as an army chemical warfare proving ground and its later roles of manufacturing, testing, and training in support of naval aviation.

Continuously evolving as a vital component of national defense, Lakehurst has seen its share of triumphs and setbacks over its eight decades of operation, and this is expected to continue as the military redefines itself in a fast-paced high-tech era. Despite several proposals to consolidate or eliminate Lakehurst’s role over the years, the place continues to flourish, like a cat with nine lives….

Camp Kendrick – the army’s experimental site for chemical warfare technology.

The presence of a military installation did much to improve the economy of the region.

Even with live rounds of mustard gas and other hazardous chemicals being tested here, inhabitants of nearby Lakehurst (well known in its day as a “health resort”) did not seem to mind.

Map of 1923

Completed HQ building 1917

Lakehurst Proving Grounds Feb. 1918

Eddystone Ammunition Corporation – a subsidiary of Baldwin Locomotive Works – “Company transportation” – arms manufacture – 1915

Eddystone makes cannon shells for the Russian government – 1915 - 1916 – 1917

Soon after came under US Army control with WWI

Wood observation towers No 1 and 2 – for smoke bombs and fires –used test animals in trenches.

Tested steel helmets and gas masks.

Sheep were used for monitoring of testing the effects of deadly poison gases in various concentrations under controlled conditions –

“The proving grounds contributed immensely to advances in chemical warfare.

Doughboys in contrast to rotting trenches in Europe – enjoyed “thoroughly modern latrine facilities.”

Used narrow gage 12 ton geared steam locomotive to haul supplies

Central Railroad of New Jersey.

Tested gun used to throw barbed wire projectiles. 1915-1917

Col. William S. Bacon, commanding officer –

Visted Maj. H.R. LeSueur of British Military Mission

Camp Kendrick closed – auctioned off items on Tuesday March 27, 1923 –

Samuel T. Freeman and Co. 1519 Chestnut Philad.

Summer of 1919 – Lt. Comdr. Lewis Maxfield, a skilled, enthusiastic navy dirigible pilot, recommended Lakehurst as the new home for the navy’s lighter than air (LTA) program.

Deal finalized in summer of 1919 – by acting secrtary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt –

7,400 acres original – later expanded.

The US Navy Dept. of Yards and Docks drew up specifications.

August 1919 – Lord Construction Company of Phila. Won the hanger bid - $2.9 million.

The largest open interior space in the world –

Fleet Airship No. 1 – Rigid Airship ZR-1 – manufactured at Navy Aircraft Factory, Phila.

ZR-2 built for Navy by British Royal Airship works at Cardington, England.

1921

Original plan to use hydrogen gas in airships

Designed plant to manufacture 75,000 cubic feet of hydrogen per day.

Capt. Frank T. Evans put Naval Air Station Lakehurst into Commission on June 26, 1921

The base originally housed in wooden firehouse built in 1921 –

Modern WPA brick building completed in 1935,

Hindenburg disaster May 6, 1937

The old wood firehouse still stands as workshop as does the brick firehouse

Hanger No. 1 – first permanent address of the navy’s lighter than air operations – 966 feet overall 807 interior – 263 feet door with – 224 overall height – 178 feet interior height – 

Declared a national historic landmark in 1968

Officers housing constructed in 1930s.

1942-44 expansion.

The Allies received several Zeppelins as spoils of the first war with Germany and built several based on the designs of the captured German models. One copy British R-34 - crossed the Atlantic – July 1919 –

108 hours westbound – 75 eastbound.

1922 – First American rigid airship – based on captured German L49

ZR2 tragedy –

For years special trains brought sightseers to view the airships.

1915 – US began LTA program – blimps – The Howden Detachement in Yorkshire, England provided airship training – R-38 (American ZR2)

On its fourth trail flight August 24, 1921 – the ship broke apart and fell burning into the River Humber at Hull, with 28 British and 16 Americans killed, including Lt. Comder. Lewis Maxfield – the leading proponent of airship development in America.

ZR-1 Shenandoah – firsts flight Sept. 4, 1923

Commissioned Oct. 27 680 feet long – 91 feet high

Nov. 1923 – 160 foot mooring mast. West field. Developed in Britain allowed airships to operate independent of hangers.

6:44 pm on January 16, 1924 the Shenandoah broke free from its mast in a gale.

German instructor Annon Heinen and skeleton crew rode out the storm and brought the runaway airshop back to Lakehurst after a nine hour flight, a public relations triumph.

Lt. Comder. Zachary Lansdowne took command of Shenandoah on Feb. 16 1924

Lakehurst commanding officer Comdr. Jacob Klein – “bitterly unhappy to see an ‘outsider’ brought in. So began a decades long pattern of feuding among various officers and commanders at Lakeurst. – p. 29

Chief of Naval Airship Training and Experimentation Command during WWII, Vice Adm. Charles E. Rosendahl – retired to Toms River in 1946.

“An outstanding proponent of the airship cause, he remained a regular presence at Naval Station Lakehurst until his death in May 1977 at age 85. Bitterly disappointed with the navy’s decision to remove Lakehurst’s designation as an active naval air station, he abandoned plans for establishing a museum at his beloved base, and his accumulated archives instead went to the University of Texas, in his former home state.” – p. 115 

Irwin & Leighton Contractors for Camp Dix & Lakehurst

Irwin Leighton

The United States Army Cantonment at Camp Dix

The Camp Dix project, although one of Irwin & Leighton’s earliest, stands even today as one of its most meaningful because of the significance and importance of the project to the World War I effort, and the speed in which it was built.

Irwin & Leighton was chosen to build the Cantonment at Camp Dix when the site’s installment began in 1917. The initial project was required to be completed under a very aggressive time schedule to meet the impending demands of World War I. To do this, Irwin and Leighton directly employed and/or coordinated the efforts of hundreds of workers who, in accordance with the custom of the day, arrived at work in shirt and tie, changed into work clothes and changed again to go home.

Irwin & Leighton established an onsite Employment Office where seventeen clerks screened applicants who arrived by train and motorcar. A fleet of autos was required to make the weekly commutes to the Philadelphia National Bank for the worker’s payroll.

The project was started in July 1917, in farm fields. The scope involved ten sections of multiple barracks and support building as well as an extensive infrastructure work.

In less than sixty days, the entire project was substantially complete. In that time, Irwin & Leighton used forty million board feet of lumber, which was brought to the site by rail and erected in production fashion. When the company hit stride, it was completing one barrack per day. Irwin & Leighton’s onsite superintendent was E. M. Campbell.

The company further organized the project with “Heads of Departments” for survey, concrete, carpentry, sheet metal, plumbing, electrical, road construction, water and sewers, a pumping station, etc.

The 31,000 acre complex is located inside the Pineland National Reserve in Central New Jersey, and was named for Major General John Adams Dix, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civiil War.

Used as a staging ground and training area for units during World War I, it was made a permanent Army post in 1939 and was renamed Fort Dix.

In 1921, the Navy established Lakehurst Naval Air Station to serve as its headquarters for lighter-than-air flight after the pioneering use of zeppelins by the German forces in World War I.

In order to house large helium-filled dirigibles, the Navy hired Irwin & Leighton to build Lakehurst’s Hanger No. 1, a massive structure measuring 961 feet long, 350 feet wide and 200 feet high. The great spans and clear height were achieved through state-of-the-art design. Inside it, Naval engineers assembled the first American-built airship, the Shenandoah.

Lakehurst was also the location of the now-infamous Hindenburg disaster. The crash of the Hindenburg dirigible on May 6, 1937 over Lakehurst was the 20^th century’s first transportation disaster widely captured by newsreel, audio recordings and still photos.

Dix Chapter VII - Between the Wars

Chapter VII

CAMP DIX BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

During the 1920s and early 1930s, World War I continued to have a tremendous impact on the size and structure of the United States Army.

Civilian Americans were determined to economize after the tremendous costs of World War I and try to forget warfare altogether. With almost four million men under arms in November 18, the authorized strength of the US Army slid to less than 150,000 by mid-1920. Even then the number of personnel the Army was able to retain n service fell well below that figure.

Regular Army facilities in the United States provided adequately for existing Army units; consequently there was little need for the original National Army Camps, such as Camp Dix, in the post-war military establishment.

Were it not for a decision by the assistant secretary of war in March 1919, it is doubtful if Camp Dix would had survived as a military reservation. He decided to purchase 14 leased National Army cantonments, one of which was Dix, to try to recoup a higher part of the war’s cost by selling all buildings and other assets in combination with the lands. Selling the combinations, he estimated, would result in 12 times more gain to the government. After the Camp Dix land was purchased, however, no information is available that any real attempt was made to sell the Army post.

When demobilization had ended, the caretaking responsibility for Camp Dix was placed in the hands of a quartermaster detachment, which at times consisted of as few as one officer, 10 enlisted men and five civilians. The quartermaster officer in charge of the detachment also doubled as commanding officer of the camp. For these few soldiers, Camp Dix in those years was a lonely place and well deserving of the name, “Military Ghost Town,” given to the quiet reservation by local residents.

It was the 1^st Infantry Division, headquartered at Fort Hamilton, New York, that gave Camp Dix its last big moment of glory during the post-World War I period. In observance of the second anniversary of the armistice, the 1^st Division assembled all of its units, which were spread widely along the east coast, at Camp Dix to put on a demonstration for a gathering of 1^st Division veterans. Among the guests was General of the Armies John J. Pershing, as the division “went over the top” on the night of 10 November 1920.

Also present were 35 disabled veterans of the 1^st Division who lay in ambulances to watch the show. They had been brought by special train from Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington D.C., where for more than two years, they had been under treatment for war wounds. The demonstration consisted of a night attack from trenches employing all of the implements for such an attack. Soldiers with blackened faces made up wire-cutting parties, and the attackers were supported with star shells to heavy artillery and protected by tanks and machine guns. On the next day 11 November, a reunion of the 1^st Division Society, held on the parade grounds, was attended by thousands of veterans from all parts of the United States.

As a result of this visit, the commanding general of the 1^st Division, Major General Charles P. Summerall, wrote to the adjutant general. US Army, requesting an allocation of $5,000 to repair and modernize a building suitable for housing visitors to the post. In his request, he stated that the camp was located 18 miles from adequate hotel accommodations. He also noted the quarters provided for officers at the camp were so small, poorly constructed, and ill equipped that it was necessary to provide some place for guests of the officers and other visitors.

There is no evidence to indicate General Summerall ever got the money. Few appropriations were made by Congress for maintenance of buildings on the post. Consequently, the inevitable resulted. Nature, lack of repair, and insufficient guard personnel took their toll. Supplies were open to looting. Even gasoline was stolen from the fire engine, and on one occasion the vehicle had to be towed to a fire. Building after building burned to the ground. During the five-year period from 1917-1922, the camp’s fire loss was approximately $287,000. Much of the camp’s equipment, particularly motor vehicles, had long passed the point of efficient use.

Major General David C. Shanks, who had replaced General Summerall as commanding general of the 1^st Infantry Division, visited Camp Dix in August 1921. He later wrote to the adjutant general, US Army, complaining of the camp’s deficiencies. He noted the buildings were “all of the cheap and flimsy type” and apparently suffering from leaky roofs, extensive rotting, and general deterioration attributable to “hasty construction.”

General Shanks observed that the camp’s water supply was poor, no family housing existed, and the general isolation of the location was contributing to a high desertion rate. He endorsed General Summerall’s views that Camp Dix should not be retained as a permanent camp and recommended no further building programs be considered.

Despite the views of the two commanding generals, the 1^st Division continued to use Camp Dix for its annual summer field training and range firing. Regiments of the division’s 1^st Brigade, the 16^th Infantry Regiment from Fort Jay, Governor’s Island, New York City, and the 18^th Infantry Regiment from Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, New York, were the most consistent users of the camp’s training areas. Additionally, in the summer months, units of the New Jersey Guard took their two-weeks active duty training at the camp along with reserve officers of the 77^th and 78^th Infantry Divisions (Reserve) and officers of other Organized Reserve Corps (ORC) units whose home stations were close to Camp Dix. In the 1930s, students in training under the Citizens Military Training Corps (CMTC) in the II Army Corps Area made up a large part of the men assembled at the camp from June through August.

The small arms ranges were the most active facilities on post during these training periods. More than 3,000 men, not including CMTC and ORC groups, spent considerable time on the ranges qualifying and improving their marksmanship. In 1926, the firing range at Fort Hancock, New Jersey, was closed because of accidents, so troops from that post, principally engineers, completed their small arms firing at Camp Dix. During the summer of that year, approximately 400 marines stationed at Lakehurst, New Jersey, as part of the ground crew for the naval airship “Los Angeles,” came to Camp Dix for range practice. The marines continued to use the camp’s ranges for several more years.

Camp Dix as it existed in those days can be best understood through the reflections of soldiers returning to the “old” post after years of absence. One was Sergeant First Class John F. Nolan, who returned to Fort Dix in 1964 for an assignment with the Light Vehicle Driver Course of the 5^th Common Specialist Training Regiment. Back in May 1934, then Private Nolan had reported to Camp Dix to staff a summer training camp for the Reserve Officers Training Corps, CMTC, and Civilian Conservation Corps.

Looking at the permanent, brick barracks of a basic combat training regiment, Nolan recalled that his company 30 years previously had been housed in tents during the summer period. “The only barracks on post,” he said, “housed about 18 members of the permanent party. Once we were ordered to move our tents so a road could be built.”

Reminiscing on changes that have occurred in Army life, the sergeant recalled, “Every outfit did its own recruiting. You just signed up and went straight to work. Until you were assigned overseas, you received no formal training. One day you might learn how to carry or fire a rifle, while another time they might teach you ‘right face.’”

As a private, Nolan was paid $17,65 a month. His first stop most paydays was the orderly room, where a book of 10 haircut coupons could be bought for a $1.50. In his unit in those days, a private first class was entrusted with handling payroll and personnel records. Mess halls were different, too. Service was family style, with heaping platters of food on the table. Mess sergeants did their own marketing, and they could be seen at nearby farms, haggling over the price of vegetables.

Frequently during the post-demobilization period, the governments had expressed its intention of abandoning the camp and returning all property to the original owners. However, due largely to the efforts of General Hugh L. Scott, the second commanding general of the 78^th Infantry Division and Camp Dix, such a proposal was not carried out. He and many other farsighted military and government officials argued that the camp must be retained in the event of another mobilization. It was further pointed out that the reservation was the largest in the northeastern United States and well fortified by its ideal location. It was near the large eastern cities and had great potential as an aviation center or training site for pilots.

After hearing these and other strong arguments, Calvin Coolidge decided to set aside most of the tract as a national forest preserve and any idea of vacating the camp apparently was dropped – at least so far as the federal government was concerned. By executive order in 1925, most of the land area making up the reservation was renamed Dix National Forest.

Even though the government had no intention of giving up the land, rumors of plans to abandon the property were often heard. Most of the rumors were based on expressed opinions of certain ranking individuals in the federal and local governments that the properties at Dix were needlessly being held by the government. The rumors brought a flood of inquiries to congressmen from local residents. The property and land at Dix became the subject of many such congressional inquiries in 1926. Late in the year, Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis answered these inquiries by announcing plans to reopen Camp Dix as the 11 Corps training area. He also announced the proposal of a million dollar construction project at the post. Thus, Dix’ retention as a military installation by the federal government was assured, and the tide of rumors and queries subsided.

Although the post was not very active after 1922 and no regular forces, other than the small caretaker detachment, were stationed there, the Army still received a number of claims for property damage from irate citizens. For example, an Asbury Park bus struck and killed an Army mule while the bus was traveling across the reservation on the Wrightstown-Pemberton-Camden Highway. After determining the amount of damage to the bus and cost of repair, the company filed a claim against the government in the amount of $54.45. But, to the dismay of the company, the government submitted a counterclaim for $160 – the cost of the mule. It was pointed out that the driver of the bus had exceeded the posted speed limit of 12 miles per hour. A witness had stated the bus was traveling a reckless 25 miles an hour and the driver apparently ignored the waring of a soldier to slow down. The disposition of the case is not known nor is it really important. However, it was typical of many such claims submitted to the government.

There were more serious claims uring the early between-wars period. Field fires started from the narrow-gage railroad were frequent. One fire in the early 1920s resulted in more than $10,000 in claims for damage to cranberry bogs. In 1930, another fire was started from the railroad resulting in claims totaling $2,500. Finally it was discovered that the fires were caused when sparks from the train’s wheels ignited the nearby brush.

The largest fire during the period, however, was not caused by wheels of the railroad train. In 1932, soldiers of one of the reserve divisions were clearing brush from the track for a firebreak and began burning it. At noon, the soldiers took time out for lunch, leaving the burning brush unattended. In a short time, with the assist of a summer breeze, the fire spread to adjoining bogs. The result was one of the worst fires known in the vicinity, according to a letter received by the secretary of war from a civilian. The blaze could not be controlled, and a civilian fire department had to be called in.

After the fire, which caused extensive damage to the woodland area in the section that later became known as the Reception Center. This company did excellent work fighting soil erosion on the farms in the neighboring communities.

By August 1934, general supervision of CCC camps in southern New Jersey was administered by headquarters at Dix. Public opinion was divided as to whether material benefits accomplished by the CCC were worth the cost. However, it was generally accepted that improvement of workers’ personal character and knowledge was of tremendous value.

Character buildup, however, was sometimes questioned by the local populace. One incident took place on the afternoon of Friday the 13^th of April 1934. On that day, 75 CCC workers on their way home from Camp Dix created a disturbance at the Bordentown, New Jersey railroad station. They removed a clock from the waiting room wall, damaged a candy vending machine and became involved in other miscellaneous malicious actions. State police were summoned and after quelling the outbreak permitted the men to go on to their homes. No arrests were made. This was not the only incident of bad conduct involving CCC workers. They were frequently involved in fights, brawls, thefts and acts of immorality. Although the majority of the conservation corps men did not display such immature behavior, the reputation of the entire CCC was quite a topic of controversy.

Meanwhile, CCC authorities at Camp Dix continued to point out advantages of the corps. They shattered all charges of pacifists that the recruits were given military training. Dix authorities denied that the young men were undergoing training for the Army in the event of a future emergency. It also was stressed that while a civilian reserve officer directed each of the CCC camps, all other executive positions were held by men promoted from the ranks of the CCC recruits.

All CCC men enlisted had the privilege of quitting any time they were needed by their families. Transportation costs to return home in such cases were furnished, considering that pay of the ordinary CCC workman was only $30 a month, $25 of which was sent to dependents or families back home. This left the CCC worker $5 in pocket money each month, hardly enough to cover both transportation costs and other necessary purchases. In addition to educational, recreational, and religious benefits and activities, the worker received clothing and medical services.

In January 1935, 300,000 young men still were employed in camps scattered throughout the United States. For the most part, they worked in forest conservation. In the spring of 1935, preparations were made by the Department of Conservation and Development for reforesting state forests. This was accomplished by planting a total of 832,700 seedling trees of several different types. The plans were carried out, and the planting done by CCC. The Green Bank State Forest Nursery of Burlington County provided 210,200 seedlings, while the Washington Crossing State Forest Nursery of Mercer County furnished an additional 125,000 for the cause.

The Bass River State Forest of Burlington County, the Lebanon State Forest in Cape May County, the Jenny Jump State Forest in Warren County and Stokes State Forest in Sussex County all received seedling trees. In all cases the planting was done by the CCC. The CCC also was employed in road building and other jobs throughout the country. These jobs aided in the construction of various projects designed to improve living and recreational conditions in assigned areas.

In spring 1935, it was directed that New Jersey’s quota for the CCC be boosted from 9,343 to 19,700. This was the result of a federal government decision to enroll 600,000 youths and war veterans beginning 15 June 1935 to build up the number of personnel, which then stood at 353,000. Factors in determining the state’s quota were population and relief needs, each weighing equally.

Of the 600,000 youths and war veterans, 545,000 were juniors and the remainder veterans. The enrollment increase was completed on 31 August 1935. It was estimated that during the enrollment period, approximately 350,000 men, including replacements for men who had dropped out prior to 1 July, were sent to camps.

From March 1933 to July 1936, 115,000 CCC enrollees arrived and were processed at Camp Dix. During the same period, the camp, which also operated as a discharge center, sent out 43,000 men, who eventually returned to Dix and were mustered out of the corps to civilian life. In all, more than 200,000 men passed through the camp in the CCC program.

Activity at Camp Dix steadily increased, and in 1937 the CCC Discharge and Replacement Center was established. The center handled approximately 10,000 enrolments and discharges every quarter. At the beginning of every period 5,000 men were received from camps on the West Coast, processed for discharge and returned home. At about the same time, approximately the same numbers was received, enrolled, processed and shipped to camps on the West Coast as replacements. In September 1940, the Discharge and Replacement Center was moved temporarily to Sea Girt, New Jersey. It remained there until early in 1941 when it was returned to Fort Dix and inactivated. Because of the military buildup, workers at the post, more of whom were involved in soil conservation, were transferred to the Schenectady, New York, area.

Meanwhile the CMTC and ORC continued to use the camp regularly each summer, and training was more efficient because of the many improvements made by the CCC with government funds.

In 1937, General Hugh L. Scott’s foresightedness of the 1920s became a reality. During that year ground was broken for the Army’s first airfield at Dix. A small landing strip was built for light planes to be used in support of the post’s activities. Although hardly as extensive as today’s McGuire Air Force Base, the tiny single dirt strip was McGuire’s forerunner. Later, the strip expanded to a major air base and for years was known as the Fort Dix Army Air Field. 

The military had its problems in keeping the lid on classified information. A breach of security, which could be used as an example in an intelligence lecture, occurred on the post in 1938. World War II was just taking form in other parts of the world, even though the United States was not involved. Washington, however, was anticipating the country might become entangled; consequently mobilization and contingency plans were being prepared. Military installations were taking stock of their properties and making recommendations for improvement in the event facilities and equipment had to be used for building of our military strength.

In May 1938 a request carefully itemizing some $150,000 in needed repairs and constructions at Camp Dix was sent from Congress to the War Department. Congress felt the repairs were considered necessary for mobilization should the need arise. The list included all areas ranging from improvements of tent floors and a hay shed to renovations of an electronic power station.

Such a request may not seem out of place to most people. There was, however, one extraordinary factor – the request came from Congress and not through channels from Camp Dix. A security leak was suspected. This disturbed the War Department, considering that requests in channels from Dix at the time amounted only to $18,000. The War Department wanted to know why civilians apparently knew more about the mobilization readiness of the post than the Army.

Camp Dix’ commander was hard pressed to explain how this restricted list of needed repairs got to Washington before it was received at II Corps headquarters. After investigation on the part of military authorities at the camp, the answer was learned. At the time there were some 2,500 Works Projects Administration (WPA) workers on the post. They were involved in all types of projects and administrative functions at the camp. It was discovered that these civilians were not fully aware of their knowledge of security information. Because most of them were political appointees, it was not difficult for congressmen to obtain any information they wanted. After this discovery, the security leak was plugged here and at other posts.

In the late 1930s, War Department officials began to recognize that Dix was becoming an important permanent station. Permanent barracks and officers’ quarters were being constructed, and the post had the potential of becoming one of the largest training centers for ground forces in the county.

In view of this, the War Department believed the installation should be given the more appropriate designation of “Fort Dix,” so on 8 March 1939, the post was officially renamed – giving it an air of permanence.

At the time several permanent structures already were in existence and others in construction, using Public Works Administration and Works Projects Administration funs. Included in the million-dollar building project were an electric power substation, a 375-man barracks, eight sets of officers’ quarters, 13 NCO quarters, a fire station, bakery, guard houses, quartermaster warehouse, quartermaster utility shops, garage and motor repair shop, gas and oil storage area, headquarters building and an administration building.

Begun in 1938 the project was not completed until 1940. Most of these facilities are being used today. The post headquarters building are probably the most familiar to those currently stationed at Dix. Among the permanent-type buildings in existence prior to 1939 were the mess halls built for the Civilian Conservation Corps and the two infantry companies in 1934. These buildings on Maryland Avenue are still in use today – but not as mess halls. One is now used by the provost marshal and the other by the Communications and Pictorial Service Division.

Little change occurred in the routine at Dix by its redesignations as a permanent installation. The CMTC and the ORC continued with their regular training activities. War clouds were beginning to form on the horizon, but it was to be some time before their existence would be recognized by any variation in Fort Dix’ schedule.

In the summer of 1939, 21,000 young men were inducted into the CMTG regiment on the parade grounds, which marked the spot where the barrack’s famed “Lighting Division” stood. The regiment’s training was conducted by officers of infantry, quartermaster, signal and medical branches, who arrived regularly during the summer for two-weeks active duty.

March 1939 found Fort Dix the center of a controversy that raised a nationwide hue and cry. It concerned nine old mules, condemned to die after having been found guilty of the charge of “senility.” The over-age age of the animals was 25 years, and one had been in service with General Pershing on the Mexican border and in France. Publication of the sentence was picked up by the national press series and resulted in an avalanche of letters directed to the post quartermaster officer, Major David R. Wolverton, under shoes supervision the sentence was to be carried out.

Suggestions for pensioning the animals streamed in from all sides. Finally, in 1940, General Hugh A. Drum, commander of the II Corps Area, issued a reprieve. One newspaperman wrote that this decision brought “great joy” to the post. The mules were given extra allotments of feed. They were brushed and curried to an extent unknown in a tough mule’s life, and private citizens brought sweets to the favored beasts.

Even a radio news bulletin was issued, and it was thought that the old campaigners would spend the rest of their days on green pastures. But the reprieve came to an end, and the Army’s regulations prevailed. It was considered inadvisable to sell the mules to farmers, and no other recourse was available but to complete the sentence of the court martial. Decrepit mules could not live on an Army post, and the animals were given a ceremonial dismissal from the service.

The portrait of Major General Hugh L. Scott, the second commander of the installation and the man who was in great part instrumental in persuading the government to retain the camp after World War I, was presented to Fort Dix at appropriate ceremonies in July 1939. The portrait, painted as a WPA project by artists from New York, was presented by a group from the 78^th Division Veterans Association.

During the same month, a portrait was presented of the birthplace of General Dix. This presentation was made by Mrs. Margaret Dix Lawrence, a granddaughter of the general. In 1956 Mrs. Lawrence presented a near-century-old oil portrait of General Dix, which is presently displayed in post headquarters. The portrait, exceeding four-by-three and encased in a heavy gilt frame of the period, was painted by Peter Hansen Balling of Norway. Balling was noted for his portraits of President Lincoln, Generals Sherman and Grant, Admiral Farragut and other Civil War leaders.

Late in 1940, quite a few Americans realized the United States might become physically involved in a second world conflict. It was at this time the federal government heartily welcomed the existing facilities at Fort Dix. The War Department had a place to train and stage troops in the event of mobilization – again thanks to General Scott and his farsighted colleagues.

The between-wars period was a time when Dix almost had passed out of existence only to snap back with the initiation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” CCC program. Upon entering the 1940s, the post was to be charged with other important roles – again in defense of the country for liberation of suppressed peoples. 

Fort Dix Chapter VI - Demobilization

Chapter VI

CAMP DIX AND DEMOBILIZATION

“The collapse of the Central Powers came more quickly than even the best-informed military experts believed possible.” 1 (U.S. Secretary of War 1tr. To U.S. Senator James A. Reed, 3 April 1919.)

Thus, wrote Secretary of War Newton D. Baker in a letter to Senator James A. Reed about the suddenness of the armistice on 11 November 1918. The abrupt end of the war found the United States even less prepared for demobilization than it had been for mobilization in April 1917.

When the war ended, there was only one officer, Colonel C. H. Conrad, Jr. in the entire United States Army actively working on plans for personnel demobilization, and he had received the assignment only one month previously.

General Peyton C. March, chief of staff, US Army, in speaking of the planning for demobilization said, “…There were no precedents afforded by the experience of our former wars which were of value in determining policy.” 2 (Peyton C. March, The Nation at War, p. 312)

Except the Civil War, no war in which the United States previously participated had involved the mass of personnel comparable to the millions who served in World War I. Then, too, the opportunities of economic and territorial expansion in the nation that existed after the Civil War were not available to the men released in 1918-19.

The War Department planners considered the welfare of the nation as well as the Army and concluded that demobilizing the emergency troops could be best accomplished in one of four ways: soldiers could be separated by length of service, by industrial needs or occupation, by locality (through the use of local draft boards), or by military units.

The decision favoring the military unit method of demobilization was made on 16 November 1918 and immediately announced to the press. The secretary of war, describing the plan in his report for 1919, said, ‘…the policy adopted was to demobilize by complete organizations as their services could be spared, thus insuring the maximum efficiency of those organizations remaining, instead of demobilizing by special classes with the resulting discontent among those not given preferential treatment and retained in the service, thus lowering their morale and efficiency and disrupting all organizations with the attendant general discontent,’ 3 (U.S. Secretary of War, War Department Annual Report 1919, vol. I, pt. I, p. 14)

Demobilization Centers, such as Camp Dix became on 3 December 1918, performed the task of discharging the troops. At these centers camp personnel conducted physical examinations, made up the necessary papers to close all records, checked property, adjusted financial and other accounts, and generally completed the processing. Many units in the United States were not immediately released. They manned ports of embarkation, convalescent and demobilization centers, supply depots, base and general hospitals, garrisons along the Mexican border, and bases outside the United States.

Camp Dix personnel had a taste of the inactivation process even before it was designated a Demobilization Center. This occurred on 30 November 1918 with the official inactivation of the 102^nd Infantry Division, the new division scheduled for formation at Camp Dix that never got beyond assignment of cadre. In December 1918 demobilization got underway in earnest with the inactivation of the 333^rd, 334^th, 338^th, 339^th, and 346^th Light Tank Battalions; the 351^st 382^nd, 383^rd Heavy Training and Replacement Companies; and the 319^th,,320^th,321^st Tank Repair and Salvage Companies. These tank units were elements of the 309^th and 310^th Tank Centers, which only had been transferred to Camp Dix in November 1918. They were part of the final war plan to augment tank participation of the A.E.F. in France during the scheduled 1919 buildup of United States forces. Although these organizations had received cadres of some trainees, systematic training barely began before the units were inactivated. The two Tank Center Headquarters remained at Camp Dix for a time, but they, too, were inactivated in June 1919.

Demobilization really got underway at Camp Dix beginning in January 1919. In quick succession, seven entire infantry divisions or their major elements were inactivated in the next six months. They were the 87^th Infantry Division, January to March; 41^st Infantry Division, February to March; 28^th Infantry Division, April to May; 42^nd Infantry Division, May; 29^th Infantry Division, May; 78^th Infantry Division, the first occupants of Camp Dix, May to June; and the 79^th Infantry Division, May to June.

During the same period, inactivation of the following smaller units was accomplished at Camp Dix; 10 engineer regiments, two engineer trains, 26 transportation corps companies, three pioneer infantry regiments, one infantry brigade headquarters, six machine gun battalions, 30 base hospitals, four military police companies, two butchery companies, eight sales commissary units, and 14 U.S. guards battalions.

More than 300,000 men were discharged at Camp Dix by 31 July 1919. Of this number 16,485 were officers and 39 field clerks (similar to today’s warrant officer). In addition, 76,124 officers and men were transferred to other stations for reassignment or further processing prior to discharge. The largest number of discharges for a day was 5, 231 and transfers 4, 617.

Although the size and number of units inactivated during the period 1 July to 31 December 1919 began to fall off, the scale of inactivations continued to be significant. They included: nine engineer regiments, 63 transportation corps companies, two pioneer infantry regimens, six base hospitals, five ambulance service sections, 25 military police companies, 13 butchery companies, and eight sales commissary units. By October 1919, the demobilization requirements at Camp Dix had slowed to a point where no more than 500 men were handled per day. The War Department already had acquiesced in the requirement that a man be discharged within 48 hours of his arrival at the center.

It was in October that Camp Dix was chosen by the Treasury Department to be the site for filming of movies in support of the “Fifth Liberty Loan Drive.” More than $100,000 was invested in filming simulated battles with doughboys dressed in German battle dress.

Scenes took place in the mock trench area near the filtration plant at New Jersey Avenue beyond 8^th Street. The trench area, which circled eastward toward Pointville and included heavily wooded terrain, afforded an ideal setting for producing battle scenes reminiscent of those fought on the Western Front.

By the end of January 1920, demobilization at Camp Dix had come to an end.