CAMP DIX –
JBMDL CHRONOLOGY OF THE FIRST 100 YEARS
1793 – January 9 - The first flight
in North America took place from Philadelphia to Woodbury, New Jersey with
Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchardin a balloon.
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 – Eddystone Ammunition
Corporation establishes the Lakehurst Munitions Storage facility for Imperial
Russian Army.
6 April 1917 – US enters World War I
– Congress authorizes the construction of 16 Army Camps to be built.
1917 – Camp Kendrick established at
Lakehurst, home of the 1st Gas Regiment, a chemical weapons unit.
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. Construction of Camp Dix begins.
June 1917 – First American troops
arrive in France
28 June 1914 – Construction begins
on 1,655 buildings with 11,000 workers.
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 CampDix 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
1919 – Contractors and workman
arrive at Lakehurst to begin the excavation for the world’s largest aircraft
hangar, the first to be built in America.
1920 – 26 men, eight officers and
eighteen enlisted men sent to England for training on British airships.
1920 – Congress approves military
budget that includes construction of two rigid airships, one to be built in
this country and the other in UK, along with a “station in which to erect and
operate a dirigible.” With this directive the US Navy took over the Army’s Camp
Kendrick.
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.
1920-21 – Design studies initiated
for the construction of airship – ZR-1 – Zeppelin, Rigid #1. Basic parts
constructed in Philadelphia. Commander Ralph Weyerbacher named project manager,
assited by Anton Heinen, a German airship expert.
1921 – Navy establishes Lakehurst
Naval Air Station
1921 - Animal Transportation School
operating.
June 1921 – ZR-2 completed in
England. 695 feet long, 85 feet in diameter, and six engines, the airship was
designed by the British, who basically followed the German design. Design flaws
resulted in buckling, and with American Naval Commander A. H. Maxfiled, broke
apart on a test flight and crashes into the Humber River in the City of Hull,
England. Maxfiled and 43 crew killed. Crewman Charles Broome of Toms River, was
not aboard, witnessed the crash and took a boat to the scene, swimming into the
sinking ship in an attempt to rescue survivors. Broome awarded a medal for
heroism, but died in the crash of the Shenandoah four years later.
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 CampDix
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
4 September 1923 – First test flight
of ZR-1, Frank R. McCrary and Anton Heinen joint commanders.
5 September 1923 – Captain Noe C.
Killiian commander of Camp Dix
1923 – Camp Kendrick is open at
Lakehurst Proving Grounds
11 September 1923 – ZR-1 makes
publicity flight over New York city and Philadelphia, huge crowds watched and
cheered from thestreets.
10 October 1923 – ZR-1 officially
christened the Shenandoah by Marion Denby, wife of the Secretary of the Navy,
Edwin Denby. “Shenandoah” is an American
Indian term meaning, “Daughter of the Stars,”
16 January 1924 – Shenandoah breaks
away from the mooring mast at Lakehurst during a storm and sustains nose
damage.
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
8 August 1924 – Shenandoah makes the
first mooring to a Navy vessel, the USS Patoka, a tanker ship outfitted with a
mooring mast. Lt. Charles Rosendahl was in command.
7 October 1924 – Shenandoah begins
trip across the USA flying over the Rocky Mountains.
October 15 1924 – ZR-3 Los Angeles
delivered to Lakehurst from Germany as part of post-war reparations agreement,
carrying highly volatile hydrogen fuel, declared unsafe by Navy standards. The
hydrogen fuel vented off into the pinelands air and refitted with helium from
the Shenandoah. The transoceanic flight of 5,000 miles took 81 hours with an
average speed of 61 mph.
27 April 1925 – Colonel Stanley Ford
commander of Camp Dix
21 May 1925 – Brigadier General
Preston Brown assumes command of CampDix
10 August 1925 – Lieutenant
Colonel James T. Watson commander of CampDix
25 September 1925 – Major Nicholas
W. Campanole commander of Camp Dix
2 September 1925 – Shenandoah
embarks on flight to Midwest, runs into storm over Ohio and breaks apart. The
control cabin plunged to earth killing Commander Zachary Lansdowne. The bow
section descends safely to earth under guidance of Lt. Cmdr. Rosendahl. 21 of
the crew of 43 survive. Charles H. Broome of Toms River and George C. Schnitzer
of Tuckerton die in the accident.
15 October 1925 – Captain Herbert D.
Gilison commander of Camp Dix
16 November 1925 – Captain Richard
L. Pemberton commander of Camp Dix
25 November 1925 – ZR-3 flown to
Washington DC where the President’s wife, Grace Coolidge, christened her the
Los Angeles. Navy Lieutenant Charles E. Rosendahl boarded her for the return
flight.
1925 – Mock Invasion staged at
Fort Dix – first landing of an airplane on base.
15 March 1926 – Lt. Commander
Rosendahl replaced Commander George W. Steele as skipper of the Los Angeles.
6 May 1926 – Captain George Rankin
commander of Camp Dix
1 June 1927 – Brigadier General
Frank McCoy commander of Camp Dix
25 August 1927 – while moored to the
mast at Lakehurst, strong winds lift the tail of the Los Angeles until it stood
vertically from its nose.
22 July 1928 – Colonel Arthur
Poillon commander of Camp Dix
1928 – September – The New Jersey
National Guard Flying Contingent – the 119th Observation Squadron established
in support of the 44th Army Division, flying O-2H observation
aircraft.
1928 – The Los Angeles attempted a
landing on the aircraft carrier Saratoga, but high winds prevented it from
doing so, though Lt. Commander Herbert Wiley jumped aboard the Saratoga deck
and was left behind.
21 September 1928 – Brigadier
General Otho B. Rosembaum commander of Camp Dix
11 October 1928 – The Graf Zeppelin
(LZ-127) begins transatlantic flight from Germany to Lakehurst. Built at
Friedrichshafen, Germany, where the Los Angeles was built, as a private venture
by Hugo Eckener, who believed in the commercial success of airships for
passenger, mail and cargo. US Navy Lt. Commander Charles E. Rosendahl was on
board when violent storm damaged the horizontal stabilizer, and repairs were
made over the rough seas.
15 October 1928 – Graf Zeppelin
arrived at Lakehurst after 112 hours at sea, flying 6,200 miles.
7 August 1929 – Graf Zeppelin,
financed by American publisher William Randolph Hearst, began an “Around the
World Cruise” from Lakehurst. It flew to Germany, over Russia, Tokyo and across
the Pacific to Los Angeles.
29 August 1929 – Graf Zeppelin
arrives back at Lakehurst after circling the globe.
November 1929 – Construction of the
fourth airship authorized by US Navy began by Goodyear Zeppelin Company, in
Akron, Ohio. 785-feet long.
1 October 1930 – Captain Charles
Perfect commander of Camp Dix
20 October 1930 –
1st Lieutenant Richard T. Mitchell commander of CampDix
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.
5 August 1931 – the Akron, designed
to carry airplanes within its framework, was christened by the wife of
President Herbert Hoover. It carried five Navy scouting planes on initial test
flights under the command of Lt. Commander Charles Rosendahl.
December 1931 – Captain Samuel L.
Metcalfe commander of Camp Dix
March 1932 – Lieutenant Colonel
Lewis H. Watkins commander.
8 May 1932 – The Akron flies west.
11 May 1932 – Akron arrives at Camp
Kearney, San Diego, California. Two ground crewmen killed in an accident while
mooring and a third left dangling until rescued.
June 1932 – Brigadier General Howard
L. Laubach commander
June 1932 – The Los Angeles was
retired during the Great Depression for economic reasons, after making 331
flights and 4,320 flying hours.
September 1932 – Captain Horace K.
Heath commander
November 1932 – Major Alexander C.
Sullivan commander
March 1933 – Lieutenant Colonel
Lewis H. Watkins commander
March 1933 – Wife of Navy Admiral
Moffett christens the Macon, built by Goodyear, the fifth airship to join the
US Navy fleet.
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
3 April 1933 – Under command of
Commander Frank McCord, with Admirla W. A. Moffett, Chief of Navy Bureau of
Aeronautics as a guest, the Akron left Lakehurst on test mission, was caught in
a storm and plunged into the sea. Only three of the 76 aboard survived, two
enlisted men and Lt. Commander Wiley.
October 1933 – Macon assigned to the
new Moffett Field airbase at Sunnyvale, California.
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
1934 – The German company that built
the Los Angeles and Graf Zeppelin began construction of the Hindenburg, with
much improved aerodynamics and speed of 80 mph, a library, bar, individual
cabins, dining room with a grand piano and smoking salon sealed off from the
rest of the ship.
April 1935 – Lieutenant Colonel
Albert S. Williams commander
12 February 1935 – While engaged in
a fleet drill off California, a squall tore the upper fin and rudder and debris
punctured three rear helium cells. The crew donned life jackets as the ship
settled into the sea. As the helium gas was inhaled by the crew’s vocal cords,
“bass voices turned soprano and strong men sounded like babies. The men
clinging to the sinking aircraft suddenly exploded into uncontrollable laughter
at the strange sound of themselves, despite their perilous condition. Only two
of the 83 men aboard were killed. The ZR-5 sank. (Note: On June 24, 1990 the wreckage of the
Macon was found by US Navy three man submersible Sea Cliff, off Point Sur, at
depth of 1,450 feet).
4 March 1936 – Hindenburg takes
maiden flight, then makes ten trips to Lakehurst that year.
22 March 1936 – Graf Zeppelin and
the recently completed LZ-129 the Hindenburg, take a duel flight across
Germany.
November 1936 – Colonel Robert S.
Knox commander
1936 – Telephone switchboard
installed.
1937 – Civilian Conservation Corps
completes concrete runway – Fort Dix airstrip - Rudd Field, dedicated to 2nd
Lt. Guy K. Rudd – who lost his life on December 11, 1932 when his plane struck
a tree and crashed in Bernardsville during a low altitude dive. Rear observer Cpl.
Robert W. Junemann was also killed.
3 May 1937 – Hindenburg began first
ocean crossing of the year, to Lakehurst, Captain Max Pruss flying over New
York City to give passengers view of Statue of Liberty and Empire State
Building. Commander Charles Rosendahl at Lakehurst radioed Captain Pruss to
delay scheduled landing because of high winds.
6 May 1937 – 7:25 pm Hindenburg dirigible
disaster at Lakehurst. 13 passengers, 22 crewmen and one Navy ground crew,
Allen Hagaman died, 72 survived.
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
1940 – Graf Zeppelin retired from
service and dismantled. In nine years it made 590 flights over 1,033,618 miles.
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 Dixreception, 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.
1942 – U.S. Army ground forces
relinquish control of the air base to the U.S. Army Air Force under
jurisdiction of 1st Air Force as key anti-submarine base.
14 January 1942 – wartime airship
K-3 under command of Lt. Walter Keen, made the first MAD (Magnetic Airborne
Detection) contact with a submarine along the eastern shipping route, diverting
a convoy away and marking the spot by flare so a nearby destroyer could drop
depth charges.
May 1942 – Women’s Army Auxiliary
Corps established
15 July 1942 – K-9 under command of
Lt. Commander Raymond Tyler, rescued survivors of the torpedoed merchant ship
S.S. Moldanger, who had been adrift at sea for 18 days.
1943 – B-24s arrive for anti-sub
warfare.
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)
1943 – Commercial artist Sfc. Zola
Marcus painted many murals around the base.
1943 – September – U.S. Navy takes
over anti-submarine warfare.
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 VE Day – first documented open
house at the base.
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
1945 – First air base named after
McGuire at Mindoro, Philippines
16 March 1946 – Major general
Frederick A. Irving commander
7 August 1946 Major General W. W.
Eagles commander
1946 August – Maj. Thomas B.
McGuire, Jr. receives the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously in citation
sighted by President Truman.
1946 – Civil engineers prepare to
close the base for mothball status.
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
1948 – January 13 – Congress approves
the name of McGuire AFB
1948 July – B-29s from 91st
Strategic Reconnaissance Wing use McGuire as a staging area for Berlin airlift.
1949 – McGuire’s remains recovered
and returned to the United States
17 September 1949 – USAF base at
Fort Dix officially renamed McGuire Air Force Base
1 October 1949 – Major General John
M. Devine commander.
1 October 1949 – McGuire home to 1st
Air Force, Continental Air Command, 52nd Fighter Wing.
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
1 September 1950 – McGuire AFB
transferred to the Eastern Air Defense Force.
1951 December – 141st Fighter
Bomber Squadron (108th Fighter Bomber Wing) bring their F-47
Thunderbolts to McGuire.
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 July 27 – Activation of 1611th
Air Transport Wing commemorated
1954 2 September – 18th
Air Transport Squadron performs first ever airlift mission from McGuire – Operation
Ice Cube – airlift of dry ice to Boston for hurricane relief.
1954 – 9th Infantry Division
assigned to Europe and 69th Infantry Division moves in.
1954 - First C-118 Liftmaster
assigned to 18th Air Transport Squadron.
28 February 1955 – Major General
John W. Harmony commander
1955 – McGuire Mardi Gras with Duke
Ellington, child virtuso Glenn Derringer and actress Cleo Moore.
1955 April – Atlantic Division,
Military Air Transport Service HQ (21st AF) relocated to McGuire,
becoming the aerial port of embarkation for the eastern USA.
16 September 1955 – Major Robert W.
Ward commander
1956 – McGuire chapel constructed.
1956 – Chubby Checker entertains the
troops
16 March 1956 – 69th deactivated and
Fort Dix renamed U.S. Army Training Center, Infantry
1956 July – C-118 crashes three
miles from takeoff in thunderstorm, 46 fatalities, 20 severe injuries, first
major accident in McGuire’s history.
1 November 1956 – Majro General Earl
C. Bergquist commander
1957 – 1959 – F-102A Delta Daggers
with the 339th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at McGuire
1957 – May – Robert Risner
commemorates the 40th anniversary of Charles Lindberg’s solo
crossing of the Atlantic from McGuire.
20 March 1959 – The Ultimate Weapon
statute unveiled – designed and constructed at Fort Dix by soldiers
Steven Goodman and Stuart Scheer.
May 1959 – Dick Clark’s American
Bandstand host Dick Clark entertains the troops with singer Cathy Linden and
Jimmy J. and the J’s on Armed Forces Day.
1959 30 May – Maj. William H.
Champion of 539th Fighter Interceptor Squadron becomes the first
F-106A pilot to fire an operational Gene missile.
1 September 1959 – Major General
Sidney C. Wooten commander at Fort Dix.
1959 – Computer directed unmanned BOMARC
anti-missile missiles with nuclear warheads activated and become operational
under the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron.
5 June 1960 – BOMARC anti-missile
missile catches fire and two nuclear warheads melt in Broken Arrow event.
1961 16 March – Fairchild C-119
Flying Boxcars arrive for the 514th Troop Carrier Wing.
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
1962 February 17 – C-97s from
McGuire deliver dairy cattle to Afghanistan.
3 September 1964 –
Fort Dix chapel dedicated
1 May 1966 – Major General John M. Hightower
commander at Fort Dix
1966 – WWII 8th Army Air
Force General Ira Eaker guest speaker at 19th anniversary of the
USAF at McGuire.
1967 –
Fort Dix Information Office publishes a History of
Fort Dix New Jersey – 50 Years of Service to the Nation 1917-1967
1967 7 August – C-141 Starlifter
arrive at McGuire.
2 November 1968 – New York City
students picnic at Wrightstown-Fort Dix
5 June 1969 – 250 prisoners in
Fort Dix Stockade riot over conditions and torture. 38 were
prosecuted and became known as the Fort Dix 38.
1969 – John Levitow, then the lowest
ranking airman to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor, stationed at McGuire.
1973 – New brick reception center
opened.
1973 – The 21st Air Force
moves into big brick building that formerly housed the 462nd Air
Defense Wing that operated the Semi-Autonomous ground Environment (SAGE)
computer – the first operation digital system with a magnetic memory core that
controlled the F-106A and BOMARC missiles.
1973 November – Operation Nickel
Grass airlifted supplies and reinforcements to Israel during the Yom Kippur
War.
1975 – Operation New Life airlift
after fall of Saigon.
1977- President Jimmy Carter visits McGuire.
1978 – First female recruits enter
basic training.
1981 21 May – McGuire receives P-38
to replicate McGuire’s “Pudgy V.”
1982 – Pudgy V – a P-38J with
McGuire’s markings and kill flags was hoisted in place on a pedestal at the
McGuire gate.
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.
1983 – The first all-women crew to
complete a transatlantic mission received special praise from President Ronald
Reagan.
1983 October – Operation Urgent Fury
– Grenada rescue mission.
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 – January - Kuwaiti civilians
trained in basic military skills
1991 – March – Combat operations
cease and Operation Desert Calm
1991 – March – Bob Hope, Connie
Stevens, Lee Greenwood and Barbara Eden entertain the troops at McGuire.
1991 – May – Operation Provide
Comfort – fly aide to Kurd refugees in Turkey and Iraq.
1991 – Active Army training mission
ends.
1992 – Military Airlift Command
combined with the tanker forces of the former Strategic Air Command become the
Air Mobility Command, assigning KC-10A Extenders
1992 – Air National Guard 170th
Refueling Group merged with the 108th Fighter Wing to become the 108th
Air Refueling Wing (141st / 150th ARS) fly KC-135E.
1992 – Fort Dix begins
mobilizing, deploying and demobilizing soldiers and providing training areas
for Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers
1992 – December – McGuire supports
Operation Restore Hope in Egypt and Mogadshu, Somala.
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 – July Air Mobility Wing base –
24 McDonald Douglas KC-10 Extenders arrive.
1993 – Somalia
1993 – December – Fort Dix Army
Reserve Base named Air Mobility Warfare Center (AMWC).
1994 – June - AMWC opens.
1994 – September – C-12 Huron
aircraft arrive.
1994 1 October – 305th
Air Refueling “Can Do” Wing relocates to McGuire.
1995 – Bosnia
1995 September – 335th
Military Airlift Squadron flies the C-141B for the last time at McGuire.
1995 – October – Personnel and
aircraft from McGuire deployed to Germany and Balkins in support of Operation
Joint Endeavor for Bosnia-Herzegovina peace initiative.
1995 – Telephone switchboard,
installed in 1936 replaced with fiber optic system.
1998 – Hurricane George relief in Central
America and Caribbean
1999 – Albanian, Kosovo refugees
resettled.
August 2000 – Range 65 tank training
area opens. Bryant Range named after Larry Bryant
2000 8 November – Airman first class
John Levitow, Congressional Medal of Honor, dies.
2001 11 September – Tanker aircraft
from McGuire transitioned from training mission to emergency support mission in
midair, with no modern precedent.
2002 1 March – Brig. Gen. Teresa
Mame Peterson becomes the first women to command the base and 305th
AMW.
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.
2016 – DOD and USAF Recommend JBMDL
as one of the bases for new air refueling tankers.
2017 – JBMDL Tankers refuel B2
bombers that attack ISIS bases in Libyan desert.
July - 2017 – 100th Anniversary of
Camp Dix-JBMDL
