September 28, 2009, Lakehurst, NJ –On September 30, 2009 Naval Air Engineering Station (NAES) Lakehurst transitions from its storied 88 year history as a military facility operated solely by the U.S. Navy to becoming an integral part of the nation’s first tri-service joint base called Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL).

As a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission decision in 2005, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress decided to close some military installations and realign others to save money on operations and maintenance. They determined that the collocated military facilities in Central New Jersey (McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix and NAES Lakehurst) should be realigned under the administrative management of the Air Force, while still retaining the existing operational missions and identity of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

In a ceremony to be held at NAES Lakehurst, Air Force Colonel Gina Grosso, the new commander of JB MDL, will accept command of the Lakehurst portion of the base from outgoing commanding officer, Navy Captain Phillip Beachy and from Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, Rear Admiral Mark Boensel.

“Navy Lakehurst” has a long storied history of supporting the Navy’s aviation mission from the days of lighter-than-air flight to today’s ultra-modern nuclear aircraft carrier fleet.

The property now known as the Naval Air Engineering Station dates back to 1916 when the Eddystone Chemical Corporation bought the first parcel of land from the Manchester Land Company with the intent of using it as an ammunition testing Ground for the Imperial Russian Army. Shortly after the United States entered World War I, the Army purchased the property and named it Camp Kendrick and continued to use the facility for testing munitions. Following the war, the Navy purchased 1,499 acres of the property for $14,190 for use as an airship station, and in 1921 commissioned the base as Naval Air Station (NAS) Lakehurst. Another purchase of 5,892 acres in 1942 brought the station to its present size of nearly 7,430 acres or 11.5 square miles.

Hangar One, now a registered historical landmark, was constructed between 1917 and 1921 at a cost of $4 million dollars. All of the Navy’s four rigid air ships, USS Shenandoah, USS Los Angeles, USS Akron and USS Macon, were housed in Hangar One. The Hindenburg was also housed in Hangar One with only an 18 inch clearance at the bow and stern. Its early transcontinental passenger trips established NAS Lakehurst as the country’s first international airport. However, on May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg thrust NAS Lakehurst into history forever, as the airship dramatically burned and crashed in the open field just west of Hangar One.

Hangars Five and Six, completed in 1943 are the largest, single arch wooden structures in the world, each with 241,000 square feet of floor space. They were constructed to house the greatly expanding fleet of antisubmarine patrol blimps of the World War II era which numbered six in 1940 and rose to 130 by the war’s end.

In 1951, the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) was established at Lakehurst. Its mission over the years included training sailors to serve as Aviation Boatswain’s Mates, Aircrew Survival Equipmentmen, Aerographer’s Mates, Naval Security Guards, and Marine Corps Expeditionary Airfield Technicians. NATTC also houses within Hangar One, the largest training aid in the Navy: The Carrier Aircraft Launch and Support
System/Equipment Simulator (CALASSES), a one-third scale model aircraft carrier. CALASSES provides realistic training on catapults, arresting gear assemblies, and other equipment with which the Aviation Boatswain’s Mate must be familiar.

In 1957 the station received another new tenant, the Naval Air Test Facility (NATF). Its mission was to test and evaluate aircraft launch and recovery systems and aviation support equipment. By 1962, all lighter than air operations were discontinued by the Navy. From 1965 to 1973 antisubmarine helicopter squadrons were a part of the station’s mission. In 1973, the Naval Aircraft Factory, renamed the Naval Air Engineering Center (NAEC), moved from Philadelphia to Lakehurst. In 1977, NATF and NAS Lakehurst were merged to become NAEC, and in a 1992 consolidation, the base became a part of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division.

In 1994, the station was renamed the Naval Air Engineering Station (NAES) and served as the host command to the Lakehurst contingent of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). In 2003, NAES was realigned to Commander, Navy Region Northeast and in 2006, consolidated to Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.

The mission of Navy Lakehurst is the critical link between Naval Aviation and the Navy Aircraft Carrier (CV) Battle Groups worldwide. Lakehurst is the Navy’s engineering support activity for Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) and Naval Aviation Support Equipment (SE), and is responsible for maintaining fleet support and infusing modern technology across the entire spectrum of equipment needed to launch, land and maintain aircraft from ships at sea. Navy Lakehurst is the only activity responsible for this specialized element of Naval Aviation in the world.

The infrastructure of Lakehurst includes two active conventional runways, an assault landing strip for Air Force C-17 training, one 12,000-foot dedicated research and development test runway (with a full scale aircraft carrier catapult and arresting gear), three active mile-long test tracks to simulate aircraft landings and six large hangers. The base also holds 298 buildings, including 20 advanced engineering laboratories, training facilities and a 5.7-acre complex of manufacturing and prototyping shops.

Lakehurst was chosen as the site for NAVAIR to develop the next generation of aircraft carrier launching technology, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). The EMALS land based test site will be the only facility capable of testing all current and future aircraft programs that will operate from these carriers.

Also under development by NAVAIR at Lakehurst are the Integrated Shipboard Information System and Aviation Data Management and Control System (ISIS/ADMMACS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear Engine (AAGE) replacement program.

Under early implementation efforts tied to JB MDL, Lakehurst has been supporting mission activities of Air Force, Army Reserve and National Guard forces stationed at McGuire AFB and Fort Dix by making available facilities, training areas and services to enable pre-deployment training and mobilization actions associated with the Global War on Terrorism. Recognized as the leader in DoD joint basing, Lakehurst has hosted more than two dozen DoD, federal, state, county and private industry tenant organizations who reimbursed the base for their portion of services and upkeep of the facility.

Now, as Navy Lakehurst transitions to becoming part of JB MDL, and the first joint base to combine three branches of the military, the unique and critical missions that have long been associated with Lakehurst will continue unabated and uninterrupted in support of naval aviation. JB MDL marks a new era in cost savings and synergistic benefits for the DoD, and Navy Lakehurst stands squarely at the forefront of this transformation.