1940 - 1950

FROM CAMP DIX TO JBMDL – 1940 – 1950

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 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.

1942 – U.S. Army ground forces relinquish control of the air base to the U.S. Army Air Force under jurisdiction of 1^st 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 was killed when his P-38 crashed 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 91^st 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 1^st Air Force, Continental Air Command, 52^nd Fighter Wing.

Chapter VIII - WWII

FORT DIX DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

In the 1930s, the United States recovered slowly from its major crisis, the Great Depression. The minds of the nation’s people were preoccupied with earning basic necessities of food, clothing, shelter. There was no time for more than mild interest in the power struggles of Europe and Asia.

United States direct involvement in a second global conflict was far from the thoughts of this vast majority of American people, even though objectives of Japan’s ruling clique, Germany’s “Fuehrer” Adolph Hitler and Italy’s “Duce” Benito Mussolini were clearly evident. Generally in the late ‘30s, the US public was paying little heed to the world’s systematic dissection by the Axis powers – Japan, Germany and Italy.

Japan’s armies had overrun Manchuria (1931) and were storming China. Germany had reoccupied the World War I demilitarized zone of the Rhineland (1936) and annexed Austria and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia (1938). Italy had invaded and annexed the independent nation of Ethiopia (1935-36).

Two days after Germany invaded Poland (1 September 1939), France and England declared war on Hitler’s “Third Reich,” and the Second World War began. In the same month, Russian forces struck into Poland to insure a share of that country. A year later, with the war proceeding badly for the Allies, President Roosevelt proclaimed a limited national emergency -- this country’s first real step in preparing for active participation in the world struggle. Immediately after the 8 September proclamation, an effort was made to expand the nation’s military forces. The Selective Service Act of 1940 was enacted to strengthen the Armed Forces, with the largest percentage of men to be inducted into the Army.

Fort Dix felt the impact of the buildup almost immediately. To meet requirements of building the largest Army in the history of the United States, new military installations had to be constructed and existing facilities expanded. By the end of 1940, Dix had become one of the largest posts in the country with a population of 17,929.

The “Battle of Britain” raged in the skies, and the British Commonwealth stood alone against Germany’s onslaught. But Germany changed direction and pointed her efforts, along with several other unlimited national emergency, and all-out efforts were made to build one of the strongest Armed Forces in the world. Fort Dix came into its own as one of the busiest Army training centers in the country.

In the next few years, the post became a primary staging and training area for troops shipping to the war fronts of North Africa and Europe. Army Air Corps units and men used the installation as a stopover before proceeding overseas. In addition, the huge military post was used as the air base in defense of Atlantic shipping and the North American continent itself. Fort Dix bustled with military buildup activity in preparation for the big push across North Africa, up the Italian Boot, and the invasion of “Fortress Europe.”

LAND ACQUISITION – PINEWOODS

The land and facilities at Dix, however, were inadequate to handle the volume of men and materials necessary for the post to accomplish maximum results desired by the Army. Already the largest Army installation in the Northeast, more land had to be acquired and a great number of buildings constructed. America’s effort in the crash program at Fort Dix was completed just in time but not without a great deal of difficulty.

The acquisition of land was one of the most difficult undertakings of the expansion program at Fort Dix. Beginning in October 1940, the Post Judge Advocate’s Office held repeated conferences with farmers and their representatives to negotiate amicable acquisition by purchase, lease, or trespass rights of thousands of acres needed for airfields, maneuvers, range work and training facilities.

Condemnation proceedings were instituted, and approximately 16,000 acres acquired in November 1940. There was, however, considerable dissention among the farm owners affected. This was particularly true of occupants of the Pinewoods, an area to be used as an artillery impact zone. The Pinewoods people had been firmly rooted to the area for many years and required considerable persuasion before they would vacate their land.

Meanwhile, expansion activity brought Fort Dix into the limelight of national news. Because of this, the War Department invited newsmen from the eastern United States to the post for briefings and inspection of facilities and equipment. This was done to help newsmen interpret the needs and actions of the Army at one of its most important camps. To give them an idea of the size and importance of the camp, the newsmen were permitted to tour the entire post, which at the time covered approximately 25,000 acres. During their stay they inspected the Garand semi-automatic rifle, latest models of military vehicles, 155mm artillery pieces, antiaircraft weapons, and a host of other up-to-date items of war equipment.

FORT DIX EXPANSION

By March 1941 federal expansion of Fort Dix resulted in an increase of nearly five million dollars in tax-exempt real estate property. The more valuable properties were located mainly on acquired land in New Hanover Township, site of many buildings. After repeated conferences with these and other property owners, the government acquired 17,000 acres of local land needed for infantry maneuvers. Tresspass rights were negotiated for an additional 70,000 acres. This tract encompasses the reservation extending south to the Lakehurst Road between Pemberton and Browns Mills and north to New Egypt, Jacobstown, Georgetown and Jobstown.

In addition, 2,500 acres bordering the water pipeline from Fort Dix to New Lisbon were condemned. Including in this acreage was the Clifford Borden farm on the Wrightstown-Jobstown Road and 129 properties in Pemberton and New Hanover townships. The Borden Farm was selected to be the site of a million-dollar hospital, later known as Tilton General Hospital. Approximately $200,000 was allotted to the War Department to purchase the properties, which included 71 houses.

The condemned property boundary extended from the Burlington County Farms eastward along the Browns Mills-Pemberton Road to Browns Mills. Included was everything north of the road except for one Lyman’s Hornor’s house. A large number of bungalows in Sherwood Forest also were included. The boundary cut cross country from Anderson’s gravel pit on the outskirts of Browns Mills to the Deborah Sanitorium woods. It continued along the Trenton Road and included Billingham’s garage and the Lake Tresing Housing development.

From the outskirts of Pointville, the line followed an irregular course to Lemmontown, continued westward to a farm occupied by a Mr. Baker, then southward to the Burlington County Institution Farm at New Lisbon.

On 14 August 1941, the United States Government formally took possession of 285 acres of land, which was part of the Burlington County Institution Farm. The land was sold by the Burlington County Board of Freeholders to the federal government for Fort Dix expansion at the offered price of $5,700. Most of the land constituted low woodland not used by the county farm system.

One of the seemingly impossible tasks in connection with the acquisition of land was determining individual owners of respective tracts. There were few maps or surveys to use as a guide. In order to obtain some idea of where the boundary might be, aerial photography was necessary. 

AIRERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND LAND TITLES

The photographs this provided title examiners with a practical means of checking description of the land as written in public records against lanes, paths, water courses and other physical boundaries. Many titles to the land were based on possession by members of a family for generations -- a possession often originated without deed but in the form of squatters rights. In order to trace the authenticity of titles to these properties, family histories also were also examined, for many titles had to be traced back to original proprietary grants.

THE QUINTIPARTITE LINE And SHEEPSKIN DEEDS

In one of these searches, an interesting fact was uncovered. Near the boundary of the Fort Dix reservation (now the Fort Dix-McGuire Air Force Base military complex) ran the Quintipartite Line, which formed the division between East Jersey and West Jersey. Under the deed, the eastern half of the New Jersey Colony was conveyed to Sir George Carteret and the western half to William Penn, Gamen Lawrie, Nicholas Lucas and Edward Byllinge. Some of the sheepskin deeds, which proved transfers from these original owners, were still in existence and examined by title searchers early in 1941.

The record of titles to the land now comprising Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base as itself a history of the law and legend of New Jersey. Titles to more than 1,000 separate land ownerships were painstakingly examined. Each was an interesting story of the changing times and progressive development of the state. All of this research had to be accomplished within a year, the time set by the government for completion of the title searching. Size of the project to analyze and abstract title documents for this vast area of 25 square miles can be better understood by considering that almost 4,000 recorded documents existed in a single development. Each was examined.

HANOVER BOG ORE IRON FURNACE – HISTORIC SITE

Fort Dix expansion faced other problems. For instance, extension of the reservation included the site of the famous Hanover Bog Ore Iron Furnace that had manufactured cannon balls during colonial days. Burlington County Historical Society induced Army officials to set aside, as a marked enclosure, the small area that still retained visible reminders of an almost forgotten spot.

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ACTIVATES NJ NATIONAL GUARD 1940

While land acquisition took place, the 44th Division, made up of New Jersey national guardsmen, was inducted into federal service on 16 September 1940 by executive order of President Roosevelt. Immediately, organizations and individuals of this unit began to move to Fort Dix. At first only small detachments arrived, while company commanders, first sergeants, supply sergeants and men of all grades labored vigorously at their home stations to make the transition from state to federal service and to prepare for the move to the post.

As each unit completed preparations, it was released by its federal instructor. Orders were received, and the units were sent by truck and train to their new home, Fort Dix. First to arrive were the 104th Engineers, the 119th Quartermaster Regiment and batteries of the 157th Field Artillery. These units were in camps by 18 September, two days after being activated.

During the next few days other units of the division, and some from out of the state to be attached to the division, rolled in, from as near as Mount Holly and others as far as Niagara Falls. By 25 September, all were here – 11,000 strong. Construction of buildings in the area to be occupied by the 44th Division began about 1 September, but the troops were assembled at Dix before the barracks and other facilities were completed. A tent city was erected to serve as living quarters.

VOLUNTEERS AND THE DRAFT

Meanwhile, new volunteers began arriving daily. Men were enlisted for one year’s service with the division under a War Department ruling that permitted the unit to sign men on. The division’s recruitment station was set up at the Wrightstown entrance to the post. As new men came, they were temporarily housed in a special segregated area for the customary two weeks of quarantine. On 10 October, troops of the division had their first pay day since induction.

Then came the draft, and on 29 November the first bewildered selectees arrived on post to become members of the 44th Division, a unit already considering itself a veteran organization. By 4 December, more than 1,400 selectees were received by the unit. The men joined regiments and after two weeks of quarantine began 13 weeks of basic training. By February 1941 the division had “adopted” 6, 115 selectees, or 36 percent of its total strength. The men were drawn from New York, New Jersey and Delaware.

At its peak the division totaled 754 officers, seven warrant officers and 17,762 enlisted men. This figure was gradually whittled away by discharges, but the division was able to maintain an overall strength of about 16,500. When it was transferred from the post in December 1941, its strength was more than 16,000.

Considerable food and supplies were needed by the men at Fort Dix. In early 1941 it was estimated that 60 tons of food were required to feed the men on post each day. It was also reported that 13,000 pairs of footgear were issued to arriving soldiers each month. In a month’s time, 12,000 replacements of other garments were made to equip the modern soldier. Gasoline consumption was another item that ran into astronomical figures. In April 1941, 44th Division trucks consumed 160,000 gallons of gasoline, and this figure was expected to double considering more than 5,000 vehicles were to be added later in the year.

FOREST FIRE FIGHTING DUTY – 1941

On 20 April 1941, the division’s training was interrupted when one of the worst fires to hit the area broke out, destroying hundreds of acres of woodland and parts of several towns and villages. In an area between Lakewood and Medford, the blaze came perilously close to the sprawling Army post. Some 10,000 men of the division teams up with civilian fire fighters and national guardsmen to battle the inferno, which lasted several days.

Army trucks carried food to weary fire fighters, and temporary kitchens were set up to supply coffee and sandwiches. The infantrymen worked in shifts and were “on call” constantly, while alternate shifts remained at their barracks ready to be transported anywhere needed. After days of fire-fighting, the flames were checked, and the reservation untouched.

The job of physically preparing the post was ably performed by Major David R. Wolverton, post quartermaster. It was completed with speed and efficiency, and in a relatively short time, the fort was ready for the men inducted into service and assigned for training. Six million dollars were appropriated for the development of the post in 1940.

NEW BARRACK CONSTRUCTION

With the construction contract awarded to the George A. Fuller Company, approximately 850 buildings were erected in the area to accommodate troops of the 44th Division.

Other items included in the contract were construction of two theaters, miscellaneous signal barracks, roads, drains, waterlines and electrical distribution system. Additional funds were appropriated for building a new station hospital. The hospital contract was awarded to LaFountain, Christenson and Arace of Hackensack, New Jersey.

Improvements costing more than a million dollars were made to the water and sewerage facilities. The daily capacity of the water plant was increased from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 gallons. These improvements consisted of enlarging the filtration plant, constructing an additional water tower, installing additional pumps at the New Lisbon station and doubling the size of the sewerage plant.

The gigantic task of land acquisition was perhaps equaled by the extensive construction projects on the post since the beginning of 1940. A recapitulation of buildings erected in the short period of two years presents and astounding picture. In all, more than 1,600 buildings were completed in this time. Included were 531 barracks, 173 day rooms, 178 dining halls, 172 buildings for company administration and storage, 35 recreation buildings, 41 administration buildings, 13 chapels, 14 infirmaries, 23 hospital barracks, 18 hospital quarters, 26 motor repair shops, 28 warehouses, 10 fire stations, 12 gasoline stations, six theaters and two morgues. The Fort Dix Station Hospital also was built in 1940 and consisted of a 1,000-bed cantonment-type structure of 80 buildings.

TILTON GENERAL HOSPITAL

Within a year, another medical facility, Tilton General Hospital, was built on Florida Avenue. The completion of this hospital in July 1941 was the prototype of the Army’s World War II hospital building program throughout the country. Tilton construction was rushed by three shifts working day and night throughout the unusually server winter of 1940-41. The original construction schedule of 60 days could not be met because of heavy snowfalls and severe storms. Except for grading and surfacing, construction was completed in 87 days.

The original plan called for 79 buildings, including wards, mess buildings, warehouses and quarters. Nine additional buildings were added later that year. Finally, because of the ever-increasing war load, many more structures were needed, and by 1944, the main hospital comprised 178 buildings.

Tilton General Hospital, named in honor of James Tilton, surgeon general of the US Army from 1813 to 1815, was built to care for individuals in the II Army Corps Area requiring definite treatment or prolonged hospitalization. This was done on the basis of bed allotments to some 14 separate camps, posts and stations, including the New York Port of Embarkation. The first year’s peak load was attained on 29 December 1941 when 559 patients were being treated.

The organization of Tilton General Hospital began when orders were published assigning Colonel S. Jay Turnbill to duty at Fort Dix in January 1941. However, it was not until March that Colonel Turnbill was ordered to take command of the unfinished hospital. A few days later, other officers reported for duty, and on 25 March 1941, the first contingent of 75 enlisted medical specialists arrived from the Army Medical Center, Washington D.C. The enlisted medical detachment for Tilton was activated on 29 March and authorized a strength of 250.

Prior to 2 April 1941, Tilton officers were quartered at the Fort Dix Station Hospital, pending completion of the general hospital. During the next several months, additional officers and nurses arrived, and sufficient personnel were available during the early years of World War II to meet all problems as they developed. Medical Department officers were originally assigned to Tilton by the Surgeon General’s Office, but Second Service Command headquarters took over personnel assignments in mid-1942.

Officers were selected on the basis of professional qualifications, and each specialized position for the original staff was properly filled. During 1941, no significant losses of the hospital’s Medical Corps officer personnel occurred, primarily because the staff increased during the period to bring it to an authorized strength of 75.

The first nurses assigned to Tilton arrived in the spring of 1941 from Pine Camp (Now Camp Drum), New York. They supervised setting up wards and equipment in anticipation of the arrival of patients. The first civilians were authorized and assigned as early as March 1941 - - prior to arrival of the enlisted cadre. The civilians included professional as well as non-professional workers, who occupied clerical, administrative, fiscal and unskilled labor positions. The peak number of civilians at the hospital before the 1944 consolidation of Tilton and the Fort Dix Station Hospital was 323. After consolidation, the number increased rapidly to an August 1945 peak of 1,030.

During 1942 and 1943, it periodically became necessary to obtain replacements for transferred Medical Corps officer personnel. During these years, many Fort Dix doctors were sent to overseas assignments. Personnel assignments were made from Second Service Command Headquarters, and replacements for Medical Corps officers loses were adequate. At that time, the turnover was not excessive, and specialized assignments were well covered. However, in 1944 and 1945, personnel loses caused by overseas commitments and separations increased appreciably, resulting in the inability to meet replacement needs. These difficulties were felt, especially in the highly specialized fields.

The first overseas casualties, survivors of the Philippine Defense Campaign, were admitted to Tilton in March 1942, chiefly because of the surgeon general’s policy of sending general hospital cases to installations near their homes.

In late 1944, Tilton General Hospital was assigned the services of between 225 and 300 German prisoner-of-war workers. They were selected for hospital work on the basis of previous civilian and military training, and to some extent, the POWs compensated for existing personnel shortages. The scope of the activities in which POWs took part were commensurate with their backgrounds and training. While a number performed menial tasks at the hospital, others with specialized skills and training were assigned to duties in the laboratory, x-ray room, utilities section and orthopedic brace shop. A small number, who had medical training, were assigned to two German POW wards, which served the sick and wounded prisoners on post.

On 7 July 1944, Tilton absorbed the Fort Dix Medical Station Hospital, which was then named Tilton Annex. This resulted in the added responsibility of Tilton to function as a station hospital. The combined facilities had a normal capacity of 3,000, with an emergency expansion capability of 5,500.

At the height of activity during the war, 195 of the hospital’s 215 acres were used for buildings and tents. Tilton General Hospital was situated in the northwest quarter of the reservation, just west of the old remount area, and Tilton Annex was just inside the main entrance to Fort Dix from Wrightstown. This amalgamation of facilities came none too soon, for in December 1944 with an end of hostilities in sight, it became apparent that a large number of patients who then were hospitalized in the European Theater of Operations would be transferred to Dix.

In fact, in early 1945 an emergency expansion to 4,100 beds was authorized to accommodate the increasing number of patients from overseas. Services were further expanded to receive and care for patients air evacuated from the war zones of Europe and Africa. Another contributing factor was the increased availability of shipping facilities from overseas areas.

The expansion of facilities was accomplished by converting all available buildings into wards. Converted buildings included enlisted men’s barracks and such miscellaneous buildings as clinics and dispensaries that could be readily converted to 50-bed wards. By the middle of 1945, 4,448 beds were made available for patients.

FORT DIX ARMY AIR FIELD – AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND

At the Fort Dix Army Air Field, later to become McGuire Air Force Base, workmen had been employed on a $300,000 project to apply concrete surface to the three long runways.

These were soon to be used by the 119th and 126th Observation Squadrons, National Guard units inducted into federal service in 1941.

In addition to the expansion of flight facilities, many other improvements were made and temporary buildings constructed.

The field, under control of the Army Ground Forces at the time, was turned over to the Army Air Corps in 1942. Under jurisdiction of the 1st Air Force, the airfield was used in antisubmarine patrol operations. It afforded protection against German U-boats, not only for American ships and coastal points but for allied shipping as well.

Later in 1942 the Air Services Command, located at the Middletown Air Depot in Pennsylvania, and the Atlantic Overseas Air Services Command used the field. In 1944, the Fort Dix Army Air Field was used by the Air Transport Command as the eastern terminal of the Ferry Command. The airfield was one of the few that could base B-29s, the Army’s heaviest bomber at the time.

Late in the war many such planes left Fort Dix for service overseas. Toward the end of the war, casualties were returned from Europe for hospitalization in this country by way of the Fort Dix airfield. In 1945, control of the airfield was returned to Fort Dix until the creation in 1947 of the third branch of service - - the United States Air Force.

NEW NEIGHBORHOOD CONSTRUCTION

The effect of post expansion and construction on neighboring townships in 1941 was reminiscent of World War I days. Early announcement that more than 20,000 soldiers would be trained at Fort Dix created a real estate boom in the surrounding towns of Pemberton, Wrightstown, Browns Mills, New Egypt, Jobstown and Cookstown, where housing shortages already existed. Rents jumped, sometimes as much as two-fold, and the necessity for low-cost housing projects to satisfy the requirements of officers and noncommissioned officers was immediately apparent.

Hanover Homes, located on the Jobstown-Wrightstown Road, was a result of this need. The project was constructed by the Federal Works Agency at a cost of 4350,000. It was named in honor of the historic Hanover Bog Ore Iron Furnace. Dedication ceremonies were held on 4 July 1941. It was one of 30 housing projects throughout the country dedicated at the same time.

Fort Dix expansion affected the neighboring communities in still another way. For many years, residents of Burlington County enjoyed driving leisurely along the highways and secondary roads in this part of New Jersey. However, Fort Dix had become heavily populated and a virtual beehive of activity. Traffic on the highways leading to the post doubled and tripled. Traffic accidents increased as a result. Officials at Fort Dix were asked, along with state police and other enforcement agencies, to concentrate their efforts and facilities to eliminate rural highway slaughter. It was obvious that old roads had to be improved and new roads constructed.

In April 1941, such a task was begun, but conflicting applications to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for a project to provide 47 miles of new highways on access roads to Fort Dix resulted in a delay. The reason given was that two conflicting project proposals were sent to the Washington WPA office. The first project, seeking release of funds to provide access roads to Fort Dix, estimated the cost of repairing the 47 miles at $200,000. However, that figure was too low for the long mileage of reconstruction needed. The type of paving to be laid would raise the coast to $800,000. The second project was submitted with the $800,000 estimate. The delay, caused by that mixup, was straightened out in a short time.

On 9 August 1941, the road project began. Nine country roads were reconstructed to provide better access to the Army post. Finally, the estimated cost of $800,000 was confirmed.

First of the nine-road-improvement program was the Pemberton-Fort Dix Road. A short while later, construction began on the military highway from Fountain Green at Fort Dix to Route 39 at Mansfield Square, via Georgetown.

The expansion of Fort Dix in 1942 caused another dire need for access roads to handle increased traffic in the immediate area of the installation. Existing roads were not adequate to handle civilian traffic, much less heavy military vehicles and other war machines.

Cooperating with the Army in the war program, State Highway Commissioner Spencer Miller, Jr., approved the alignment of an access road to Fort Dix through Burlington Country in May 1942. The concrete thoroughfare was 10 miles in length and left route 39 at Mansfield Square, two miles south of the Bordentown to Georgetown Road intersection. It followed the Mansfield-Georgetown Road to Georgetown at Hutchinson’s Corner. From that point it was carried over a new right-of-way to a traffic circle on the Pemberton-Wrightstown Road at Fountain Green, near the residence of the fort’s commanding general.

During the week of 12 July 1942, additional steps were taken to relieve traffic conditions in the Fort Dix area when the New Jersey State Highway Department announced that a three-and-a-half-mile section of dual highway between Mansfiled and Georgetown would be built. The federal government was to pay for the work. Meanwhile, following United States Public Roads Administration approval, Route 39 from Bordentown to Mansfield Square was widened, and four and a half miles of road from Georgetown to the Pemberton-Wrightstown Road, skirting Fort Dix, was constructed.

POINTVILLE PASSES OUT OF EXISTENCE – 31 AUGUST 1942

As roads to Fort Dix were being planned and constructed, the town of Pointville passed out of existence during the week of 31 August 1942. The United States Army moved in to take over New Hanover village, which for months had been surrounded by the constantly expanding Fort Dix reservation.

Monday, 31 August, was the last day for civilian business there. Efforts by the residents and by township officials to change the Army’s intentions had proven fruitless the week before.

As Pointville was drafted for military service, two old landmarks passed from the scene. One was the Pointville Methodist Church, which had been built in 1848, and the other was old Tom Harvey’s hotel.

A number of Army and Navy uniform and equipment stores also closed their doors. However, they weren’t “old timers,” having opened for business since Fort Dix expansion began in 1940. As Fort Dix gained more land, Burlington County lost some settled areas, and the townspeople had to find a different way of life.

FORT DIX TELEPHONE SERVICE

The expansion of Fort Dix in the early 1940s affected the area’s telephone services. The increased training program resulted in heavier phone traffic through the Mount Holly office. District Manager Paul A. Coffee and his business office staff moved out of the Main Street building and into a larger facility in the Robert Peacock building at 105 High Street. Coffee stated, “Since designation of Fort Dix as a major Army training station, telephone traffic through the Mount Holly exchange has grown steadily. Nearly 9,000 calls on the exchange are made each weekday, compared with less than 5,800 a day in the first week of September 1940. About 2,000 calls a day are toll calls. More than 1,200 of the daily toll calls are made from Fort Dix coin telephones.” 1 (Mount Holly Herald, vol. cxvi, no. 50 1941.1.)

Also, with the expansion of Fort Dix in 1940, Burlington County officials prepared themselves for a crime wave. It was no secret that law enforcement authorities expected a great increase of crime from the Army post. Advocates of enlarging the Burlington County Prison in Mount Holly, built in 1810, used this theory as one of their most forceful arguments. Until the beginning of the war in December 1941, the crime wave had not materialized, and, considering the area’s great influx of civilian and military personnel, increased crime was nominal.

Until 29 January 1942, civilian authorities had jurisdiction in criminal cases occurring within the boundaries of Fort Dix. After that date all criminal acts on the installation were handled by military or federal authorities. Burlington County authorities were no longer asked to assume the responsibility. The most frequent complaint regarding soldiers during those days was auto theft. Many persons, both civilian and military, felt that such thefts were due mainly to the carelessness of the car owners. In almost all cases, keys were left in ignitions after vehicles were parked. The few soldiers who did steal cars were punished, and the reputation of Fort Dix suffered little.

RECEPTION CENTER

Meanwhile, the huge job of classifying selectees was placed into the hands of the 1229^th Service Command Unit, later renamed the 1262nd Reception Center.

Each man entering the center was given an intelligence test and interviewed by enlisted men specially trained for the job. The marking of papers was completed by machine, a report was made by the interviewer, and all results of the examination were fully cataloged. The method employed at the post was used as a model for other reception centers throughout the country.

The Reception Center itself was divided into battalions and a number of companies. In addition to the problem of adjusting the newly inducted men to the change from civilian routine, the center had the tremendous job of satisfying appetites of men who were accustomed to a variety of foods. To accommodate the inductees, there were 11 mess halls, three of which had a capacity of 1,000 men each. Often they fed more than this capacity.

MESS HALLS SERVE 100,000 MEALS A MONTH

In 1941, it was not unusual for any one of the mess halls to serve more than 100,000 meals per month. All of the center’s cooking and baking was done by permanently assigned enlisted personnel. The mess staff consisted of approximately 200 soldiers, including officers, cooks, warehousemen and other permanent party enlisted men.

In addition to regular mess facilities, the center also was responsible for feeding selectees who were shipped from the Reception Center to training centers throughout the country. Kitchen cars were attached to each train when the distance involved more than 24 hours of travel. Sometimes the cars would serve as many as 14 different meals en route.

TROOP MORAL – ENTERTAINMENT And RECREATION

Good food is but one factor in maintaining the health and morals of troops. Equally important is the furnishing of entertainment and recreation, and these needs received considerably more attention during World War II than during the days of World War I. A unique branch to handle this function was created, and the Army’s Special Services became most important in providing for the welfare and morale of the troops.

SPECIAL SERVICES BRANCH 

The Special Services branch at Fort Dix coordinated the functions of government agencies with those of the United States Service Organization (USO), the Red Cross, and other welfare organizations. Under Special Service’s supervision, project after project was initiated and completed.

The list of visiting personalities brought to Dix by Special Services and the cooperating agencies contains outstanding people of the theatrical, musical and athletic world. Mischa Elman, Yehudi Menuhin, Albert Spalding, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lhevinne, Leopold Stokowski, Ossy Renardy, Dorothy Kirsten and Nelson Eddy are but a few who gave their time and talent to entertain troops of the post. To these are added Robert Woods, Igor Gorin, Lucy Monroe, Lucille Manners, Conrad Thibault, and Kay Kaiser and Vaughn Monroe with their orchestras. There were hundreds more.

In Mount Holly, plans for a soldiers’ retreat, where men of the fort could gather for relaxation and amusement, were discussed by ex-servicemen and clergymen in January 1941. Such a place existed during World War I when a building on the southwest corner of White and Washington Streets was made available as a local headquarters for visiting soldiers. The VFW post headquarters on Main Street was selected for this purpose and made available throughout World War II.

During the week of 22 August 1941, construction of three community buildings in the Fort Dix vicinity was approved by President Roosevelt as part of the Defense Public Works Program. The program was to provide facilities or services necessary for the health, safety and welfare of servicemen. The three buildings, costing the government $82,195 each, were operated by the USO.

By 1942, facilities on the post for entertainment functions and activities were numerous and varied. 

Plans were well under way to construct a large indoor Sports Arena. During the latter part of January 1942 the mammoth building was completed at a cost of $86,000. On 7 March, the Sports Arena, located on the parade grounds, officially opened with an exhibition tennis match featuring Helen Jacobs, former women’s singles champion. The arena is 217 feet by 131 feet with a n 8,000-square-foot sports floor - - large enough to accommodate three athletic games, such as basketball, simultaneously. Regimental and battalion dances often were held within its walls. Sergeant Joe Louis, world’s heavyweight boxing champion, used the arena for exhibition and training in preparation for his fight with Abe Simon.

Other athletic facilities operated by Special Services included a nine-hole golf course, seven tennis courts and several softball and baseball fields, for which the necessary equipment was supplied to commissioned and enlisted personnel alike. Organized unit intramural sports of all kinds took place on Special Services facilities. Softball and basketball were perhaps the most popular.

SOLDIER’S ISLAND – BROWNS MILLS

There was a swimming pool on post for wives and children of the men stationed at Dix. In addition, complete swimming facilities were made available at Soldier’s Island in nearby Browns Mills and Hanover Lake in Fort Dix Park.

Four service clubs, four cafeterias and four libraries also came under Special Services supervision. Two open air theaters with unlimited seating were sites for entertainment during the summer months. Special Services also operated a guesthouse for relatives of the enlisted men. However, the facility, which charges 75 cents per person for overnight accommodation, was later closed because of its location within staging areas of task forces.

To accommodate the growing influx of personnel, a gymnasium and an outdoor swimming pool were under construction in June 1945. Both of these structures were built on Tilton Annex area. To aid the off-duty leisure of post enlisted personnel further, a swimming pool located just west of the Sports Arena was reopened. This pool was built in 1918, but had fallen into disuse in the Twenties. At one time it had been used as a wash well for tanks and other heavy vehicles.

44^TH INFANTRY DIVISION

Shortly after the infamous Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the 44^th Infantry Division left the post for extensive combat training. It remained in the country at various camps for three more years before shipping overseas. In September 1944, the division embarked for the European Theater of Operations.

Its first major assignment with the Seventh US Army was to secure passes in the Vosges Mountains. After accomplishing this and nullifying a German counteroffensive, the unit worked with the French 2nd Armored Division and advanced through Alsace-Lorraine, taking Laintrey, Avricourt and Sarrebourg. Elements of the division reached the Rhine River at Strasbourg.

Halting a savage German panzer attempt to retake Sarrebourg, the 2nd Battalion, 114thInfantry, 44th Division, was credited with saving the division from annihilation and checking a possible major Seventh Army defeat. By December the division reached the Maginot Line. In March 1943 the unit was relieved from its position. In the succeeding months, the division rolled deep into Fortress Europe, capturing Mannheim and slashing into Austrian Tyrol. VE-Day found the unit established at Imst, Austria. On that day elements of the 44th made contact with the Fifth US Army, which had fought north from Italy.

34^th “RED BULL” DIVISION

On 1 January 1942, the 34th “Red Bull” Division, activated National Guard unit made up of men from Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas, had arrived at Fort Dix from Camp Glaiborne, Louisiana. After completing staging procedures, the division departed for overseas in three increments. These first troops from Fort Dix to arrive in Europe since World War I went to northern Ireland in February 1942. By then of May the entire division was in Ireland. The unit eventually entered combat in north Africa late in 1942. From there it landed at Salerno and for the next 500 days took part in the liberation of Italy. At the war’s end the division was in north Italy. It returned to the United States on 3 November 1945 and was inactivated a week later.

A short time after the departure of the 34th Division from Fort dix in early 1942, other units streamed through the post in rapid succession.

1^ST ARMORED DIVISION – “OLD IRONSIDES”

The 1st Armored Division, a Regular Army unit nicknamed “Old Ironsides,” arrived from Fort Knox, Kentucky, on 10 April 1942 for traditional training. Activated on 15 July 1940, the division already had completed considerable training at Knox. In addition, the unit participated with the Second US Army in maneuvers throughout Louisiana and the Carolinas. Upon arrival at Dix, the division underwent additional training and in May 1942 departed for Ireland. The division saw action in north Africa, where it joined with the 34th Infantry Division and later the British Eighth Army. After a short second stay in Ireland in 1943, the division went to French Morocco where it reorganized before participating in the Italian campaign. After the war, the unit traveled to Germany where it was assigned to occupation duty. It remained there until April 1946 when it returned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for inactivation.

1^ST ARMORED DIVISISON – 8^th COMPOSITE AIR FORCE – 2^nd ARMORED

Shortly after departure of the 1st Armored Division and during the staging of the 8^th Composite Air Force at Fort Dix, the 2nd Armored Division rolled into the post. Activated on 15 July 1940, this Regular Army unit, nicknamed “Hell on Wheels,” received its initial training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and held maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana and the Carolinas. In late 1941 the division participated in special amphibious training off the east coast of the United States and then reported to Camp Hood, Texas, for additional training. On 27 October 1942, the division’s Combat Command “B” departed Fort Dix for North Africa. The command was later joined by the remainder of the division in December. After taking part in the assault of Casablanca and prior to the invasion of Sicily, the division underwent intensive amphibious training in north Africa. Later, after activity in Sicily, the unit shipped to England and prepared for the invasion of Normandy. Fighting through Normandy, northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes and central Europe, it fulfilled a three-year-old pledge in July 1945 when it became the first American division to enter Berlin. In early 1946, the division returned to Camp Hood for retraining.

756^th TANK BATTALION – 3^rd “MARINE” INFANTRY DIVISION

Also active in north African battles was the 756th Tank Battalion, which had been assigned to Dix on 28 November 1942, processed overseas in February 1943, and joined the famed 3rd “Marine” Infantry Division during the African campaign. Later in Germany, the battalion distinguished itself on two occasions while still a part of the 3rd Infantry Division. In these actions, the tank units swept through the Vosges Mountains in August 1944 and cleared the Colmar Pocket from 23 January to 18 February 1945.

Many miscellaneous groups passed through Fort Dix in 1942. Among them were the 22nd Quartermaster Regiment, 551st Signal Air Warning Battalion, 382nd, 384th and 389th Quartermaster Battalions, 177th and 827th Engineer Battalions, 397th and 398th Quartermaster Port Battalions, 90th Quartermaster Railhead Company and 187th Quartermaster Depot.

POST NATURALIZATION OFFICE

The Post Naturalization Office, established in 1942 as an adjunct of the Post Judge Advocate’s Office, played an important part during World War II. Approximately 5,000 recruits became citizens in its first year of operation. During 1942 and 1943, an average of 400 persons per month were naturalized. Most of them were natives of European countries who later fought with other American troops overseas and again returned to the US.

4^th MECHANIZED INFANTRY DIVISION – REGULAR ARMY

The 4th Mechanized Division, another regular Army unit, arrived at Fort Dix in April 1943. Activated on 1st June 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia, the division moved to Dix. While at the New Jersey post, the unit was redesignated the 4^th  Infantry Division. The “Ivy” (IV) Division left Dix in September for amphibious training at Camp Gordon Johnson, Florida. In December the unit moved to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then was ordered to England for further amphibious training. This intensive waterborne training proved invaluable, for on 6 June 1944, elements of the division became the first allied units to hit the beaches at Normandy. From there, the Ivymen fought through Normandy, northern France, Rhineland, the Ardennes and central Europe. By war’s end, the division had suffered 21,550 casualties. Shortly after VE-Day, the 4th began returning to the US for retraining. However, before the division could be redeployed to the Pacific, VJ-Day was announced, and on 5 March 1946, the unit was inactivated at Camp Butner, North Carolina.

80^th DIVISION

In the spring of 1943, the 80th Division, an Organized Reserve unit made up of men from the Blue Ridge states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, arrived at Fort Dix. A serious transit strike in Philadelphia, which affected the military war effort by hampering the transport of men and materials, occurred during the stay of the 80th. With the authority of the President and orders from the War Department, a regiment of the division was dispatched to that city to participate in the handling of the strike-bound transportation.

Activated on 15 July 1942, the division had trained at Camp Forest, Tennessee. Upon completion of its organization and training, the 80th was shipped to Fort Dix where it stayed until July 1943.

From there it was sent back to Tennessee to participate in maneuvers and then to Camp Phillips, Kansas. After participating in a number of maneuvers in California and Arizona, the Blue Ridgers were sent to France where they entered combat on 8 August 1944. After 239 days of combat, fighting their way through northern France, Rhineland, the Ardennes Forest and central Europe, the division returned to the United States. On 5 January 1946, the Blue Ridge Division was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, in September 1943, many smaller specialized unites were staging in preparation for overseas shipment. Among them were the 741st Tank Battalion, 245thQuartermaster Battalion, 44th and 106th Evacuation Hospitals, 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 719th Military Police Battalion and 11th Combat Engineer Battalion.

Soon after the departure of these units in October, the 85th Infantry Division, another Organized Reserve unit, arrived at Fort Dix for staging. During its stay at the post, several smaller units also were staged, including the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions, 211th Field Artillery Battalion and the 537th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.

85^th “CUSTER DIVISION”

The 85th, nicknamed the “Custer Division,” remained at Dix until December 1943, when it was sent to Hampton Roads, Virginia for overseas shipment. The division had received its nickname from activities in August 1917 at Camp Custer, Michigan. The unit adopted the name of its post and at the same time honored the famous General George A. Custer, who was killed during the great Sioux War. 

Debarking overseas, the 85th Division went to north Africa for amphibious training and then to Italy. Entering combat in March 1944, it fought in the Rome-Arno, northern Apennines and Po Valley battles. In August 1945, the division returned to Hampton Roads where it was inactivated.

90^th INFANTRY DIVISION – ORGANIZED RESERVES “Tough ‘Ombres”

Shortly after the departure of the 85th Division from Fort Dix, the 90th Infantry Division, an Organized Reserve unit made up of men from Texas and Oklahoma, arrived at Dix. After its activation on 25 March 1942, the men of the division, nicknamed “Tough ‘Ombres,” trained at Camp Barkley, Texas. Later they moved about the country participating in various maneuvers. Exactly two years to the day after activation, the division departed Dix for England where it underwent two months of amphibious assault training. In June, elements of the division took part in the landing at Normandy, and by the 10th of the month, the entire unit was in combat. From Normandy, after 308 days of combat, the Tough ‘Ombres had fought through northern France, the Ardennes, Rhineland and central Europe. On 16 December 1945, the division returned to the States and was inactivated at Camp Shanks, New York, on the 27th of the month.

Other units arriving at Fort Dix in early 1944 were the 628th and 807th Tank Destroyer Battalions, 15th General Hospital, 460th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, 297th General Hospital, Headquarters Special Troops of the XIII Corps, 179thEngineer Battalion, 3468th Ordnance Company, 628th Engineer Company and 168thQuartermaster Trucking Company. These units stayed only long enough to stage to the European Theater of Operations.

In July 1944, the 102nd “Ozark” Infantry Division arrived at Dix from Camp Swift, Texas, where it had been participating in maneuvers. Activated 15 September 1942 at Camp Maxey, Texas, the 102nd had taken part in extensive training exercises in Louisiana. The “Ozark” division, which originally included men from the Ozarks, remained at Dix until a September 1944 shipment to the European Theater of Operations.

Arriving at Cherbourg, France on 23 September 1944, the 102nd again trained for combat, which began 26 October in a northward drive to the Rhine area between Duisberg and Dusseldorf. In March 1945, the division captured the Rhine objective after a six-month battle that cost the Nazis 86 towns, a rocket factory, and numerous railroad and communications centers. The 102nd continued its push until VE-Day, when units were in position at Gotha. In late February 1946, the division returned to the United States and was inactivated on 12 March at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

POWS

At war’s end, it was estimated that almost 430,000 prisoners of war were in the United States. The Germans numbered 370,000, Italians 55,000, Japanese 3,000, and the remainder were from other Axis nations. It was further estimated that of the German POWs, 70,000 were officers and noncoms who either elected not to work or were refused the opportunity by US military authorities in the interest of military and national security. However, the others were permitted to engage in work not related to America’s war effort. Some 85,000 worked in agriculture, 55,000 in industry, and the remainder at military posts or stations throughout the country.

Fort Dix was one of the major holding areas for prisoners of war. On 5 January 1944, the post’s POW camp opened, and soon the first POWs entered the compound. Although the prisoners held at Dix during the war were mainly Germans, there were some Italians, and surprisingly enough, a few Russians. The Russians were captured by American forces on the western front of Europe. During the early part of the war, many Russians had defected to the Axis powers and elected to fight for Germany. Donning uniforms of the “Wehrmacht” and assigned to units in western Europe, they had fought in France against the liberation armies of Americans, British, French and Canadians. Upon capture, some of them were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in the United States – 154 of them to Fort Dix.

The POW camp at the post was often cited as a model camp. Officials of the International Red Cross and the State Department verified this after making frequent inspections of the camp.

In the latter part of 1944, German prisoners of war were allocated from the POW camp to various facilities on the reservation. Almost all of the prisoners were employed in a pay status, serving in the laundry, hospital, quartermaster supply, and camp maintenance. Tilton General Hospital received 225 to 300 of these prisoners.

Prisoner duties at the hospital varied from orderlies and administrative work to skilled medical functions. Their presence at the hospital contributed, to some degree, to the efficient operation of the facility, especially during a shortage of US Army medical personnel. POW doctors, working with US Army Medical Corps officers, were used to care for sick and injured prisoners. In addition to medical service provided by the post’s Station Hospital, the prisoners enjoyed recreation facilities and religious activities. The rations issued the prisoners were the same as those given to the troops on the post. They also received a full issue of quartermaster clothing.

With cessation of World War II hostilities in Europe, plans were made to repatriate American-held prisoners of war. All prisoners would be returned to their homeland.

RUSSIAN PRISONERS RIOT

In several issues of June and July 1945, the New York Times reported an astounding story. In late June 1945, after learning they would be sent back to the motherland and fearing retribution as traitors, the 154 Russian POWs at Dix rioted. In an attempt to force their way out of the compound, they attacked camp security personnel with mess kit knives and clubs made from chair legs. As they rushed their guards, the Russians were fired at with carbines and submachine guns. In the ensuing struggle, one prisoner was killed and several others wounded. One prisoner was injured while trying to scale the wire enclosure surrounding the compound. After this attempt for freedom was thwarted, three of the Russians committed suicide by hanging themselves from the rafters of their buildings.

On 29 June 1945, the remaining 150 prisoners were taken to Camp Shank, New York, each escorted by a military policeman, to board an Italian merchant marine vessel bound for Russia. The heavy escort was provided to prevent escapes and to forestall further attempts at suicide. Shortly after their 1:30 p.m. arrival at Camp Shanks and prior to the 3:30 p.m. scheduled sailing of the vessel, the escort received President Truman’s order to return the prisoners to Fort Dix. They were to be held at the post’s POW camp until a State Department study could be made of the situation.

The men were returned to the Fort Dix POW camp, still escorted man for man. Upon arrival at Dix, the POW camp was stripped of all furniture and equipment. The only item left was a mattress on which each Russian could sleep. It was then learned that apparently others had previously planned to commit suicide when an additional 15 lengths of rope and belts were found hanging from the rafters. The men were kept at Dix a while longer and eventually shipped somewhere. Final outcome of the incident is vague; government records still are classified.

In June 1946, the prisoner-of-war camp at Dix began to phase out. All remaining prisoners were readied for overseas shipment. In two and a half years, more than 15,000 POWs had been held at the post, the highest number at any one time totaling 5,580. These included prisoners at branch camps in Centerton, Bridgeton, Dias Creek and Glassboro, all of whom worked in canneries and on farms.

WWII – RAPID GROWTH

During World War II the post experienced a rapid growth of buildings, facilities and population. The growth, which started with the mobilization of the 44th Division and the arrival of the first conscripts at Fort Dix, continued to the time World War II hostilities ceased. Hundreds of thousands of Americans passed through the fort’s portals to train and prepare for shipment to combat areas across the Atlantic. With the war’s end, activities at this New Jersey post did not cease. Thousands of American soldiers were returning to Dix from overseas for separation processing or reassignment. Without breaking stride, the post, which had more than tripled in total acreage during the World War II period, continued to bustle with debarkation and separation activities.

As the war swung decidedly in favor of the Allies, thoughts were directed to future dismantling of America’s powerful war machine.

SEPARATION CENTER

As a start, a small separation center was ordered into operation at Fort Dix by the War Department in April 1944 to hasten the discharge processing of enlisted men.

An experiment at the time, this embryonic organization was the first of a series to be established in each service command in the United States. The center was charged with processing and discharging enlisted men within 48 hours after their arrival. This program was a marked improvement over earlier discharge procedures, which had required several weeks.

All men on the East Coast eligible for discharge were transferred to Fort Dix, where original induction procedures were reversed. First, the soldiers underwent physical examinations. Then they were classified for civilian occupations according to their Army duties and former civilian positions. They also received orientation and, in some cases, civilian clothing. Lastly, they received discharge papers, final pay and travel tickets home.

To provide operating personnel for these centers, a school was activated in July 1944 at Fort Dix. The school trained officers and enlisted men for duty at separation stations planned throughout the nation. Training consisted of a four-week course in interviewing and counseling soldiers being separated from the service. After the school operated at Dix for about six months, it moved on 22 January 1945 to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where it became part of the Adjutant General’s School. While at Dix the school graduated a total of 746 officers and enlisted men and women.

Separation centers were not the cold impersonal disassembly lines one would imagine. Several personal guidelines were considered at all times. Before individuals were returned to civilian life, center operators attempted to bring the separate face-to-face with the realization that their home communities were probably changed by war, and that their own interests also may have changed. Men wishing to use Army-acquired skills in civilian life were informed how these skills could be used. Each separatee was provided a record of his military experiences to help him get a job. Those with handicaps or physical limitations, who needed rehabilitation or development of a proper mental outlook, were given counsel. Thus, those operating the centers guided soldiers from the world they knew before the war into the post-war contemporary world. This was the humanitarian approach followed during the maximum 48 hours allotted each individual prior to his release from active service.

The system was set up none too soon. Separation activities steadily increased until it seemed they would be overwhelmed by the hordes of troops returning from the war. Separation Center 26, which had begun operations at Dix in April 1944, processed only 323 men that month. The volume slowly increased, and at the year’s end, 38,554 officers, enlisted men and WACs had been separated. This number was but a trickle preceding the later flood.

With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, Fort Dix took on a new prominence. During that year, the Separation Center expanded and became the largest in the nation. “R” (Redeployment) Day, 12 May 1945, was a notable date at Fort Dix when more than 2,000 troops in process for overseas shipment were screened for eligibility and placed in the separation stream. In order to separate as many eligible men as possible that day, all military and civilian personnel who could be spared were put to work in the Separation Center. Separations on R-Day were given worldwide coverage by news and motion picture services with two national radio hookups.

In September 1945, the Separation Center was placed on a 24-hour schedule, with 16 hours of actual processing and eight hours preparation of materials and administrative work. This was made possible by the assignment of additional military personnel to the Fort Dix Personnel Center and station complement. During the following month, daily discharges passed the 4,000 mark. The all-time national high for one month was reached in October when 113,401 personnel received their releases.

POST HQ – ADMINISTRATION – 1262^nd RECEPTION CENTER

The present Post Headquarters Administration building played a key role in the separation process.

In March 1946, the 1262nd Reception Center returned to Fort Dix, and this Army post was not the site of the Second Service Command’s only reception and separation center. The famous 1262nd formerly had been located at Dix but was moved to Fort Hancock on 17 October 1945 after Fort Dix became inundated with a flood of returning servicemen awaiting separation. During its previous five years at Dix before moving to Hancock, the 1262nd had processed 712,740 inductees. When the tide of returning personnel had receded, there was again room at Dix for the 1262nd Reception Center. There also was room for the 1220th Reception Center from Fort Monmouth. This unit was inactivated and its personnel transferred to the 1262nd.

Fort Dix discharged 508,069 in 1945, and another 556,697 were returned to civilian life in 1946. In September 1946, Staff Sergeant Albert Cuchessi of Newark, New Jersey, a veteran of five and one half years and a prisoner of the Japanese for three years, five months, became the 1,000,000th World War II veteran to be separated at Fort Dix. Altogether Dix separated 1,182,118 World War II vets. Even this was a costly venture; total disbursements at the post for only a two-year period ending 31 March 1947 amounted to well over a half-billion dollars ($556,415,450.92) 

TILTON GENERAL HOSPITAL

With the cessation of hostilities in Europe and the evacuation of fewer casualties from that theater of operations, the number of admissions to Tilton General Hospital from overseas dropped markedly during the last half of 1945. However, the work load of Tilton Hospital remained at capacity because of the rapidly increasing activities at the Fort Dix Separation Center. The daily tally at the hospital rarely fell below 4,000 for 1945, and the average was closer to 4,500 each day during the later months.

In 1945, cadet nurses of the Army attended the Second Service Command Nurses Basic Training School at Tilton to complete their final six months of training. Although the average number of cadets attending was 90, the graduating class of May 1945 numbered 400. Upon graduation some were assigned to Tilton and the remainder transferred to other medical facilities throughout the world. The program at Fort Dix was completed in the spring of 1946.

During the post-war years, Tilton General Hospital suffered an extremely high turnover among enlisted personnel when many qualified for overseas duty were so assigned. Replacements returned at a slow rate from overseas theaters.

The most rapid turnover in officer personnel came in the latter months of 1945 with the cessation of hostilities. Large numbers of Medical Corps officers returned from overseas, but many were eligible for release from active duty. Because of this, difficulties were encountered in filling hospital vacancies. This led not only to a critical shortage of medical officers at the hospital but difficulty in disposition of patients.

Towards the end of 1945, almost every chief of service, chief of section and qualified specialist became eligible for release from active duty, resulting in the assignment of practically a complete new staff. For quite some time, a definite shortage of personnel continued to exist in many specialties, including the Orthopedic Section, which alone had a monthly work load of 1,200 to 2,100 patients. 

The history of the Tilton General Hospital shows a peak load in January 1946 when there were 4,250 admissions and 3,650 dispositions. However, because of the sharply reduced level of activity in spring of that year, some of the converted ramp wards were closed and the remainder held ready for emergency use. But, the closed wards at Tilton had to be reopened late in 1946 because of a sudden increase in hospital admissions and the closing of other general hospitals in the East.

Thus, Tilton General Hospital continued to maintain a patient load of approximately 4,000. Difficulties were increased during the latter part of 1946 when turnover figures for the hospital’s medical officers reached a new high. Despite these setbacks, Tilton General continued to perform efficiently with a nucleus of skilled officer personnel and through the untiring efforts of all personnel assigned.

The Medical Administration Branch of the Army had a prominent role in the history of Tilton. It performed the many administrative duties necessary in so great an undertaking. During the first two and a half years of the war, a relatively small number of Medical Administrative Corps officers were assigned to Tilton. As more administrative officers became available upon graduation from Officers Candidate School, the number assigned to Tilton greatly increased until 85 were members of the Tilton staff. They relieved Medical Corps officers of a large share of administrative duties, thus giving the doctors more time to spend on their growing professional commitments. However, buy 31 December 1946, the number of medical administrative officers had been reduced to 52.

In January 1947, the average daily patient load of Tilton General Hospital was 4, 277, but as the year progressed, this figure gradually decreased. By the end of 1947, the daily average had dropped to 1, 590 patients and remained at that figure until the end of 1948. The decrease of patients solved many problems caused during peak periods. Among these had been overcrowding of available bed space for patients and limited housing facilities for duty personnel.

TILTON GENERAL REDESIGNATED FORT DIX STATION HOSPITAL - 1949

In 1949, Tilton General Hospital was redesignated Fort Dix Station Hospital and its functions as a general hospital terminated. Its area of responsibility for service was limited to that of a station hospital. During the next ten years, little change in the status, buildings or staff organization took place. Even during the Korean War, when large numbers of troops were trained on the post, few changes were made in hospital facilities. Buildings and contents were maintained and repaired. But the aging material and equipment gradually became increasingly more difficult to maintain.

However, a significant addition occurred in October 1958. To supplement the post’s Station Hospital complement, the 4th Field Hospital was transferred from Fort Devens to Dix. Activated on 30 June 1942 at Camp Young, California, the 4th Field Hospital was attached to the Desert Training Center and later shipped to north Africa. Arriving in Cairo, Egypt, on 11 November 1942, the unit saw service in Libya, Tripoli, Tunisia and Italy before inactivation on 10 September 1945. Reactivated 5 August 1949, the 4th Field Hospital completed assignments in Colorado, Canada, Alaska and finally Korea. Inactivated a second time on 1 November 1951, the unit was recalled again on 11 February 1952 and sent to Camp Rucker, Alabama. The 4th stayed there for a year before its transfer to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, where it remained until being ordered to Fort Dix.

SIGNAL CORPS REPLCEMENT TRAINING CENTER

In March 1946, the Army Service Forces had instituted a basic training program, and Fort Dix, along with its responsibilities as a separation center, was named a Signal Corps Replacement Training Center. Primarily designed to teach military fundamentals to recent inductees who had been assigned military jobs immediately on entering the service, the program included all men who had not received a minimum of six weeks’ basic training.

On a higher training level, a leadership school for enlisted men opened in September 1946. Its purpose was to prepare potential noncommissioned officers for promotion to the top three enlisted grades, which then were master sergeant, technical sergeant and staff sergeant.

FORT DIX ARMY FIELD BECOMES MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE – 1947

The Fort Dix Army Field became an Air Force installation in 1947 when the unification act of that year made the US Air Force a separate department. The modern history of the base began on 17 September 1949, when it was officially dedicated in honor of Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., one of the leading fighter aces of World War II. Although McGuire Air Force Base is no longer an integral part of Fort Dix, the sight and sound of jet aircraft in the air over the post are a constant reminder of its presence.

MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE – 1949

From the Balloon to the Moon – New Jersey’s Amazing Aviation History – (HV Publishers, Oradell, NJ, 1992, p. 234-235) by H.V. Pat Reilly – (Forward by Astronaut Walter M. Schirra)

McGuire Air Force Base

On September 17, 1949 the Fort Dix Army Air Base was renamed the McGuire Air Force Base in honor of Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., a Ridgewood, N.J. native, a World War II Medal of Honor winner and America’s second all-time leading flying ace.

The air base had its beginnings in 1937 as a single sod runway on property owned and maintained by the U.S. Army, adjacent to Fort Dix, near Wrightstown, N.J.

As war clouds loomed on the horizon in 1940, the Army acquired 17,000 additional acres for the airport and paved runways were installed.

By 1942, the Fort Dix Army Airfield was a beehive of activity. The Anti-Submarine Command’s B-25s moved onto the field, and the base provided for the overhaul, servicing and preparing of aircraft for overseas shipment.

Parachute jump training and a secret mission for the development of guided missiles were all part of the activity.

In 1945, the air base was the western terminus for the return of wounded military personnel from Europe, and for returning veterans, who were then flown to separation centers throughout the United States.

When the field became the McGuire Air Force base in 1949, the 91^st Reconnaissance Squadron moved in.

Then the air base became the home of the 611^th Military Air Transport Wing (MATS).

In 1954 C-118 aircraft arrived with the 18^th and 30^th Air Transport Squadrons.

By the late 1980s, McGuire Air Force base occupied 4,000 acres in Burlington Country. Like a small city, it had a population of 5,200 military and 2,000 civilian personnel with approximately 8,500 dependents.

One of the 22 major tenant organizations based at McGuire was the New Jersey Air National Guard. The Guard had been organized at Newark Airport and was based there until 1965.

An appropriate memorial to Major Thomas McGuire, a P-38 fighter plane painted with the same markings as those on the plane he flew in combat, was erected on a pedestal in the center of a traffic circle near the main gate of the base.

It had been through the determined efforts of William J. Demas of Wrightstown, that money was raised for the memorial. Demas had negotiated with the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum for the P-38, one of only five left in the world in flying condition. It was flown from California. Then, under the direction of Lt. Patricia Harem at McGuire, the fuselage was stropped to its original aluminum finish. The words “Pudgy V” (a term of endearment to McGuire’s wife) and 38 Japanese flags representing the planes the ace shot down were painted on the fuselage. The plane was then ready to mount.

On May 5, 1982 the P-38 memorial was dedicated. Present at the ceremony were U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, U.S. Rep. H. James Saxton, (R.13), Governor Thomas H. Kean and Marilynn Beatty, formerly Mrs. Thomas B. McGuire.

Standing on the sidelines that day was F. J. Kish, who had been McGuire’s crew chief in the Pacific. To reporters he told the story of McGuire’s last evening alive.

“Tommy was due to go back to the States in a week,” he said. “He had hoped to bag enough Japanese planes the next day to assure himself of the ‘leading ace’ title.”

“He told me that he wasn’t taking his own plane up, but some other fellow’s, and I said to him, ‘Major, why change horses in the middle of a stream?’ You know what he said to me then? He said he thought he’d pushed his luck in ‘Pudgy’ and that his number might be up.”

Kish was at another airfield the next morning when McGuire took off. When Kish returned later, a fellow mechanic called him over, placed a hand on his shoulder and said, ‘Your boy’s not coming back.’”

The year the memorial was dedicated, the people of Ridgewood, under the leadership of Dr. Anthony Cipriano and Gerald DeSimone, raised funds for the creation of a bronze bust of McGuire and donated it to the small museum dedicated to the ace’s memory in the Welcome center at the Air Force base. At the presentation, in January of 1983, Col. Larry D. Wright, Commander of the 438^th Military Airlift Wing Command, said:

“A country which has no heroes is wanting.  A country which has heroes but forgets them is sorry. With this presentation here today, we can be assured that this hero will not be forgotten.”

THE 9^TH INFANTRY DIVISION – “Hitler’s Nemesis”

On 15 July 1947, the 9th Infantry Division was reactivated and assumed responsibility for all post activities. With this move, Fort Dix and the 9th Division became one and the same. Units of the division had earned fame in World War I at Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Mouse-Argonne and Alsace-Lorraine. In World War II, the division fought in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sicily, Normandy, Falaise Gap, the Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and the Ruhr. It spearheaded the breakthrough at St. Lo, earning the nickname “Hitler’s Nemesis.” 

9^th INFANTRY DIVISION SPECIALIST TRAINING

While at Dix, the 9th Infantry Division’s primary mission was to train newly enlisted personnel of the Army Field Forces in basic military subjects for a period of 14 weeks.

To provide for the continuing influx of troops, several modifications appeared in the structure of units on the post in 1948. In January, the 364th Infantry Regiment, which had been activated at Dix as part of the 9th Division in November 1947, began to cycle individual companies. In June, the 47th Infantry Regiment, which had been returned to the training picture eight months earlier but remained at zero strength, was named as the 9th Infantry Division Specialist Training Regiment. Its mission was to train mechanics, clerks and cooks. The unit had the capability to train more than 1,700 students at a time. Because of the growing numbers of trainees entering Fort Dix, the division increased to six training regiments in July. Later, in November 1948, the first contingent of New Jersey selectees arrived at Dix under the Selective Service Act of 1948, and in the same month, reenlistments at Fort Dix hit an all-time high.

ANDREWS JET FIGHTERS TARGET PRACTICE

Meanwhile, for months several hundred acres of woodland that surrounded the airfield at Fort Dix were used for target practice by jet fighter units from Andrews Field, Maryland.

CAMP KILMER INACTIVATED

In line with an economy program, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, was inactivated and its Personnel Center ordered to Dix in 1949. Upon completion of the move, which started 15 November, the center began operations at Dix as a separate headquarters under the commanding general, 9th Infantry Division. However, following the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, the Personnel Center closed its activities at Fort Dix and returned in September to a reactivated Fort Kilmer.

364^th INFANTRY REGIMENT

Because the Korean War had increased the flow of personnel to the post, the 364^th Infantry Regiment, which had been inactive since July 1949, was reactivated at Dix in March 1951 to assist in the training load.

31 GERMAN ALIENS GIVEN BASIC TRAINING

Among the influx of young men reporting to the post were 31 aliens who enlisted in Germany and started basic training at Fort Dix in October 1951 under a rather effective “buddy system.” Upon arrival in their basic training companies, they were assigned to individual trainees who guided and helped them adjust to the American way of life, both in military and in social spheres. In addition, special classes at the Fort Dix Information and Education Center were started in November 1951 to qualify them for citizenship before completion of their enlistments.

TRAINED COMPANIES SHIPPED INTACT – ESPIRIT de CORPS

During the world tensions of the early 1950s, Fort Dix not only received men in ever increasing numbers but shipped them overseas at a greatly increased rate. Consequently, the installation experimented with a somewhat different overseas replacement concept. Under the system, adopted by the Army in July 1953, trained companies were shipped intact, and once at their new assignments, personnel served together, if possible. It was felt this system would inspire morale, instill men with a higher espirit de corps, and allow them to adjust more easily to overseas conditions.

PRESIDENT TRUMAN – EXTENDS ACTIVE SERVICE

Earlier, in 1952, President Harry S. Truman announced that men of the Regular Army, Enlisted Reserve and National Guard, whose expiration dates to active service were between 1 July 1952 and 1 July 1953, would be extended for nine months. However, during the closing days of the Korean War, the men were not required to fulfill the entire length of the extension. While some of the men were beginning to serve the extended time, reserve officers from 10 units in New York and New Jersey arrived at Dix in July 1952 to start a 15-day period of Organized Reserve Corps schooling. The schools were established for officers who desired to fulfill their summer camp obligation but for whom no vacancies existed in reserve organizations. 

During the closing months of the Korean War starting in April 1953, the number of authorized permanent party personnel with the 9th Infantry Division was increased by almost 350. 

FOOD SERVICE And SPECIALITY SCHOOLS

The Food Service School at Dix enlarged and became the only school of its kind in the First Army area. Immediately, the number of students in this course doubled.

Later in October, personnel increased again when the Reception Center at Fort Devens and Camp Kilmer were discontinued and reestablished at Fort Dix.

The basic training mission of Dix further expanded in July when it began to train men scheduled to attend such schools as transportation, quartermaster, chemical and adjutant general.

Previously, most men slated for specialty schools of this type received their initial training at the posts that conducted the schools. For example, a soldier going to the Transportation School at Fort Eustis, Virginia, went there directly from a reception center to receive eight weeks of basic training before starting school. Under the revised procedure, a soldier would first come to Dix, complete his basic training, and then be shipped to Fort Eustis. This change insured greater training efficiency and proved more economical.

9^th INFANTRY DIVISION TO USAREUR – 69^th DIVISION ACTIVATED

An important change took place at Dix in April 1954. The 9th Infantry Division was transferred to US Army Europe (USAREUR) to become part of the European Command. The transfer was strictly on paper, the movement of personnel was not involved. At the same time, the 69th Infantry Division was activated at Dix by the Department of the Army. All personnel and organic units previously assigned to the 9th Infantry Division were redesigned and assigned to the 69th Infantry Division.

Originally activated in May 1943, the 69th Division was assigned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and then sent overseas to the European Theater of Operations in November 1944. Entering combat in the Morichau sector under V Corps of the Fifteenth US Army, the division helped crack the Siegfried Line in that area. On 25 April 1945, the 69th made the war’s first American contact with the Russians at the Elbe River.

365^th INFANTRY TRAINING REGIMENT REACTIVATED

In May 1954, the 365th Infantry Regiment was reactivated to assist in training and an expected increased number of inductees assigned to fort Dix due to the stepped-up summer draft and closing down of several other training installations. The 69th Infantry Division was tasked to conduct basic and advanced individual training. Training was divided into two phases, the first, eight weeks of basic combat training and then advanced individual training, qualifying soldiers in Army skills. The second phase of training was divided into two distinct groups, advanced and technical. Trainees assigned to advanced infantry training were molded into well-disciplined, physically conditioned soldiers with sufficient military training to enable them to be integrated into coordinated teams, such as rifle squads, mortar crews or machine gun squads. Trainees assigned to advanced technical training attended one of a variety of schools: administration, supply, bandsman, mechanic, radio operator or cook.

TRAINING METHODS RESEARCH PROJECTS

During the year the 69th was reactivated at Dix, the post was the site of several important raining methods research projects. In January, more than 1,000 trainees were involved in a six-month Department of the Army study aimed at discovering more efficient procedures for improving the Army’s basic training program. Several companies of the 47th Infantry Regiment were chosen for the study.

Dix was named one of six posts during February 1954 to organize transitional training units for inductees who in civilian life did not have the chance to raise their education above the fourth-grade level. Men in these transitional units were given two to four weeks of schooling preceding their basic training. This schooling further increased the men’s capacity to assimilate the basic training program.

According to the installation newspaper, the Fort Dix Post, 63 percent more soldiers completed basic training during Fiscal Year 1954, which ended 30 June 1954, than the previous year. But there was more to come. Fort Dix had a November 1954 population of more than 40,000, of which 25,000 were basic trainees in 74 companies. In addition, approximately 3,000 were taking specialized training in various schools. The largest input for any peacetime month occurred at the Reception Station during January 1955, when 8,910 processed into the Army. Of these, 4,310 were draftees, 4, 346 first team regulars; and the remainder enlisted reservists. The busiest day was 28 January, when 717 recruits filled the station – 554 enlisting for service as the Korean GI Bill deadline neared.

OPERATION GYROSCOPE

In the meantime, a radically different concept to replace major overseas units had been adopted by the Department of the Army in 1954. Dubbed “Operation Gyroscope,” entire overseas divisions and separate smaller units were replaced by like units stationed in the States. To meet the manpower requirements of these units destined for overseas, a great number of personnel was shuttled within the Continental Army Command.

Nine hundred trainees shipped from the Reception Station at Fort Dix to the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the first week of February 1955. The shipment of trainees brought the total number of off-post shipments since the first of this year to more than 3,500. Earlier, January shipments had gone to the 10th Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas; 101st Airborne Division, Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and the 5th Armored Division, Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. The 10th Division, after receiving additional Dix shipments in March and May, later was transferred to Germany, replacing the 1st Infantry Division.

Late in May, the input of the Reception Station dropped about 30 percent, and only four instead of the normal eight Fort Dix basic training companies began to cycle each week. The deceased number of trainees coming through the center resulted from a cut of Selective Service calls. The nation’s draft call dropped from an average of about 23,000 per month to 11,000, decreasing Fort Dix’ monthly training load of draftees from 4,500 to 2,500. However, the number of enlistees received and trained at the post each month remained at 1,500.

331^st MILITARY POLICE – 40^th MILITARY POLICE

The 331st Military Police (Criminal Investigation) Detachment, which had been at Dix since March 1951, was transferred to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in February 1955. The 40th Military Police Detachment (CI), a unit that would stay at Dix until its reassignment to Vietnam in August 1965, was activated in its place.

FORT DIX NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS ACADEMY – May 1955

The Fort Dix Noncommissioned Officers Academy opened its first class on 23 May 1955. Designed to train noncommissioned officers as cadre and junior leaders, the six-week course offered refresher or preparatory training to its classes. The first four weeks consisted of academic study and the final two weeks practical training in a unit.

When first activated, personnel of the NCO Academy, which included students in the Advanced Leaders Course, were housed in the 879th Field Artillery Battalion of the 69th Infantry Division Artillery. In retraining top three-graders, who were in over strength noncombatant fields, to a combat military occupational specialty. The next month, the NCO Academy was placed under supervision of the Specialist Training Regiment.

Meanwhile, it was announced that Camp Kilmer’s Personnel Center activities would shift to Fort Dix around the first of July 1955. Making the move to Fort Dix gradually and without a massive influx of personnel, the center took over areas formerly occupied by the inactivated 271st and 273rd Infantry Regiments.

The move of the 1264th Service unite from Camp Kilmer started on 18 June 1955, as 128 officers, 15 warrant officers and 1,083 enlisted men arrived at Dix on a permanent change of station. With the move, Fort Dix’ 1299th Service Unit was disbanded and its personal and activities made a part of the 1264th. While at Camp Kilmer, the 1264th had processed men en route to Europe and the Caribbean, received returning troops from those areas, and processed them for leave, reassignment or separation. The same missions remained with the unit while at Dix. The move to inactivate Kilmer, a temporary World War II camp near New Brunswick, New Jersey, was expected to save the Army about $1,400,000 with manpower reduced by 1,150 military and 400 civilian personnel.

In July 1955, Dix transferred approximately 1,000 operating personnel to the 74th Infantry Regimental Combat Team at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. The move was made in an attempt to bring all general reserve unites in the First Army area to full strength and combat readiness.

RECLASSIFICATION

Early in January 1956, Department of the Army issued orders directing major units and installations to reclassify or retrain enlisted personnel in the top three grades (master sergeants, sergeants first class and sergeants) holding military occupation specialties in excess of the Army’s needs. The Army wide program transferred thousands of NCOs into the combat arms, e.g., infantry artillery, armor. At Fort Dix this reclassification affected administrative and military police NCOs and specialists. In line with this action to balance skills with requirements in the upper pay grades, the top three specialist grades, whose military functions were in the excess category, had an opportunity to regain noncommissioned officer status by volunteering for a number of critical specialties. Volunteers for the critical fields were either retrained or reclassified administratively if their previous training or experience qualified them for another job.

SERVICE TROOPS

With the weeding out of excess personnel, a reorganization of the post’s Service Troops, 1262^nd Area Service Unit, went into effect on 16 January 1956. The major change was the redesignation of two detachments and the discontinuance of two others.

Under the reorganization, Service Troops consisted of a Headquarters Company, a Faculty Detachment, the 69th Military Police Company and a WAC Detachment. Two other units were attached to the 1st Battalion – the 40th Military Police Detachment (CI) and the 19th Finance Disbursing Section, included in the 2nd Battalion were a Headquarters Company, 69th Replacement Company, first US Army Training Aids Sub center, 1195th Service Unit, 664th Ordinance Company (Ammunition) and the 553rd Ordnance Detachment (Explosive Ordnance Demolition). Under a separate organization, and on a battalion level was the Post Stockade. The 716th Military Police Battalion, which was assigned to Vietnam in early 1965, and the 86th Engineer Battalion, a unit that remained on post until embarkation for Vietnam in September 1966, also were subordinate units of Service Troops.

This organizational structure, however, was short-lived, for in April 1956 another change occurred in Service Troops as the two battalion headquarters and their detachments were discontinued. All subordinate units, regardless of size, were placed directly under the commanding officer of Service Troops.

Shipments of recruits to Dix dropped off sharply and “Operation Gyroscope” which sent many men from induction centers in the East directly to the 8th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. Because of the basic training reduction at Fort Dix, gradual suspension of training activities was ordered in February 1956 as each company of the 272nd Infantry ended its cycle. After the March closure of the unit, the 364th and 365th Infantry Regiments assumed the full training load.

Meanwhile, on 16 March 1956, all Army training center divisions, including the 69th Infantry Division at Fort Dix, surrendered their numerical designations. On this date, the Army installations at Wrightstown became the United States Army Training Center, Infantry, Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the 69th was inactivated. 

The change in terminology provided a designation that clearly indicated the center’s basic mission of training, and in no way affected the strength of the post. The three training regiments took on other numerical designations, with the 365th becoming the 1st Training Regiment, the 364th and 2ndTraining Regiment, and the 272nd and 3rd Training Regiment Operation of common specialist courses was taken over by the Specialist Training Regiment. In July 1957, because of the increased number of recruits to arrive on the post, the 4th Training Regiment was formally activated. The increase was partly due to an added option of the Reserve Forces Act of 1956k - - the six-month program for reservists and guardsmen. A new era had begun at Fort Dix earlier in August 1956 when the first Reserve Forces Act trainees arrived to start basic training. The initial figure of 315 men arriving that month was greatly multiplied during the ensuing years as the six-month program grew in popularity and scope.

WELFARE COMMITTEE – LOCAL REGULATIONS

Meanwhile, a welfare committee was organized at Fort Dix in July 1957 to study and eliminate local regulations found to be unnecessary and particularly irritating to officers, enlisted men, and their dependents. The committee was established to implement an order issued to all installations in the First US Army area. According to the order, the committee must pay “special attention to those directives which are irksome and tend to take the joy out of life in the military service.” It was thought these unnecessary regulations seriously impaired the reenlistment program and that young officers were returning to civilian life for more enjoyable and rewarding careers.

Previously, in April 1956, the post’s NCO Advisory Council had been established. Its main function was to serve as a means of presenting to the commanding general problems, suggestions and recommendations concerning the welfare of enlisted men.

Later, in November 1956, the First Army commander had directed installation commanders to take vigorous action to cut down on the high rate of resignations among junior officers by assigning these officers to duties commensurate with their rank, experience and educational background. Typical of the problems such committees considered were the allocation of post housing and excessive requirements to sign certificates indicating completion of a responsibility. Married personnel received special consideration from the committee.

CARRIER COMPANIES

Fort Dix was chosen in October 1957 by the Department of the Army to test the formation of “carrier companies,” which were shipped overseas intact upon completion of advanced military training. The companies were built around four-man teams, whose members were chosen by common backgrounds. Although the companies were sometimes dismantled upon arrival overseas, the teams normally remained intact.

PROFICIENCY PARK

An important phase of today’s basic training requirements originated in June 1958. Introduced for the first time was a training area called “Proficiency Park,” where basic trainees were tested on subjects they had learned during the previous weeks. The part placed trainees in an environment similar to the subject matter, such as barbed wire enclosure to simulate a miniature prison and a station to test aptitude with weapons. Each of the 15 stations at Proficiency Park was as realistic as possible.

A revised and accelerated eight-week basic combat training program returning bayonet and hand-to-hand combat instruction to the trainee was reintroduced to Fort Dix in January 1959. While the length of the cycle was not extended, the hours were readjusted to place greater stress on fundamentals of military training. Emphasis was placed on motivational training, in history and traditions of the Army and country.

Also stressed was increased proficiency in the use of weapons, drill and ceremonies and the physical fitness program. Tactical training, including anti-guerilla warfare, anti-infiltration warfare, and camouflage and concealment, was condensed into 14 hours. This enabled recruits to spend more time, from eight to 16 hours, on marching and tactical bivouac training. Dismounted drill (today known as Army drill) also was emphasized when training in the subject increased from 16 to 25 hours.

Because of disturbing reports concerning reports concerning poor marksmanship per volume of fire in World War II and Korea, Continental Army Command officials in 1953 began studying proposals to revive rifle training in the interest of realism and motivation.

TRAINFIRE SYSTEM

It was noted during the Korean War that as many as 50,000 rounds were expended for every enemy casualty. The study resulted in the Trainfire system, which later became the Army’s Basic Rifle Marksmanship Course, replacing the Known Distance (KD) system. Under the old concept, a soldier would fire at a standard bull’s-eye from distances of 100, 200, 300 and 500 yards – which was great for precision shooting but not for combat practice. The combat-type silhouette Trainfire targets of the new system were concealed in woods and seen only fleetingly. Electrically operated, they popped up unpredictably at ranges from 50 to 350 meters.

The first part of the four-phase program was the 60-point and 110-point, 25-meter range. Without the aid of slings, trainees fired at semi-circular bull’s-eyes from sitting, kneeling and standing positions immediately after learning each position.  The next part was the 35-point, filed firing range. Here the trainee fired at silhouette targets, which popped up in full view at 75, 175 and 300 meters. The third area of instruction was target detection in which trainees scanned the woods for concealed human targets that they detected by sight, movement and sound. The final phase was the 16-point, record-fire range which tested the trainee’s ability to use the instruction received during phases two and three. This 480-meter firing line simulated an actual combat firing line. Each firer was responsible for concealed pop-up targets in a 30-meter wide sector. Sixty-four first-round hits on 112 targets qualified a firer as an expert.

Construction of the Trainfire ranges at Fort Di began late in 1958, and they were ready for use on 11 May 1959. Located along Range Road, the ranges were from five to eight miles from the post headquarters. Trainfire permitted an eight-hour reduction in rifle training and saved man-hours by eliminating pit details. When all of the programmed ranges were in operation, five companies could be handled each week with no problem.

Between the years 1952 and 1959, the 1387th Replacement Company underwent several redesignations before assuming its present nomenclature. In 1952, the unit was designated 9thReplacement Company, 9th Infantry Division, only to be renamed two years later the 69thReplacement Company, 69th Division. It remained the 69th until 1956 when it was redesignated Replacement Company, United States Army Training Center, Infantry. The year 1959 saw the unit renamed Replacement Company (1387-1), USATC, Infantry.

60^th EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE DISPOSAL SQUAD

The 60th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Squad was activated 27 January 1952 at Raritan Arsenal, Metuchen, New Jersey. On 15 March, shortly after completing basic unit training, the squad moved to Fort Dix, where it was attached to Detachment 13, 1262nd Area Supporting Unit. On 8 March 1954, the 60th took on an added duty of providing explosive ordinance disposal support for Burlington County as well as Fort Dix. In June 1954, the unit was reorganized and its name changed to the 60th Ordnance Detachment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal).

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

As Fort Dix gained in importance as a training center, a considerable amount of capital improvement was undertaken. In September 1945, a post-war utilization study of Fort Dix by the Office of Chief of Engineers concluded that the post was considered “satisfactory for post-war retention.” The report noted that major improvements considered essential to maintain a permanent active installation with a strength of 25,015 men would include installation of concrete curbs and sidewalks and drainage structure as part of soil erosion control. Bridges needed to be strengthened and roads improved. 

The cost of providing permanent troop barracks, housing for married officers and NCOs, and remodeling of existing mobilization-type billets for post-war use was estimated to be in the neighborhood of $16 million. At that time, 90 percent of the post’s facilities had been constructed hastily during World War II and were of a temporary nature, made of wood and not meant to last more than five years. But with diligent maintenance, the five years were stretched to 20 and today many still are being used.

In the early post-World War II era, Fort Dix was bustling with activities of the Separation Center, Reception Center, and the training of new troops. But little construction activity took place. During the summer and fall of 1945, five tent areas housing 11,000 men were used. By the end of the year, the Separation Center included 223 World War II temporary barracks, 333 hutments, and 142 other buildings.

Other signs of the times were apparent at Dix as the old began to give way to the new. The Fort Dix narrow-gauge railroad, which had been constructed during World War I to move troops to the firing ranges and used during World War II, was retired from service after its last run in 1945. This miniature railroad was considered too costly to repair and maintain.

In October 1948, the Army attacked the housing shortage at Fort Dix by proposing construction of permanent facilities for both training and permanent party. The Army wanted to replace existing wooden barracks with permanent structures. The old barracks not only lacked comfort but required costly rehabilitation every few years. The new barracks, it was decided, should offer reasonable privacy, with troop bays divided into “units” of four to eight persons each. Existing open barracks housed 52 or more persons.