1950 - 1960

FROM CAMP DIX TO JBMDL – 1950 – 1960

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

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

1 September 1950 – Major General William K. Harrison commander

1 September 1950 – McGuire AFB transferred to the Eastern Air Defense Force.

1951 December – 141^st Fighter Bomber Squadron (108^th Fighter Bomber Wing) bring their F-47 Thunderbolts to McGuire.

January 1952 – Major General Roderick R. Allen commander

July 1952 – Major General Homer W. Kiefer commander

31 July 1953 Major General C. E. Ryan commander

1954 July 27 – Activation of 1611^th Air Transport Wing commemorated

1954 2 September – 18^th Air Transport Squadron performs first ever airlift mission from McGuire – Operation Ice Cube – airlift of dry ice to Boston for hurricane relief.

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

1954 - First C-118 Liftmaster assigned to 18^th Air Transport Squadron.

28 February 1955 – Major General John W. Harmony commander

1955 – McGuire Mardi Gras with Duke Ellington, child virtuso Glenn Derringer and actress Cleo Moore.

1955 April – Atlantic Division, Military Air Transport Service HQ (21^st AF) relocated to McGuire, becoming the aerial port of embarkation for the eastern USA.

16 September 1955 – Major Robert W. Ward commander

1956 – McGuire chapel constructed.

1956 – Chubby Checker entertains the troops

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

1956 July – C-118 crashes three miles from takeoff in thunderstorm, 46 fatalities, 20 severe injuries, first major accident in McGuire’s history.

1 November 1956 – Majro General Earl C. Bergquist commander

1957 – 1959 – F-102A Delta Daggers with the 339^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at McGuire

1957 – May – Robert Risner commemorates the 40^th anniversary of Charles Lindberg’s solo crossing of the Atlantic from McGuire.

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

May 1959 – Dick Clark’s American Bandstand host Dick Clark entertains the troops with singer Cathy Linden and Jimmy J. and the J’s on Armed Forces Day.

1959 30 May – Maj. William H. Champion of 539^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron becomes the first F-106A pilot to fire an operational Gene missile.

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

1959 – Computer directed unmanned BOMARC anti-missile missiles with nuclear warheads activated and become operational under the 46^th Air Defense Missile Squadron.

NEW OFFICER QUARTERS - BARRACKS And HOUSING

Next to be considered was construction of sufficient permanent quarters for officers and senior NCOs. More than 700 officers had been forced to live off post, some as far as 65 miles away. More than 100 families of officers and enlisted men were living on post in trailers. Aside from new construction, the program called for a general rehabilitation and modernization of facilities then in use. 

During the Korean War, actual construction began on new barracks and homes and continued at a rapid pace. An additional 398 family units were provide in June 1951 by converting unused facilities of the old Station Hospital (Tilton Annex) to accommodate enlisted personnel and their dependents. In addition, in the fall of 1951, natural gas came into use for kitchen appliances and water heaters, replacing coal. While only in the testing stage, utilization of gas was studied carefully for possible post-wide use.

To meet the continuing need to relieve crowded housing conditions caused by the swelling military population, Department of the Army authorized the addition of 300 family quarters for married personnel at Dix. These homes, built in the northwest sector of Fort Dix in the vicinity of Hanover Homes under the Wherry Housing Act, were opened for assignment to post personnel with families in February 1952. The Wherry complex, known as Sheridanville, was named after Private First Class Carl V. Sheridan, who was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving in Germany in 1944 with Company K of the 47th Infantry Regiment. Private Sheridan was killed while making the final assault on Frenzenburg Castle, Weisweiler, Germany, on 26 November 1944. As a bazooka gunner, Sheridan advanced alone under constant fire across the castle courtyard to the drawbridge entrance. There he calmly blasted the great oak door by firing three bazooka shells into it. As a final gesture he beckoned to his comrades to follow and charge through the opened entrance. Although his .45 cal. pistol was blasting, he was cut down by enemy fire that greeted him.

Other construction completed during the early ‘50s included a new officers open mess, a new fire headquarters, a civilian personnel building and a 21-classroom school for dependents, near the junction of the Juliustown Road and the Pemberton-Pointville Road.

In December 1952, construction of garden apartments at Fort Dix was completed, and 300 units became available to military families. This development, constructed under provisions of the Wherry Housing Act and named Nelson Courts, is located on Lexington Avenue between Sheridanville and the warehouse and railroad siding.

SERGEANT WILLIAM L. NELSON

In 1955, Nelson Courts was dedicated in honor of Sergeant William L. Nelson, who had been posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during World War II. Sergeant Nelson was mortally wounded at Djebel Daydys, northeast of Sedjenance, Tunisia, on 24 April 1943. Nelson had led his section of heavy mortars to a forward position. He then crawled alone to an advance observation point and directed a concentrated mortar barrage that repulsed the initial enemy counterattack. After sustaining a mortal wound during that action he advanced to another observation position and directed additional mortar barrages. He died only 50 yards from the enemy.

The problem of housing during the Fifties was an ever-present one. In December 1956, construction of a bachelor officers’ quarters on the corner of Maryland Avenue and West First Street was completed. Four hundred Wherry family units also were completed in 1956, taken over by the Army, and paid for by occupants from their monthly rental allowances.

MAJOR GENERAL CASE W. KENNEDY

This project, known as Kennedy Courts, is located northeast of the post school in the area bounded by West 17th Street, New Jersey Avenue, Juliustown Road and Pemberton-Pointville Road. It was named in honor of Major General Case W. Kennedy, the first commanding general of Camp Dix and commander of the 78th “Lightning” Division when it was mobilized at Dix in August 1917.

Three years later, a 702-unit Capehart duplex housing development, located in a triangular section between the Pemberton-Pointville Road and Juliustown Road, to the rear of the post school, was completed. The 702 units, together with 90 company grade officers’ quarters and 100 NCO quarters were constructed earlier, brought to 892 the total number of units in the development. This complex, known as Garden Terrace, was the last housing project prior to 1960.

Meanwhile, during the middle Fifties, Fort Dix began a long-range troop housing project under the Military Construction Army (MCA) Program. Twenty-seven permanent barracks with mess facilities were constructed in two different complexes, as part of $31 million expansion program. Included were 11 barracks between Alabama Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, which are now occupied by Special Troops, its attached units, and Committee Groups.

The second complex includes 16 permanent company-sized barracks and a motor pool along Texas Avenue, currently occupied by the 1st Advanced Individual Training Brigade. Each dormitory-type barracks in the two complexes houses a complete company, equipped with a game room, stereo room and TV lounge. The barracks offer a greater degree of privacy to the soldier than the old open barracks. Platoons are housed in bays, which are divided into eight-man cubicles. Banks of wall lockers divide the bay down the center. 

In 1955, a $3.1 million improvement program to modernize 181 temporary wooden barracks at Dix took place. Automatic heating and hot water systems were among the improvements.

The construction of other capital structures during the latter half of the Fifties accounts for several of today’s large buildings. In October 1956, the quartermaster administration building, which now houses the clothing store, was completed. In addition to its normal stock of military attire, the store services the First US Army area for WAC uniforms.

In August 1956, groundbreaking took place for the Lakeside Service Club in the 1^st Training Regiment Area at Nashville and Tennessee Avenue. Dedicated 22 November 1957, the 27,000-square-foot, air-conditioned structure included all up-to-date service club facilities. At the same time, ground was broken for the $322,000 John S. Marshall Dental Clinic, which was opened 7 June 1958. 

The Main Post Exchange on New York Avenue was completed in October 1957. Another 60-man bachelor officers’ quarters was constructed at Maryland Avenue and First Street. Holly Crest, a development of 17 family housing units for colonels, and Grove Park, family housing area for 66 lieutenant colonels, also were built in 1957 and 1958.

WALSON ARMY HOSPITAL

Groundbreaking for the new modern 500-bed Walson Army Hospital took place on 18 February 1957. Completed in 1960, this nine-story structure originally contained a gross floor area of 327,820 square feet.

FIRST LIEUTENANT KARL H. TIMMERMAN, INFANTRY

In August 1959, a newly constructed theater with seating capacity of 1,004 was dedicated to the memory of First Lieutenat Karl H. Timmerman, Infantry. The air-conditioned theater contained the largest stereophonic and cinemascope facilities, plus a large stage completely equipped for live performances.

Lieutenant Timmermann had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his action at Remagen Bridge, Germany, 7 March 1945. During the action he was commander of Company A, 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, 9th Armored Division. Timmermann’s leadership was instrumental in Company A securing Ramagen Bridge, the first bridge over the Rhine River to fall into Allied hands. He received little personal publicity, though much has been given to capture of the bridge and its strategic consequences.

In The Battle at Ramagen, Ken Hechler vividly relates Lieutenant Timmermann’s heroic efforts and lack of national recognition. To quote in part from the final chapter: “The first officer across the Rhine, Lieutenant Karl Timmermann, returned to his hometown of West Point, Nebraska, after the war, a lone figure trudging into town with his barracks bag slung over his shoulder. His reception committee consisted of one little dog who snarled and snapped at his heels. The silence was oppressive. Lieutenant Timmermann rejoined the Army in 1948, fought in the Inchon Invasion of Korea, but then cancer struck him down and he died in an Army hospital in 1951. West Point, Nebraska, has no tablet to his memory. 1 (Kenneth W. Hechler, The Bridge at Remagen, pp. 189-190)

RANGE ROAD FACILITIES – MOONLIGHT FIRING RANGE

In the way of range facilities, 11 small arms ranges, three projectile ranges, and a Trainfire range were built during the post-war era and 1950s.

In March 1953 a new moonlight firing range, the first of its type to be built in the United States, was placed in operation at Dix. The range was created to train soldiers to fire accurately at night under simulated battle conditions. An automatic electronic firing course, including stationary and moving targets, was put into operation in May 1953 on Range 1A, the small arms night marksmanship range. The 1959 construction of the first Trainfire range marked the beginning of the Army’s Basic Rifle Marksmanship Course, which replaced the Know Distance system.

Much of the post maintenance and construction was handled by the 86th Engineer Battalion, a unit that supported engineering requirements of the First US Army. Assigned to Dix in March 1954, the 86th was stationed here until September 1966, when it left for Vietnam. During its 12 years at Dix, the unit constructed and maintained the post’s ranges and repaired utilities.

In September 1954, two companies from the 86th, then a construction battalion, saved the Army more than $100,000 by building two ranges themselves instead of contracting for outside firms to do the job. Not only were the ranges built for less money than was originally estimated, they also were finished in record time. In 1956, the battalion gained recognition by rapidly refurbishing Camp Kilmer for use by Hungarian Revolt refugees.

POST WAR CONSTRUCTION

The 15 years after World War II saw the building of 48 storage facilities and warehouses, two dispensaries, 17 administration buildings, approximately 2,000 family housing units, 20 detached garages, 27 troop barracks with messes, and other miscellaneous projects and major structures already mentioned.

THE ULTIMATE WEAPON STATUE

Not the least to be recognized was creation of the giant, charging infantryman known as “The Ultimate Weapon,” who stands tall in Infantry Park across the street from Timmerman Theater. The 3,000-pound statute of a foot soldier in action was unveiled by General Bruce C. Clarke, commander of Continental Army Command, on 20 March 1959.

The statute was created by two soldier-sculptors, Specialist Four Steven M. Goodman and Private First Class Stuart J. Scherr of Headquarters Company, Specialist Training Regiment, who worked for nine months to create The Ultimate Weapon from a photograph and an 18-inch clay model. They were assisted by Private Emilio V. Gamba and Theodore Dittmer, both of the same unit. The statue memorializes the modern infantryman in attack and stands 14 foot tall. On its 11-foot pedestal is inscribed, The Ultimate Weapon – The Infantryman.” Statistics of The Ultimate Weapon statue note a 13-inch broad forehead, a 40-inch neck, a 90-inch chest, 56-inch arms, 70-inch waste and six-foot legs. He carries 185 pounds of combat equipment, including a six-foot M-14 rifle and ammunition. This Fort Dix landmark honors infantry soldiers past and present.

PERMANENT CONCRETE POST

The 1950s saw much of the construction that transformed Fort Dix into a permanent concrete post. However, this changeover still is not completed, and it may be left to the decade of the Seventies to see it finished.

During the Fifties, Fort Dix headquarters made greater efforts to encourage those who wished to improve their education. Opportunities for schooling were improved and library facilities enlarged. 

COLLEGE CREDIT

In June 1950 plans were made to open an extension of Rutgers University at Fort Dix. Rutgers agreed to organize and conduct a program of schooling in liberal arts and business administration. Open to all Fort Dix personnel, excluding trainees, classes started in September 1950. To further the cause of advanced education on the post, it was announced in September 1956 that Temple University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, would offer extension courses in education, investments and mental hygiene at the Army Education Center.

SPECIAL SERVICES POST LIBRARY  

In support of the post’s expanding educational program, a Special Services Post Library had been opened in the fall of 1950. It was located in former Chapel #6 on Pennsylvania Avenue, which had been redecorated and furnished with the latest library equipment. The early Post Library offered more than 15,000 volumes, with thousands more in various branch units throughout the post. By 1956, the entire Post Library system contained 50,000 volumes. A system of bookmobiles supplied patients in Fort Dix Station Hospital wards with books. The library provided its avid readers with 56 newspapers plus magazines and duplicate subscriptions that numbered 386. Twelve hundred classical and light classical phonograph records were available for listening.

The Post Library moved its facilities on 15 August 1957 across from the old chapel site to a renovated building, which it continues to occupy. The new site, located next to the current Pennsylvania Avenue bowling alley, comprised 10,500 square feet and could seat 200 persons. It includes a music room, catalog room, reference room, MOS library, three administration offices and the main book shelf area. Branch libraries also were opened during the post-war period.

SPECIAL SERVICES FACILITIES And ENTERTAINMENT

Besides libraries, Special Services operated various other facilities for the relaxation of troops, including service clubs, hobby shops and movie theaters. During the 1950s, service club facilities were improved and increased. Four Dix service clubs were completely refurnished and redecorated in 1955, and the new Lakeside Services Club (mentioned previously) was built in 1957. The clubs, enhanced by a pleasant atmosphere, provided television viewing rooms, music rooms with phonograph and musical instruments, games, writing desks, typewriters, branches of the post library, and a snack bar. During one quarter alone in 1955, the four older clubs handled 194,000 visiting civilians and soldiers.

Other forms of Special Services entertainment for soldiers included traveling showmen who performed in the Sports Arena or one of the theaters. Some of the entertainers were Louis Prima and his orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey’s orchestra, featuring vocalist Eleanor Powell; Dorothy Collins, the sweetheart of Lucky Strike’s “Your Hit Parade”: the famous television personality, Dagmar; number of others. Guy Lombardo and his orchestra; Blue Barron and his orchestra; Stan Kenton’s orchestra; and a number of others.

AUTOMOBILE MECHANICS And CRAFT SHOP – 1957

With the growing number of privately owned vehicles on post, mechanically inclined military personnel at Dix on 1 May 1957, with the opening of a Special Services six-bay Automobile Crafts Shop for use by Dix military personnel. Mechanics were present at the Special Services shop to advise and instruct car owners in the repair of their vehicles. The car owners, however, did their own work, and tools and equipment for all minor repairs were loaned in the shop. In addition, wash racks, grease pits and an outside ramp were available to Dix-stationed personnel. By 1967, an average of 2,500 car buffs made use of the facility monthly.

For those on the post with a spark of creativity, a Special Services Arts and Crafts Center, with 18,600 square feet of floor space, was opened in June 1959. With the opening, personnel discovered the center as a haven for creative activity, and novice craftsmen attended the center each evening. Before trying their hands at one of the crafts, most soldiers visited the center out of curiosity. Many stayed to develop unsuspected talents. Some cut and polished semi-precious stones to give as jewelry to wives or friends. Others tooled leather, made enameled jewelry, printed on textiles, spun potter’s wheels, built model airplanes, developed and enlarged film, painted, worked with wood and power tools, and repaired car radios and television sets.

Visitors entered the huge workshop through a lobby and gallery showplace for soldier art and photography. The gallery was softly lit in contrast to the flouorescent lighting of the main workroom, where benches, cabinets, pottery kilns and show cases were grouped by activity.

Operated by a full-time staff of soldiers and civilians and a few part-time instructors, the opening of the crafts center was fulfillment of an idea that began in 1942 when Special Services and Dr. Boris Blau of the Tyler Art School, Temple University of Philadelphia, organized an Arts and Crafts Center at Dix to sere men facing or returning from World War II combat. In a letter received for dedication of the center on 11 June 1959, Dr. Blau wrote that the idea for a certain center born at Dix was later adopted in many hospitals and centers for the Armed Forces. He expressed his happiness that the idea did not perish as evidenced by the dedication of the Fort Dix Arts and Crafts Center.

During the late Fifties and early Sixties, for movie theaters operated on post, including the modern Timmermann Theater. These theaters were open each night with frequent changes of first-run movies.

POST EXCHANGE – PX – 1957

Post Exchange facilities expanded to include today’s main exchange, which was constructed in 1957. 

The PX, similar to any civilian department store, adequately served the needs of post personnel.

LOCAL FLOOD RELIEF – DUKW AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES

Earlier, in March 1955, more than 300 families in storm-flooded New Jersey coastal areas were evacuated from their homes to safe havens by 22 artillerymen and five amphibious vehicles from Fort Dix’ 9th Infantry Division. They were dispatched to the disaster areas of Sea Bright, Keansburg and the Highlands were more than 1,000 persons were stranded by high waters. While operators were quickly drenched in near-freezing rain and lashed by bitter winds, the huge Army DUKW amphibious vehicles covered more than 30 miles of open highway, stopping at Fort Mamouth, where they were dispatched to the flooded areas to rescue marooned families from their homes.

Again, in mid-December 1953, 24 men were alerted for a similar mission. However, the new storm narrowly missed the north Jersey coast, and the men were not needed.

Fort Dix, together with other First US Army units, supplied food, equipment and rescue teams on 20-21 August 1955 to aid civilian communities on the eastern seaboard hit by the worst floods in years. Directly responsible for rescuing scores of flood victims were two amphibious rescue teams from the 69th Division Artillery. Consisting of two DUKW’s each, the teams operated in the upstream Delaware area of Pennsylvania – around Doylestown and Upper Black Eddy – and the western part of Trenton.

In addition to the active part played by Dix troops, the post supplied hundreds of blankets, mattresses and cots to the stricken of an area extending from Camden, New Jersey to Lambertville on the upper Delaware River. Trucks also rushed 1,000 cases of C-rations to Hartford, Connecticut, for emergency feeding of flood victims. Fort Dix, together with other First US Army units, won high commendation from General Maxwell D. Taylor, Army chief of staff, for its part in disaster relief work during the floods.

AIR FORCE MATS C-118 CRASH – July 1956

A black Friday the 13th weekend struck the area in July 1956. Fort Dix troops speedily responded to emergencies, which included the crash of an Air Force MATS C-118 in the southwest area of the post during the afternoon and a freak storm which shook the northeast corner of Fort Dix Saturday afternoon.

The plane crash, which took 45 lives and injured 21 others, was responded to by alert troops, medics, military policemen and Fort Dix volunteers, all of whom abandoned weekend plans to offer aid in the tragedy.

FREAK STORM HITS BUS STATION

Another mishap occurred the next afternoon when a freak storm hit the area of the Fort Dix Bus Station, then located just inside the post entrance at Wrightstown. Swooping down on the terminal, the wind caught a portion of the roof hurling it into Fort Dix Street and causing considerable damage. Several power lines were snapped in the area and a number of drivers trapped in their vehicles until the current could be turned off. Post officials coordinated with the mayor of Wrightstown and state police to render necessary aid. Military police were called on to reroute traffic around the blowdown. Luckily, only a few civilians and no military personnel were injured.

DR. JONAS E. SALK – 1946-1954 

Dr. Jonas E. Salk, who gained world fame with his discovery of polio vaccine, headed extensive field studies at Fort Dix from 1946 until 1954. He is credited by medical authorities with a major contribution to the Army’s battle against influenza. As director of a commission on influenza, Dr. Salk tested the preventive effect of several types of influenza vaccine on hundreds of soldiers.

After months of research and complex laboratory tests, the Salk Commission, in close cooperation with the Fort Dix Army Health Center medical staff, was successful in finding a most effective combination of tested influenza vaccines now in use throughout the Armed Forces. While directing the development of better vaccine in cooperation with the Fort Dix research program, Dr. Salk also carried on his research for a polio vaccine. As success in this field came within reach, the Army released him from his contract as a consultant to the Surgeon General’s Office, and, in July 1954, the influenza study was transferred to Columbia University.

WAR AGAINST MOSQUITOES – 1953

The war against mosquitoes, initiated at Fort Dix in August 1953, reduced the number of winged nuisances by more than 85 percent, in addition to reducing the mosquito population in neighboring communities. To control mosquitoes at Dix, a team operation was necessary. First, the Preventive Medicine Service conducted insect surveys. Light traps were used nightly during the breeding season to check the types and numbers of mosquitoes in different areas of the post. Once the breeding sites were located, the Insect and Rodent Control Section of the post engineer was called to move in with powerful insecticides. The engineers then eliminated trouble spots by filling in water holes, draining ditches and clearing the underbrush.

Best evidence of the campaign’s success was offered by mosquito “traps.” During a check in 1952, the Post Surgeon’s Office said each trap had netted more than 11 mosquitoes on an average night. The 1954 average was one and a half. 

DIX DEMOLITION EXPERTS REMOVE MINES FROM BEACH

An episode charged with suspense took place on 4 November 1955, when Dix demolition experts of the 60th Ordnance Detachment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) were called to Raritan Beach, South Amboy, New Jersey. Their mission was to remove 164 anti-personnel mines jeopardizing the safety of Raritan Beach. These mines were remnants of a tremendous ammunition explosion five years earlier. They had been buried into shallow water and covered over by shifting sands. They remained hidden until November 1955, when the sea uncovered them. The mines were gently placed in a truck and taken on an extremely hazardous journey back to Fort Dix where they were exploded.

In 1955, as part of a nationwide move to strengthen civil defense units, the explosive ordnance units of Fort Dix conducted a series of lectures for 66 civilian plant safety and security officers from 59 New Jersey industries. The purpose was to develop a nucleus of explosive ordnance reconnaissance (EOR) agents. During an aerial attack, their job would be to spot and report any missiles with time fuses or duds that might land on or around their factories.

COMMUNITY CHEST FUND RAISING

During the Fifties, Fort Dix displayed its community spirit annually with participation in the Community Chest fund raising campaign. Contributions by troops and personnel, plus fund raising events featuring famous entertainers, raised $100,000 each year.

FORT DIX TV

The post’s public image was further enhanced during the Fifties by the appearance of Dix personnel on various television programs. In 1955, the all-soldier chorus of the 69th Infantry Division Band and frequently on Gary Moore’s TV show. In addition, the 69th Infantry Division Band, plus the all-soldier chorus, performed several times on Ed Sullivan’s national TV show “Toast of the Town.” The 69th Infantry Division Demonstration Platoon inactivated in December 1955, also performed on national TV several times.

In March 1956, the “Fort Dix TV Show” celebrated its second anniversary. The program was televised over station WFIL-TV, Philadelphia, on time donated by the station as a public service. The show featured musical entertainment and demonstrations furnished by Fort Dix. The year 1957 saw Fort Dix entries dominate the all-Army entertainment competition, with the winner appearing on the Ed Sullivan TV show.

ELVIS ON BASE 

When Elvis Presley was drafted, he declined to join the Army band and perform but opted instead to be a regular GI - and was trained and assigned to a tank battalion in Germany, where he met Prescilla, the daughter of an Air Force pilot who was killed when she was a baby and the step daughter of a US Air Force officer who was assigned to Germany, and later to McGuire. Flown from Germany to McGuire for discharge at Fort Dix, Elvis was met by Nancy Sinatra, and was on base for a few days to process out of the Army, generating much publicity. 

NEW ROLE - RESPONSIBLE WORLD MILITARY POWER 

During the post-war era and Fifties, Fort Dix reflected the new role of the United States as a responsible world military power. America, confronted by a cold war, was not allowed to disband her military might and retreat again into isolation. Thus, Fort Dix did not stagnate into the ghost town it had been after the Great War of ’17-18.

The US needed a large standing Army, and Dix became a permanent training center to help provide the necessary troops. By 1960, Dix’ role as a concrete and steel training center was accepted as a vital 20th Century institution. At the close of the Fifties, Fort Dix had lost much of its make-shift World War II appearance. A smoothly operated training machine, it reacted as a seismograph to every tremor in the East-West shift of power.