Lakehurst Maxfield Field

History

Lakehurst Maxfield Field's history begins as a munitions-testing site for the Imperial Russian Army in 1916. It was then acquired by the United States Army as Camp Kendrick during World War I. The United States Navy purchased the property in 1921 for use as an airship station and renamed it Naval Air Station Lakehurst.

The United States Navy's lighter-than-air program was conducted at Lakehurst from its inception through the 1930s. NAS Lakehurst was the center of airship development in the United States and housed three of the U.S. Navy's four rigid airships, (ZR-1) Shenandoah, (ZR-3) Los Angeles, and (ZRS-4) Akron. A number of the airship hangars built to berth these ships still survive. Hangar One, in which the Shenandoah was built, held the record for the largest "single room" in the world. According to an article in the January, 1925 issue of National Geographic Magazine, the airship hangar "could house three Woolworth Buildings lying side by side." The base also housed many Navy non-rigid airships, otherwise knowns as "blimps," in several squadrons before, during, and after World War II. This included the U.S. Navy's ZPG-3W (EZ-1C), which was deactivated in September 1962. In 2006, after a 44-year hiatus, the U.S. Navy resumed airship operations at Lakehurst with the MZ-3

The installation is probably most famous as the site of the LZ 129 Hindenburg disaster on 6 May 1937. Despite the notoriety and well-documented nature of this incident, today there is a simple memorial that denotes the location of the crash at then-NAS Lakehurst in the field behind the large airship hangars on base. A ground marker, painted black, and rimmed by a bright yellow painted chain, locates where the gondola of the German zeppelin Hindenburg hit the ground.

Aviation Training

Lakehurst conducts the unique mission of supporting and developing the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment and Support Equipment for naval aviation. Since the 1950s, aviation boatswain's mates have been trained at Lakehurst to operate catapults and arresting systems on aircraft carriers using rail guided jet donkeys pushing dead loads at 200 knots tested carrier arresting gear cables and tailhooks. The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and the Advanced Arresting Gear system that will replace the existing steam catapults and the Mk-7 arresting gear are being developed and tested at Lakehurst at full-scale shipboard representative test facilities here.

The former NAS Lakehurst also hosted the U.S. Navy's first helicopter squadrons, HU-1 (later HC-1) and HU-2 (later HC-2); the "A" and "C" enlisted training schools for the Aerographer's Mate (AG), Aviation Boatswain Mate (AB, ABE, ABF, ABH), and Parachute Rigger / Aircrew Survival Equipmentman (PR) ratings until their transfer to other Naval Air Technical Training Centers; and an Overhaul & Repair (O&R) facility for fixed-wing aircraft, the forerunner of the former Naval Air Rework Facilities and Naval Aviation Depots (NADEPs) now known as Fleet Readiness Centers (FRCs).

Today the base is used for various Naval Aviation development programs. Lakehurst Maxfield's main airfield has two 5,000 foot runways under its own control tower, while a separate 13,000 foot test runway equipped with a separate control tower and pavement-mounted catapults and arresting gear for testing aircraft carrier suitability of new naval aircraft and new flight deck systems is located approximately a mile to the northwest.

Tenant Organizations

Lakehurst is home to Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, which is the largest command on the field, followed by Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 64, operating the Navy Reserve Force's C-130T Hercules.

In addition, the field is host to a several CNATTU schools, the New Jersey Army National Guard's aviation unit, as well as other tenant organisations from Ocean County, the state of New Jersey, United States Air Force, New Jersey Air National Guard, United States Public Health Service and the United States Department of Justice.

Naval Support Activity Lakehurst

Naval Support Activity Lakehurst is the United States Navy element representing USN and USMC equities for Department of the Navy-specific asset and resources at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst (JBMDL), and administrative control over Naval Personnel that are assigned to units assigned to the base.

Background

When the United States Department of Defense announced that Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst would be affected by a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action, merging it with two neighboring military bases, McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix, it establishing Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey., the nations only tri-service installation. Each installations major support services such as MWR, Legal, medical/dental clinics, and exchange services roles transitioned over to either Air Force or joint operation. However, both Lakehurst (and for that matter, Fort Dix, the other third of the installation) kept several service-specific support services for their personnel. With the disestablishment of NAES Lakehurst as a separate activity from JBMDL, NSA Lakehurst became the official sponsor for these activities.

The position as the Commanding Officer, NSA Lakehurst is the primary Deputy Commander of JBMDL, and reports to Commander, Naval Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA) for all administrative and logistical concerns, and to the Joint Base Commander for operational concerns.