Why Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Is Suddenly in the Spotlight: New Mission, Community Impact & What It Means for You

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County, New Jersey, briefly entered a base-wide lockdown around 11 a.m. Tuesday after several callers reported gunfire inside the installation. Within 45 minutes security forces lifted the order when investigators confirmed the sounds came from a scheduled weapons-qualification training exercise and that no active shooter was involved. Base officials used Facebook and the AtHoc emergency-alert system to instruct the more than 42,000 service members, civilian employees and families on post to “take cover” until first-response teams cleared the scene. All gates were sealed, and local law-enforcement agencies from Burlington and Ocean counties established traffic checkpoints along Route 68 and County Road 547 to keep motorists away from the tri-service installation, which hosts Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Space Force units. No injuries or property damage were reported. “The lockdown was issued out of an abundance of caution; our integrated training calendar will be reviewed to prevent future confusion,” Col. James O’Donnell, 87th Air Base Wing commander, said in a statement. Normal flight operations for the 305th Air Mobility Wing and routine activities at Fort Dix ranges resumed by 12:30 p.m. WHY THIS MATTERS • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is the only Department of Defense installation that combines Air Mobility Command, Army Support Activity and Naval Air Warfare Center resources, making any security alert a regional concern for South-Central New Jersey residents. • The base is a critical staging hub for aeromedical evacuation and refueling missions along the Eastern Seaboard; temporary closures can ripple through military air-traffic schedules. WHAT LOCAL COMMUNITIES SHOULD KNOW • Expect intermittent noise over the next week as live-fire drills continue on the Dix impact area. • The base’s public affairs office asks residents to report suspicious activity to 609-754-6001 and to monitor @JointBaseMDL on social media for real-time updates. BACKGROUND Established in 2009 through BRAC consolidation, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst spans 42,000 acres across Burlington and Ocean counties and pumps an estimated $6.9 billion into New Jersey’s economy annually. The installation last enacted a precautionary lockdown in April 2023 during a separate training mishap; that incident also ended without injuries. Today’s swift all-clear underscores the installation’s layered security posture and the importance of public awareness when routine military exercises are underway.