87th Air Base Wing
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Active | 1952–1953; 2009–present |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Type | Air base wing |
Role | Installation support |
Size | 3,100 personnel |
Part of | Air Mobility Command |
Garrison/HQ | Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst |
Motto(s) | Ut Unum Vincere Latin Win as One |
Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
Commanders | |
Current commander |
Colonel Frederick D. Thaden |
Army Deputy Installation Commander | Colonel Martin F. Klein |
Navy Deputy Installation Commander | Captain Christopher Bergen |
Command Chief | CMSgt Craig A. Poling |
Insignia | |
87th Air Base Wing emblem (approved 3 August 2010) |
The 87th Air Base Wing is the host wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The wing provides installation support to commands at McGuire Air Force Base, Fort Dix, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is the Department of Defense's (DoD) only tri-service joint base that consolidated Air Force, Army, and Navy installations. Base officials refer to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as "JB MDL".
Before assuming host duties at JB MDL in 2009, the wing had been active as a reserve troop carrier wing during the Korean War. It was inactivated less than a year after it was formed, when the 434th Troop Carrier Wing was released from active duty and assumed the 87th Wing's personnel and equipment.
The wing headquarters is located on the McGuire Air Force Base portion of the joint base. The 42,000 acres (170 km2) large joint base is located 18 miles southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, and is home to 80 unique DoD mission commanders providing a wide range of combat capability. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is also home to several federal agencies' offices: the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture.