Fort Dix Fort Dix , the common name for the Dix unit of Joint Base McGuire - Dix - Lakehurst , is a former United States Army post ( now Army Support Activity under jurisdiction of the United States Air Force ' s 87 ABW ) located approximately south - southeast of Trenton , New Jersey . Dix is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Reserve Command ( USARC ) . As of the 2010 United States Census , the Fort Dix census - designated place ( CDP ) had a total population of 7 , 716 , of which 5 , 951 were in New Hanover Township , 1 , 765 were in Pemberton Township and none were in Springfield Township ( though portions of the CDP are included there ) . Fort Dix , established in 1917 , was consolidated with two adjoining U . S . Air Force and Navy facilities to became part of Joint Base McGuire - Dix - Lakehurst ( JB MDL ) on 1 October 2009 . However , it remains commonly known as Fort Dix as of 2012 . Overview . The host unit at Dix is the United States Air Force 87th Air Base Wing ( 87 ABW ) . The 87 ABW provides installation management to all of JB MDL . JB MDL Dix is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Reserve Command ( USARC ) . The facility originated on 16 July 1917 as Camp Dix , named in honor of Major General John Adams Dix , a veteran of the War of 1812 and the American Civil War , and a former United States Senator , Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of New York . Guide to Army Post | publisher = The Stackpole Company , July 1966 Dix has a history of mobilizing , training and demobilizing Soldiers from as early as World War I through the present day . In 1978 , the first female recruits entered basic training at Fort Dix . In 1991 , Dix trained Kuwaiti civilians in basic military skills so they could take part in their country ' s liberation . Dix ended its active Army training mission in 1988 due to Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations . It began a new mission of mobilizing , deploying and demobilizing Soldiers and providing training areas for Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers . History . Fort Dix is named for Major General John Adams Dix , a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War . Construction began in June 1917 . Camp Dix , as it was known at the time , was a training and staging ground for units during World War I . The camp became a demobilization center after the war . Between the World Wars , Camp Dix was a reception , training and discharge center for the Civilian Conservation Corps . Camp Dix became Fort Dix on March 8 , 1939 , and the installation became a permanent Army post . During and after World War II the fort served the same purpose as in the first World War . It served as a training and staging ground during the war and a demobilization center after the war . On July 15 , 1947 , Fort Dix became a Basic Training Center and the home of the 9th Infantry Division . In 1954 , the 9th moved out and the 69th Infantry Division made the fort home until it was deactivated on March 16 , 1956 . During the Vietnam War rapid expansion took place . A mock Vietnam village was constructed and soldiers received Vietnam - specific training before being deployed . Since Vietnam , Fort Dix has sent soldiers to Operation Desert Shield , Desert Storm , Bosnia , Afghanistan , and Iraq . U . S . Coast Guard site . The Atlantic Strike Team ( AST ) of the U . S . Coast Guard is based at Fort Dix . As part of the , the AST is responsible for responding to oil pollution and hazardous materials release incidents to protect public health and the environment . Federal Correctional Institution . Fort Dix is also home to Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution , the largest single federal prison in America . It is a low security installation for male inmates located within the military installation . As of November 19 , 2009 it housed 4 , 310 inmates , and a minimum - security satellite camp housed an additional 426 . Inmates use plastic pouches of mackerel as commodity money . Mission realignment . Knowing that Fort Dix was on a base closure list the U . S . Air Force attempted to save the U . S . Army post during 1987 . The USAF moved the Security Police Air Base Ground Defence school from Camp Bullis Texas to Dix in the fall of 1987 . It was eventually realized that it was not cost effective to put 50 - 100 S . P . trainees on a commercial flight from San Antonio , Texas to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania every couple of weeks , so the school was later moved back to Camp Bullis Texas . Fort Dix was an early casualty of the first Base Realignment and Closure process in the early 1990s , losing the basic - training mission that had introduced new recruits to military life since 1917 . But Fort Dix advocates attracted Army Reserve interest in keeping the post as a training reservation . With the reserves , and millions for improvements , Fort Dix actually has grown again to employ 3 , 000 . As many as 15 , 000 troops train there on weekends , and the post has been a major mobilization point for reserve and National Guard troops since the September 11 , 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington , D . C . Fort Dix has completed its realignment from an individual training center to a FORSCOM Power Projection Platform for the Northeastern United States under the command and control of the United States Army Reserve Command . Primary missions include being a center of excellence for training , mobilizing and deploying Army Reserve and National Guard units ; providing regional base operations support to on - post and off - post active and reserve component units of all services ; and providing a high - quality community environment , including 848 housing units for service members and their families . Fort Dix supported more than 1 . 1 million man - days of training in 1998 . A daily average of more than 13 , 500 persons live or work within the garrison and its tenant organizations . Fort Dix subinstallations include the Charles E . Kelly Support Facility in Oakdale , Pennsylvania and the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area in Ayer , Massachusetts . 2005 Realignments . In 2005 , the United States Department of Defense announced that Fort Dix would be affected by a Base Realignment and Closure . It will be merged with two neighboring military bases , McGuire Air Force Base and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst , establishing Joint Base McGuire - Dix - Lakehurst , N . J . This will be the first base of its kind in the United States . The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13 , 2005 . The proposal recommends closing 33 major United States military base s and the " realignment " ( either enlarging or shrinking ) of 29 others . The justifications made are , in part : The BRAC recommendations directly affecting Fort Dix are : Attack plots . 1970 . In 1970 , the Weather Underground planned to detonate a nail bomb at a noncommissioned officers dance at the base to " bring the war home " and " give the United States and the rest of the world a sense that this country was going to be completely unlivable if the United States continued in Vietnam . " The plot failed the morning of the dance when a bomb under construction exploded at the group ' s Greenwich Village , New York townhouse , killing three members of the group . 2007 . On May 8 , 2007 , six individuals , mostly ethnic Albanian Muslims , were arrested for plotting an attack against Fort Dix and the soldiers within . The men are believed to be Islamic radicals who may have been inspired by the ideologies of Al - Qaeda . The men allegedly planned to storm the fort with automatic weapons in an attempt to kill as many soldiers as possible . The men faced charges of conspiracy to kill U . S . Soldiers . 1969 stockade riot . On June 5 , 1969 , 250 men imprisoned in the military stockade for being AWOL , rioted in an effort to expose the unsanitary conditions . " Ultimate Weapon " monument . In 1957 , Specialist 4 Steven Goodman , assisted by PFC Stuart Scherr , made a small clay model of an infantryman during their leisure hours . Their tabletop model was spotted by a public relations officer who brought it to the attention of Deputy Post Commander Bruce Clarke , who suggested the construction of a larger statue to serve as a symbol of Fort Dix . Goodman and Scherr , who had studied industrial arts together in New York City and were classified by the Army as illustrator s , undertook the project under the management of Sergeant Major Bill Wright . Operating on a limited budget , and using old railroad track , Bondo and other available items , they created a 12 - foot figure of a charging infantryman in full battle dress , representing no particular race or ethnicity . By 1988 , years of weather had taken a toll on the statue , and a restoration campaign raised over $ 100 , 000 . Under the auspices of Goodman and the Fort Dix chapter of the Association of the United States Army , the statue was recast in bronze and its concrete base replaced by black granite . The statue stands 25 feet tall at the entrance to Infantry Park . Its inscription reads Geography . Fort Dix is located at ( 40 . 005611 , - 74 . 611072 ) . According to the United States Census Bureau , Fort Dix had a total area of 10 . 389 square miles ( 26 . 909 km ) , of which , 10 . 262 square miles ( 26 . 580 km ) of it is land and 0 . 127 square miles ( 0 . 329 km ) of it ( 1 . 22 % ) is water . Demographics . Census 2000 . As of the 2000 United States Census there were 7 , 464 people , 843 households , and 714 families residing in the CDP . The population density was 663 . 9 people per square mile ( 256 . 4 / km ) . There were 1 , 106 housing units at an average density of 98 . 4 homes per square mile ( 38 . 0 / km ) . The racial makeup of the CDP was 58 . 4 % White , 35 . 6 % African American , 0 . 4 % Native American , 1 . 3 % Asian , 0 . 1 % Pacific Islander , 2 . 5 % from other races , and 1 . 7 % from two or more races . Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22 . 8 % of the population . There were 843 households , of which 63 . 6 % had children under the age of 18 living with them , 75 . 2 % were married couples living together , 6 . 8 % had a female householder with no husband present , and 15 . 3 % were non - families . 14 . 7 % of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older . The average household size was 3 . 06 and the average family size was 3 . 39 . In the CDP the population was spread out with 13 . 6 % under the age of 18 , 8 . 1 % from 18 to 24 , 62 . 1 % from 25 to 44 , 15 . 1 % from 45 to 64 , and 1 . 1 % who were 65 years of age or older . The median age was 34 years . For every 100 females there were 491 . 0 males . For every 100 females age 18 and over , there were 734 . 5 males . The median income for a household in the CDP was $ 41 , 397 , and the median income for a family was $ 41 , 705 . Males had a median income of $ 31 , 657 versus $ 22 , 024 for females . The per capita income for the CDP was $ 10 , 543 . About 2 . 5 % of families and 3 . 2 % of the population were below the poverty line , including 3 . 2 % of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over . Transportation . New Jersey Transit provides service to and from Philadelphia on the 317 route . Pop culture references . Fort Dix was the setting home base in Cinemaware ' s 1988 C64 and Nintendo video game Rocket Ranger based on an alternate World War II scenario , where the Nazis discovered lunarium which could allow them to win the war unless a young American scientist stops them . Fort Dix is mentioned several times in the TV show MASH as a former duty station of Colonel Potter , Commander of MASH 4077 .