The 87th Air Base Wing is the host wing at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst (JB MDL), New Jersey and its headquarters are on the McGuire Air Force Base portion of the Joint Base. 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.
Before assuming host duties at JB MDL in 2009, the wing had been active as an Air Force 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 large joint base is located 18 miles southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, and is home to 80 unique DOD activities. 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.
The 87th Mission Support Group supports the wing mission by maintaining an expeditionary force posture. In garrison, the group prepares the wing to deploy, bed down and sustain forward operations. At JB MDL and in deployed locations the group provides facilities, services, logistics management, contracting, force protection, fire protection, crisis action planning and response, communications, passenger and cargo movement, and personnel management.
Components
87th Communications Squadron
87th Contracting Squadron
87th Logistics Readiness Squadron
87th Security Forces Squadron
87th Force Support Squadron 3 March 2009 – present
The 400-member 87th Medical Group operates a multi-specialty outpatient clinic. Its mission is to train mission-ready medics, deliver a medically ready operational force and ensure a healthy base community.