State Partnership Program

Video by Airman 1st Class Briana Cespedes

BOMARC Missile Site Accident History

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

Jan. 1, 2019 | 10:50

The Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center missile site on then McGuire Air Force base was established in 1959 and stayed operational until 1972. This was the first operational BOMARC site among 13 built in North America, to include two in Canada. On June 7, 1960 at approximately 3 p.m., a fire erupted from inside one the shelters that housed a BOMARC missile. The Air Force responded after finding plutonium contamination from the accident. The historical BOMARC missile site was remediated from 2001 to 2002 to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy standard. The site still stands today, clear of contamination.