I don't think Picatinny has a traditional live fire range. It is way too small a base to fire arty there. The Article does imply that they did testing at Picatinny, so they must have some sort of indoor range or test apparatus for allowing the firing of these large caliber systems without needing a large/distant impact area.
OT: Joint Base Dix, etc weapons testing - why NJ?
- Thread starter GoodOl'Rutgers
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If the Russians or Chicoms only go after the cities like Philly and NYC, I am pretty safe here at the shore from everything but a Czarbomba. If they go for Earle and the Joint Base I will be attending games glowing in the dark.
For the record, Trap Rock is not in South Brunswick. That side of Rt27 is Franklin from New Brunswick all the way to Kingston/Princeton.Trap Rock is in South Brunswick. Very close to the southern Monty border, but well buffered via the D&R Canal and Millstone River. I am talking about Gibraltar in Belle Mead. It's off of 601 at the foothills of the Sourland Preserve. Lots of whining about that one.
That said, my house in So Brunswick shakes whenever they blast, which is usually 11am on the dot. Have the cracks in the foundation to prove it. Never knew about it til we moved here and took down the cheap paneling in the basement. Ugh
Yeah, that's right. The Trap Rock entrance on 27 is on the Franklin side of the road. The quarry almost closed a while back. The plan was for the state to use it as a new reservoir, but the plans fell through. We got a lot of their land in Monty preserved, but it wasn't actively used for quarry operations.
I remember SB residents freaking out over the proposed Transco compressor station (5-6 years ago). They tried to rally Monty residents, but it really wasn't our fight.
Because Fort Dix was a remote combined arms training facility as recently 20 years ago, and was built before Jackson was nothing more than chicken farms and the headwaters of the Metecondck. The Pine Barrens were as remote as some those rural states your refer to once upon a time ago.
It's on them for buying there.
I felt it on Saturday and was wondering what it was. Thought I was going nuts, kept looking outside after each one like WTF was that. Now I know it wasn’t just me. Glad I read this thread
To all the people saying YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THERE...
First, I don't live there but know people who do.
Everyone I know down there says things have gotten worse.. louder and more frequent.. in peacetime. Surely for the 20 years prior where the worst you'd hear is a sonic boom or the big cargo planes droning over you on occasion, some residents are wondering what changed?
And, yeah, I am curious as to why that complex has become so active of late.
First, I don't live there but know people who do.
Everyone I know down there says things have gotten worse.. louder and more frequent.. in peacetime. Surely for the 20 years prior where the worst you'd hear is a sonic boom or the big cargo planes droning over you on occasion, some residents are wondering what changed?
And, yeah, I am curious as to why that complex has become so active of late.
afaik, they do a lot of engineering at Picatinny. I recall visiting some cousins.. my uncle worked there as an engineer.. this is in the Vietnam days... I recall asking him about what he was working on.. and he described any number of ways mines kill people. The description of the one that pops into the air before exploding made me cross "Marine" off my future plans at the ripe age of 7 or 8.
I think I read something about Picatinny doing robot/drone stuff now. IIRC the story had something to do with Ft. Monmouth closing.
When my wife and I first bought the house, we were blissfully unaware (beyond the "oh, and sometimes you'll hear the rumbles from the base on training days..."). Then one night we thought someone let T-Rex out of his pen. Every 20-30 seconds...THUD....THUD...
The next morning while having coffee we watched a squadron of Chinooks and Blackhawks fly over the house ferrying the Massachusetts Army NG back home after a weekend of live fire howitzer training.
I heard “Fortunate Son” playing in the background when I read that part.
2 Saturdays ago my sons High school ROTC unit had their annual military ball at Picatinny.
April, May, June always big booms. It's always been like that. Plus I'm sure advances in ordinance over the last 20 years has created explosives with more boom and compression.
Yes, it's Sea Girt. It's been more frequent the past week or so. I've been hearing what sounds like automatic weapons.
Just getting ready for the Bennis invasion next week?
Can you tell me what town or how I can get more info? We have two crossings in our town and quiet zones have been discussed but it seems complicated and expensive.
Probably need to do a direct message or conversation for all the details. The overall process f'ing blows. Typical government. Some info:
- Gotta work with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to figure out what is needed at the crossing to qualify as a quiet zone.
- Township creates the design and the FRA approves
- Township needs to foot the bill for the work
- However, the owner of the tracks has to conduct the work and they own the final product (i.e., the gating system and any curbing/medians).
- Also, even after approval of the plan, FRA gives the track owner up to 2 years to complete the work
- Once the work is completed, FRA does the inspection and certifies that the new crossing is compliant with quiet zone standards.
- After this, railroad maps, books, signs are updated.....which seems to take 6-9 months
- Only then do the horns stop blowing (or it is more accurate to say, the horns start to taper and then eventually stop)
From start to finish, this takes 3-4 years to complete. There are also some other weird rules around crossings that are very close together and how they can be "linked" with improvements, etc.
If you want to dive more into this topic, I can connect you with our township administrator. He knows all the gory details of the process!
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Was it this past Saturday? I was that show, by far the loudest show on the calendar for the summer stage this year.
As long as they set up a forward operating base on the correct side of the “Barbarian Gate”, I’m cool.
Keep those bennies out!As long as they set up a forward operating base on the correct side of the “Barbarian Gate”, I’m cool.
It was The Offspring a few nights ago. If I remember, it was humid and still, so the sound travels
Thanks very much T2K, much appreciated. I won't pursue further now but I know it has been discussed in my town and I thought maybe when I retire in 5 years or so it could be a project to keep me busy.Probably need to do a direct message or conversation for all the details. The overall process f'ing blows. Typical government. Some info:
- Gotta work with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to figure out what is needed at the crossing to qualify as a quiet zone.
- Township creates the design and the FRA approves
- Township needs to foot the bill for the work
- However, the owner of the tracks has to conduct the work and they own the final product (i.e., the gating system and any curbing/medians).
- Also, even after approval of the plan, FRA gives the track owner up to 2 years to complete the work
- Once the work is completed, FRA does the inspection and certifies that the new crossing is compliant with quiet zone standards.
- After this, railroad maps, books, signs are updates.....which seems to take 6-9 months
- Only then do the horns stop blowing (or it is more accurate to say, the horns start to taper and then eventually stop)
From start to finish, this takes 3-4 years to complete. There are also some other weird rules around crossing that are very close together and how they can be "linked" with improvements, etc.
If you want to dive more into this topic, I can connect you with our township administrator. He knows all the gory details of the process!
BTW, something I forgot to mention. For those of you that think the explosions from the 155mm Arty at Ft Dix are loud, it is quite likely that they are using training rounds and not war rounds. Training rounds only have about 1/7th of the explosives as a full up war round. So as loud as it can seem, it could always be 7 times louder.....
Nice, Congrats. Rutgers ROTC used to go to Gibbs Hall at Ft. Monmouth. Not sure where they go these days?
To me this is the sound of freedom. Let it ring baby!
Tactical nuke?...that escalated quicklySpoken like a true red leg.
A tactical nuke here, a tactical nuke there. Pretty soon you have a small nuclear armageddon problem.
I grew up near Fort Dix and the shelling and stuff would gently rattle the windows on the weekends. I was also in one of the Flight paths for McGuire AFB. I didn’t really mind it TBH in fact it was comforting in a way to have a base so close.
People and noise complaints about something that pre-existed them, it happens everywhere. It reminds me of the joke tour guides tell at Windsor castle just outside of London. As planes approaching Heathrow roar overhead on their final approach in an otherwise serene setting, Brits will wonder “why don’t they do something about the noise” but an American will ask “why did they build the castle under Heathrow’s flight path?” 
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I would have reminded the jokester if it weren't for the Americans he would be speaking German.People and noise complaints about something that pre-existed them, it happens everywhere. It reminds me of the joke tour guides tell at Windsor castle just outside of London. As planes approaching Heathrow roar overhead on their final approach in an otherwise serene setting, Brits will wonder “why don’t they do something about the noise” but an American will ask “why did they build the castle Uber Heathrow’s flight path?”
mild complaint about military explosions +two pages of people complaining about people who complain = this thread
And the state of NJ fought to keep the bases open because they were slated to close all three under the base realignment plan started in the 1980’s. That is why all three bases share services.
I have lived in Jackson for almost 50 years. Anyone who is saying this is out of the ordinary is new to town. This is how it has always been. Nothing new at all.
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