LOCATION: NWS Earle is located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, about midway between Philadelphia (76 miles) and New York (47 miles). Earle’s main base (Mainside) encompasses 10, 160 acres 15 miles west of the Central Jersey Shore, and boarders the townships of Colts Neck, Howell, and Wall, and the borough of Tinto Falls. The majority of Mainside is within Colts Neck Township, hence the command address. Twelve miles to the north of Mainside is Earle’s Waterfront facility, in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township. Earle’s Waterfront pier complex extends 2.5 miles into Raritan Bay and is recognized as the line of demarcation between Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Connecting Mainside and the Waterfront in Normandy Road, a 15 mile Navy controlled rail and road corridor.

Our Mission: NWS Earle’s mission is to receive, store, segregate, and issue ordnance for all Carrier and Expeditionary Strike Groups of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Earle is also the strategic U.S. ordinance transshipment facility for the Department of Defense.

About Us: In support of our Carrier Strike Group ordnance mission, Earle is the operational support base for five Military Sealift Command combat logistics ships: USNS SUPPLY (T-AOE-6), USNS (T, AOE-8), USS LEWIS AND CLARK (T-AKE-1), USNS SACAGAWEA (T-AKE-2), and USNS ROBERT E. PEARY (T-AKE-5) \. Encompassing almost 12,000 acres in total, Earle’s ordinance mission is supported by 110 miles of railroad track, five locomotives, and 303 pieces of rolling stock. Our waterfront pier complex is comprised of a two - mile trestle which connects to three piers, and is one of the longest finger piers in the world. At pier’s end, the tip of Sandy Hook is closer than the Leonardo shore.

Our People: We are a combined workforce of over 1, 600 civilian, military, and contractor personnel. We support 250 personnel and dependents in our base housing.

Tenants: NWS Earle is home to over 20 tenant commands, the largest belonging in Navy Munitions Command. Navy Munitions Command CONUS East Division Detachment Earle performs the station's primary mission, providing ordnance to the Fleet, research, development, test and evaluation, as well as acquisition and life- cycle support, of ordnance containers and handling equipment. Earle is also home to Military Sealift Command’s Underway Replacement Training Center, Navy Explosive Ordnance Center Disposal Mobile Unit Twelve Detachment Earle, as well as over 300 Navy reservists who drill out of the Navy Operational Support Center at our Waterfront. Earle’s Waterfront is also home to the Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environment Test Tank (OHMSETT), operated by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, OHMSETT’s 2.6 million gallon tank in a one of a kind facility for full scale oil spill response department of testing, research, and training.

History: Long before the opening hostilities of the Second World War, High ranking officers of both the Army and Navy realized it would eventually be necessary to establish a base for the loading of explosives somewhere in the Port of New York, focal point for all important rail lines of the Country. By 1943, the need had become urgent. The declaration of war had vastly increased shipments of explosives, the bulk of the loading falling upon Cavern Point Army Depot in Jersey City, NJ. During both World wars. Cavern Point’s proximity to key rail networks and the ports of New York and New Jersey made it invaluable for the marshalling of troops. Munitions and materials heading for the front lines in Europe. However, because of its proximity to densely populated areas, and proximity to “military facilities,” Cavern Point was considered an extreme hazard. Studying the problem, the Army and the Navy reached the same conclusion; the south side of Sandy hook Bay was the ideal strategic location. Though sights were initially set on Port Monmouth, due to the costs, a coastal site in the Leonardo section of Middletown was elected, along with a large unimproved area of Monmouth County 12 miles to the south. Connecting th two areas would be an almost direct rail and road corridor now called Normandy Road. Collectively, the facility provided the desired proximity to commercial rail facilities. New York City, New York Harbor and the open-ocean; yet was remote in dense populations, bridges, tunnels, and shipping channels. Initially estimated to cost $25 million, a reduced $14 million plan was approved by the Secretary of the Navy and on August 2, 1943. construction began on what was to Naval Ammunition Depot Earle- named in honor of Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance during the First World War. NAD Earle was commissioned on December 13, 1943 by which time the War and Navy Departments had collaborated to expand the project to include facilities for Army ammunition. Substantially complete by June 1, 1944, the cost for NAD Earle ultimately totaled $51.8 million. Quickly the focal point for ordnance shipping, NAD Earle loaded the majority of ammunition used by the Allies for the invasion of Normandy, an achievement for which Normandy road is named. Earle continued to develop after World War II, keeping pace with the changing needs of the Navy and DOD during the Cold War. In 1974 Earle’s name was officially changed to Naval Weapon Station Earle. In subsequent years, Earle proved its strategic worth as the DOD transshipment site for ordnance used in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.