Camp Kilmer

Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in preparation for transport to the European Theater of Operations in World War II.

The post was activated in June 1942[1] and the first unit to arrive at Camp Kilmer was the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment, a complement of 1,239 enlisted men and 52 officers.

The camp primarily consisted of ten "Disposition Areas", or sets of barracks in which units and soldiers were assigned while awaiting transportation to Europe.

[2] At Camp Kilmer troops sent personal effects home, received medical injections and the supplies needed before loading onto transport ships for travel to the European Theater of Operations.

Camp Kilmer also housed a maintenance and repair facility supporting the Nike/Hercules missile sites in the greater New York metropolitan area.

This facility included large, armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines and conventional warheads were stored and maintained.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency created a temporary headquarters at the facility.

Areas surrounding the former base now belong to Piscataway Township or to Rutgers University and many existent buildings and facilities were clearly part of the former Camp Kilmer.

Portions of the World War II-era camp are still used by the Edison Job Corps, including some of the original barracks, the chapel and post flag pole.

The Edison Job Corps Center (Excess Land Sale Only) is on a High Value Asset List of fourteen properties that the United States Public Buildings Reform Board has recommended for disposal.