Effort Will Create 100 New Jobs
MILLVILLE – Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney today joined with military, federal, state and local officials to officially open Boeing’s new Chinook helicopter modification facility at Millville Airport.
The 80,000 square-foot facility comprising two hangars will be the modification site for the U.S. Army’s CH-47F Chinook helicopters. Boeing Global Services and Support will prepare newly manufactured helicopters for troop and supply transport operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army aims to see 105 helicopters from Boeing’s Pennsylvania manufacturing plant undergo necessary wartime modifications – including the installation of defense systems for infrared guided missiles – at the Millville facility.
“This facility will not only benefit the nation by protecting our men and women in uniform, but will also provide a strong economic boost South Jersey needs,” said Sweeney. “On top of being one of the country’s most historic military airfields, Millville Airport also is synonymous with great engineering. Knowing that the helicopters our military is depending on in wartime will have undergone their final work here is a nod to everything that Millville Airport has stood for over the past 70 years.”
Once fully operational, the facility is expected to create approximately 100 new jobs. Under the four-year lease agreement, the hangars also will provide office, storage and interior aircraft parking space.
The Army’s selection of Millville Airport as its Chinook modification site continues the airfield’s long history of national service. Millville Army Air Field was dedicated by the U.S. War Department (the precursor to the Department of Defense) in 1941 and quickly became the prime training ground for P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. It continues to be recognized as “America’s First Defense Airport.”