Team MDL cleans up

Published May 20, 2015
By Airman 1st Class Joshua King
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- Service members have a wide range of jobs and responsibilities, especially on a base as large as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, but for a few hours on May 15, they all had the same job - base clean up.

Colonels, chief master sergeants, privates, Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers alike, all spent the morning picking up trash, cleaning debris, weeding and trimming vegetation on the base's 42,000 acre property.

"While [these things] may seem like minuscule tasks, it is a rather large problem on an installation this size, with over 40 thousand service members, civilians, and visitors each day," said 2nd Lt. Desmond Gosier, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental element deputy chief. "It is also important because it is a great opportunity for members of every squadron/unit, tenant and Mission Partner to take pride in where they work and live as well as give a boost to morale."

While base maintenance is taken care of through contracts and service members on the Base Appearance Team detail, with a 42,000 acre installation, the work is never done and it is each community member's responsibility.

"It's great to come out and clean up the base," said Staff Sgt. James Mitchell, 87th Comptroller Squadron deputy disbursing officer. "I'm proud of working on this base and helping clean it up."

In order to continue to keep the base clean there will be more days like this in the future.

"The plan is to have a base cleanup day once every other month throughout the spring and summer months," said Gosier.