Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base, located on Washington’s south Puget Sound in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, have almost a century of military service.

Camp Lewis was established in 1917 and became Fort Lewis in 1927. McChord Air Force Base started as McChord Army Air Field in 1938 and became McChord Air Force base when the Air Force became a separate military service in 1947.

The U.S. Army’s I Corps is the primary unit on Fort Lewis and the U.S. Air Force 62nd Airlift Wing is the primary unit on McChord Air Force Base. They join more than 30 different units from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Reserve and National Guard, and Department of Defense agencies on the two bases.

In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission designated Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base as a joint base, one of 12 joint bases in the Department of Defense.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord will become operational on January 31, 2010. When the transition period is completed on September 30, we will be one base with a common boundary, an Army joint base commander, an Air Force deputy commander, and base services managed and provided by the Army.

We will be the largest military installation on the west coast of the United States with more than 415,000 acres, including Yakima Training Center in central Washington. We will support an on-base population and in neighboring communities of more than 100,000 people including military personnel, families, civilian and contract employees, and retirees and their families.

Throughout the implementation process and after the joint base begins operation, our focus stays on supporting our warfighters. Everything we do will preserve or enhance our ability to support national defense missions. Army and Air Force units will continue to be assigned and commanded by their military services, performing separate missions, and be supported by the joint base.

Creating the joint base is a complex process and requires us to consolidate all support services for our military units, our families and our retired community. When we start operating as a joint base, our transition will be seamless and everyone will be able to continue working and living without any interruption in base services.

Named after Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition, Fort Lewis is one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States. It is located on the south end of Puget Sound about half way between Tacoma and Olympia.