JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Two historic Lowcountry military installations merged and were officially inaugurated as the Department of Defense military installation Joint Base Charleston, Oct. 1.

The inauguration of the joint base marks its full operational capability and is the final step in the stand-up of JB CHS. The two bases achieved Initial Operating Capability Jan. 31, 2010, after the activation of its host unit, the 628th Air Base Wing, Jan. 8, 2010.

IOC was the start of the last phase of merging Charleston AFB with Naval Weapons Station Charleston as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Program. A total of 12 joint bases across the Department of Defense will be established through the program. Three of the 12 will be hosted by subordinate Air Force units of Air Mobility Command, one of which is JB CHS's 628 ABW.

The role of the 628 ABW is to provide host unit duties for the tenant commands on the two main geographic areas of the JB CHS - the Air Base and Weapons Station. The air base wing will provide base support for approximately 80,000 personnel, including active-duty and Reserve military members, civilian government employees and contractors, military family members and retirees.

Services provided by the 628 ABW include base support provisions, such as housing and facilities maintenance, security, childcare, public works, communications, finance, logistics, medical support, personnel, public affairs, legal, food service, contracts and recreation.

The restructuring of the base has also positioned naval port operations for the Weapons Station under the Air Force's 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron and created a new command support unit, Naval Support Activity Charleston. NSA CHS is commanded by the JB CHS deputy commander, Navy Capt. Ralph Ward.

The organizational structure of other the tenant units on JB CHS will remain unchanged.

The arrival of FOC on JB CHS brought with it a refreshing order of the day Oct.1 - ceremony and celebration. The invitation from Joint Base Commander Col. Martha Meeker, USAF and Captain Ward, was extended to the entire base and surrounding local community to join in open house festivities which followed the official inauguration.

The celebration included live music by the U.S. Air Force Blue Aces and special guests, the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band, as well as military displays to showcase the base's capabilities.

Eighteenth Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice and Navy Region Southeast Commander Rear Adm. Tim Alexander officiated the inaugural ceremony. Other honored guests included Senator Lindsey Graham, U.S. Congressman (S.C.) Henry Brown Jr., Medal of Honor recipients Marine Corps Maj. Gen. (Ret.) James Livingston and Col. (Ret.) Leo Thorsness, as well as numerous other command, base, state and city officials.

When the joint base initially stood up in January, General Allardice said Charleston is a national treasure well-worth preserving as a power projection platform, and a main goal of JB CHS is to continue building that platform with greater efficiency.

The general cited several taskings in the last nine months accomplished as a joint team working under U.S. Transportation Command; bolstering forces in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops along with their equipment, drawing down forces out of Iraq - more than 100,000 people, and moving 7,000 mine-resistant, ambush protected all-terrain vehicles through Charleston's air and sea ports. The base also responded to humanitarian crises in Haiti, Pakistan, Chile and other parts of the world.

"All of that was done by the joint team, and frankly, a great deal of that was operated right through here in Charleston. Joint Base Charleston is one of our key hubs for air mobility movement and for our surface transportation movements through the [Weapons Station]," said General Allardice.

"My point here is that this installation is absolutely critical to our nation. It doesn't matter where we have to execute military operations in the world today, we can almost be assured that this particular installation will be involved."

The general continued with numerous examples of the joint partnership between the JB CHS Air Base and Weapons Station. The base remains the premier nuclear power training site in the world. With nearly 4,000 students going through training, he said just about "anyone entering the nuclear force comes right through Joint Base Charleston."

In addition, the base is home to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, which has an impact not just on the Navy, but on nearly every part of the military throughout the world, said General Allardice.

"That includes something as simple as our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who are stationed in Afghanistan today, who have access to the internet which gives them access to their families back home," he said.

The mine resistant vehicle program was also of note in the general's address.

"Virtually every single MRAP has passed right through this port ... many of you have children who are safe today because of those vehicles. Many have friends or people you've talked to who may be attacked and lives will be saved because of those vehicles that flow right through Joint Base Charleston," he said.

The general commended JB CHS leadership on producing a near seamless transition into operating as a fully operational joint base and remarked on the effort evident in bringing multiple institutions together to figure out the very best ideas to optimize support for the warfighter.

"In a very short time, Joint Base Charleston has become a shining example of a one team, one fight philosophy that has proven to be so successful for our military all over the world," he said.

As part of the union of the Air Force and Navy bases, the inaugural ceremony for JB CHS was also accompanied by the inactivation of Naval Weapons Station Charleston, which had served as host unit to the Navy base since its naming in 1965, but history predating its name stretches back to the start of World War II.

"So much has been accomplished here over the decades supporting freedom and democracy since 1941," said Admiral Alexander during his remarks at the inaugural ceremony. "The Charleston team had much to be proud of right from the start ... commissioned only about a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot quickly gained a reputation of being a key partner in putting warheads on foreheads by supplying hundreds of ships with equipment and ammunition."

The admiral highlighted several key military endeavors of the installation and improvements made to the base in the two decades leading to its naming as NWS Charleston in 1965. From then, the base and surrounding community grew immensely in population and mission. The Goose Creek, S.C., area became one of the fastest growing areas in the Southeast between the '70s and the '80s, he said.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has long-realized the value of the Weapons Station, said Admiral Alexander. In 1998, committee recommendations led to the consolidation of the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command alongside the Navy's Nuclear Power Training Unit.

It also brought to the station the consolidation of engineering and electronic research development activities on the East Coast, with the creation of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. With thanks to the varying logistics capabilities found at this station, the admiral said the latest technological advances developed here are quickly placed in the hands of U.S. warfighters.

Since 9/11, entire units and individual augmentees from Naval Weapons Station Charleston have deployed in support of ongoing conflicts. Army and Marine Corps prepositioning units operating out of the Naval Weapons Station have directly supported the nation's warfighters. More than half of the Army's combat support equipment used in Iraq came through Naval Weapons Station Charleston. However, the admiral said none of it would have come to pass without the dedicated men and women who have made it all possible - and not just Sailors, but civilians as well.

"I extend a special thanks to the civilian employees of the station. Many of these folks have spent most if not all of their careers right here at this base," he said. "While military members come and go, the civilian workforce has been a constant source of professionalism and continuity from year to year; base CO [Commanding Officer] to base CO. To our civilian friends, thanks for what you do and what you will continue to do."

The admiral's thanks were also extended to the civilians who live and work beyond the gates of the base in the local community.

"To the members of the Navy League and the numerous other civic organizations, as well as many individual residents ... I thank you. Patriotism is clearly woven into the fabric of this community ... your generosity is and always has been appreciated."

Like General Allardice, the admiral said the transition to a joint base was carried out smoothly and effectively, but it took hard work and long hours from many on the base.

"I would like to congratulate all those who have worked so hard ... to accomplish what many thought was, frankly, impossible," he said. "I'm fully confident that the leadership team we have put in place will continue to be successful in the months and years ahead ... today the stock rises 10-fold."