NWS Earle is located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, about midway between Philadelphia (76 miles) and New York City (47 miles). Earle’s main base (Mainside) encompasses 10,160 acres 15 miles west of the Central Jersey Shore, and borders the townships of Colts Neck, Howell, and Wall, and the borough of Tinton Falls. The majority of Mainside is within Colts Neck Township, hence the command address. Twelve miles to the north of Mainside is Earle’s Waterfront facility, in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township. Earle’s Waterfront pier complex extends 2.5 miles into Raritan Bay and is recognized as the line of demarcation between Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Connecting Mainside and the Waterfront is Normandy Road, a 15-mile Navy-controlled rail and road corridor.

In support of our Carrier Strike Group ordnance mission, Earle is the operational support base for four Military Sealift Command combat logistics ships: USNS ARCTIC (T-AOE-8), USNS ROBERT E. PEARY (T-AKE-5), USNS WILLIAM MCLEAN (T-AKE-12), and USNS MEDGAR EVERS (T-AKE-13).  Encompassing almost 12,000 acres in total, Earle’s ordnance mission is supported by 110 miles of railroad track, five locomotives, and over 300 pieces of rolling stock.  Our Waterfront pier complex is comprised of a two-mile trestle which connects to three piers, and is one of the longest finger piers in the world.  At pier’s end, the tip of Sandy Hook is closer than the Leonardo shore.

We are a combined workforce of over 1,500 civilian, military, and contractor personnel.  We support 250 personnel and dependents in our base housing.

NWS Earle is home to over 20 tenant commands, the largest belonging to Navy Munitions Command.  Navy Munitions Command CONUS East Division Detachment Earle performs the Station's primary mission - providing ordnance to the Fleet. Earle is also home to Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Twelve Detachment Earle, as well as over 300 navy reservists who drill out of the Navy Operational Support Center at our Waterfront.  Earle’s Waterfront is also home to the Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank (OHMSETT), operated by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.  OHMSETT’s 2.6 million gallon tank is a one-of-a-kind facility for full-scale oil spill response equipment testing, research, and training.