National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey

National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey
Building 2, 100 Camp Drive
Sea Girt, NJ 08750 Admission is free.

Located on the grounds of the historic National Guard Training Center, The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey (NGMMNJ) in Sea Girt is dedicated to preserving and explaining the military history of New Jersey. For over 40 years the museum has collected, preserved and displayed artifacts with specific historical relevance to the New Jersey National Guard. The museum presents the role of the

New Jersey Militia and National Guard within the context of the larger history of the state, using original and reproduction uniforms, weapons, photographs, artifacts and art from the period of Dutch, Swedish and British colonization through the War for Independence, Civil War and World Wars I and II, the Global War on Terrorism to the present day. Parking for the NGMMNJ is located directly before the entry gate to the National Guard Training Center (NGTC) in Sea Girt at Sea Girt Avenue and Camp Drive. The Museum is also home to the Center for US War Veterans’ Oral History Project which contains over 600 interviews and records of local veterans of all branches from the Mexican Punitive Expedition to current day. In conjunction with the Library of Congress, veteran interviews are conducted and summarized for submission to the Veterans History Project. For more information or to access the collection, contact Assistant Curator Carol Fowler. We also feature a second standalone site, the Lawrenceville Field Artillery Annex, located on the grounds of the Lawrenceville DMAVA campus. Featuring over a dozen artillery pieces and armored vehicles, the Annex's mission is to present and explain the importance of New Jersey Artillery throughout history, as well as the unique military story of the Trenton area.

Today in Sea Girt is an open day to the public. Free of charge! Open until 3 PM. It's a beautiful day. Come see what we ...
06/20/2026

Today in Sea Girt is an open day to the public. Free of charge! Open until 3 PM. It's a beautiful day. Come see what we have to offer.

in military history, in 1968, the Air Defense Artillery Branch of the U.S. Army was officially established!Tasked with...
06/20/2026

in military history, in 1968, the Air Defense Artillery Branch of the U.S. Army was officially established!
Tasked with defending against missile threats, aircraft, and enemy surveillance, this vital branch plays a key role in protecting U.S. forces, allies, and strategic assets around the globe. From the skies above to the systems on the ground — they stand ready to shield and secure.

ADA units came from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery units of the Coast Artillery Corps. While New Jersey no longer has any ADA units, we still carry forward the proud legacy of service. Among the units are the 7th Battalion, 112th Air Defense Artillery, carried forward by the 3-112th Field Artillery Regiment and the 254th ADA Regiment, the namesake for our 254th Regiment - New Jersey ARNG. Among our lineage of ADA and AAA units include the 122nd AAA Gun Battalion, 116th AAA, 372nd AAA, among a number of others. The last ADA ties to our units was the 3rd Battalion, 200th ADA, an organic element of the 50th Armored Division.

For more to explore, you can see the Nike Ajax at our Lawrenceville site, as well as M42 Dusters at both of our sites. Additionally you should check out the Harbor Defense Museum at USAG Fort Hamilton or Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.

Air Defense: First to Fire

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 1916, the federal government ordered the mobilization of three infantry regim...
06/19/2026

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 1916, the federal government ordered the mobilization of three infantry regiments, one squadron of cavalry, two batteries of field artillery, one signal corps company, one field hospital and one ambulance company of the New Jersey National Guard for duty on the Mexican border in the wake of the crisis caused by revolutionary leader Pancho Villa’s raid into New Mexico. The units began to assemble at the National Guard’s Sea Girt camp on June 21 and, after a period of organization, traveled from there to Douglas, Arizona, for border duty. They returned to New Jersey at the end of the year. The photo collection courtesy of Col. Hobart Brown, which now resides at the New Jersey State Archives

Pictured is a 53"x44" German flag that was one of the museum's earliest donations. After conducting some initial resea...
06/16/2026

Pictured is a 53"x44" German flag that was one of the museum's earliest donations. After conducting some initial research for an outside inquiry about MG James Weyhenmeyer, a commander of the 50th Armored Division, we found that his donations did not appear in our database. Using the description of silver fringes and "Zierenberg" sewn-on, it turned out there were two ledger entries, but no cataloging. Now we have connected this flag, an artifact from then Lt. Col. Weynhenmeyer's service with the 9th Armored Division, to the original donor entry to prevent losing this story with any further disassociation.

The New Jersey National Guard has partnered with Albanian Armed Forces for the last 25 years. Here's how they commemora...
06/16/2026

The New Jersey National Guard has partnered with Albanian Armed Forces for the last 25 years. Here's how they commemorated the occasion.

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 2017, the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was officially reflagged as the 4...
06/15/2026

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 2017, the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was officially reflagged as the 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, reviving the historic name and insignia of the 44th Division, which served in the New Jersey National Guard from 1924 to 1946. After 1946, the maneuver elements of the New Jersey National Guard primarily served under the colors of the 50th Armored Division, the 50th Brigade, and later the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team—until the return to the flag blue and golden orange of the 44th.

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 1944, the men of the New Jersey National Guard’s 102nd Cavalry, who had float...
06/08/2026

in New Jersey National Guard history, in 1944, the men of the New Jersey National Guard’s 102nd Cavalry, who had floated offshore for two days, landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day plus two, as the beachhead had been expanded enough to accommodate the unit’s vehicles. In the following weeks, Sergeant Curtis Culin of Cranford and the 102nd devised the “Rhino Plow,” a device that, attached to the front of tanks, cut through the hedgerows of Normandy, vitally assisting the allied armies in breaking out of their beachhead. In the ensuing months, the 102nd fought its way across Europe, on the way gaining the honor of being the first United States unit to enter Paris in August 1944.

Come visit today in Sea Girt. Open to the public and free of charge. Close at 3:00 p.m.
06/06/2026

Come visit today in Sea Girt. Open to the public and free of charge. Close at 3:00 p.m.

On June 6, 1944 the 237th Engineer Combat Battalion landed on Normandy’s Utah Beach...The mission of the engineers was t...
06/06/2026

On June 6, 1944 the 237th Engineer Combat Battalion landed on Normandy’s Utah Beach...The mission of the engineers was to clear a pathway through mines and obstructions to facilitate an infantry advance inland from the beach. Santillo had a vivid recollection of the events of that day, and how scared he was as he stepped off the landing craft and into the water washing up to the beach. He was worried that he might fall into a shell hole under the water, a fear compounded by the fact that he couldn’t swim. Santillo asked his friend to pull him up if he went under the waves. On June 6, 1944 the 237th landed on Normandy’s Utah Beach, along with the 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment. The mission of the engineers was to clear a pathway through mines and obstructions to facilitate an infantry advance inland from the beach. Santillo had a vivid recollection of the events of that day, and how scared he was as he stepped off the landing craft and into the water washing up to the beach. He was worried that he might fall into a shell hole under the water, a fear compounded by the fact that he couldn’t swim. Santillo asked his friend to pull him up if he went under the waves.

Santillo recalled the landing operation as being very tumultuous, with artillery shells and bullets flying overhead as he and his comrades made their way across the beach. Eventually the engineers moved inland, through areas flooded by the Germans. After spending the night at Pont Hebert, they moved forward again, passing dead American paratroopers hanging in trees, with their weapons still clutched in their hands.

As the combat engineers pressed on into France, they encountered surviving paratroopers who said they were returning to England to prepare for another operation. Santillo mentioned that the airborne assault had been chaotic, with paratroopers dropped at the wrong location, and one even getting caught on a church steeple in the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Although casualties were heavy, the chaos confused the Germans and aided the invasion effort in the end.

Address

100 Camp Drive
Sea Girt, NJ
08750

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 3pm
Tuesday 10am - 3pm
Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm

Telephone

+17329744570

Website

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