If you live within a 20-mile radius of Fort Dix you've become accustomed to occasionally hearing loud noises from time to time.

Well, buckle up, buttercup, it's that time of the month.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst puts up a calendar on their website every month that lists what kind of training they're doing and how loud it will get.

Starting this past Monday, Joint Base McGuire started heavy weapons training with a warning that the noise level may get pretty intense.

About 30 years ago, a housing development went up on a local golf course.

Within weeks of people moving in, there were dozens of complaints about golf balls hitting houses and golfers cursing near their backyards.

You bought a house on a golf course. That comes with the territory. The same thing applies here.

If you live within 25 miles of a military base expect to hear some noise.

Local police departments throughout South and Central Jersey have posted a warning that the sounds can be pretty loud and not to be alarmed.

The police departments are inundated with calls from people inquiring about the noise and in an effort to reduce the anxiety of residents and the volume of calls, they take it upon themselves to alert the public.

There is a lot of new construction in many parts of the state, including South Jersey.

That coupled with people migrating to quieter, more wide-open spaces of South Jersey may be new to this regular phenomenon.

Many people who've grown up near the base may be used to the loud explosions, but some people new to the area might not know what the hell is going on, especially when it happens early in the morning.

Back in the spring, many people were awakened very early on a Sunday morning by the sound of explosions at the base.

Sound tends to travel further at night or early in the morning when most things in the area are pretty tranquil.

Even though we live about 25 miles from Joint Base McGuire, we heard it loud and clear.

So, just know that the rest of this month, you may think you're hearing thunder on a clear day, but it's just our military testing their equipment.

It may be annoying but it's good knowing they've tested that stuff and trained our troops in case, God forbid, we should ever need it.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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