Joint Base Charleston is a United States military facility located on approximately 3,400 acres of land about 10 miles from downtown Charleston, partly in the city of North Charleston, in Charleston County, and partly in the city of Goose Creek, in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 628th Air Base Wing, a unit of Air Mobility Command (AMC), and is an amalgamation of the previous United States Air Force Charleston Air Force Base and the United States Navy Naval Support Activity Charleston. A joint civil-military airport, JB Charleston shares runways with Charleston International Airport for commercial airlines operations on the south side of the airfield and general aviation aircraft operations on the east side. Joint Base Charleston supports 67 military commands and federal agencies, providing service to over 79,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, marines, coast guardsmen, DOD civilians, dependents, and retirees. The former Charleston Naval Base has been transformed into a 231 acre multi-use federal complex with 17 government and military tenants, as well as the homeport for six RO-RO Ready Reserve Force ships, three Coast Guard national security cutters, and two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessels.

Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF), including for the civilian side of the airfield, structural firefighting, shipboard firefighting, wildland firefighting, emergency medical services, technical rescue, hazmat services, fire prevention, fire inspection and public fire & life safety education for Joint Base Charleston is provided by the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron / JB Charleston Fire & Emergency Services, a subordinate unit of the 628th Mission Support Group. JB Charleston FES is comprised of a mix of civilian and military firefighters. Located on the grounds of the joint-use Charleston Air Force Base and Charleston International Airport, the Boeing Assembly plant, which is the final assembly and delivery point for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has its own separate fire department.

The first flight took off from Charleston Army Air Field, as it was then known as, in 1931. The USAF officially named the facility Charleston Air Force Base in June 1953. Commissioned in 1941, Naval Weapons Station (NWS) Charleston had two distinct missions: as home for two strategic submarine squadrons and a tender, and as an ordnance station with capacity for more than 60 million pounds of conventional ordnance. The ordnance mission continues today, and Joint Base Charleston - Weapon Station is the only military installation in the continental US with completely unencumbered explosive safety arcs. Naval Support Activity Charleston has expanded its mission and DoD support role, and today is home to; the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, Nuclear Power Training Unit, and other tenants. Joint Base Charleston was created on October 1, 2010 when Charleston Air Force Base and Navy Weapons Station Charleston, including Naval Base Charleston and the Nuclear Power Training School, were amalgamated. JB Charleston holds the distinction of being one of 12 Joint Bases that were created as a result of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005.