Fort Monmouth is a former installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Until the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the post was open to the public to drive through; after that time, the post was closed to all but authorized personnel. The main road through the fort was reopened to the public in 2017.
The post was home to several units of the U.S. Army Materiel Command and offices of the Army Acquisition Executive (AAE) that research and manage Command and Control, Communications, Computing, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities and related technology, as well as an inter service organization designed to coordinate C4ISR, an academic preparatory school, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit, a garrison services unit, an Army health clinic, and a Veterans Administration health clinic. Other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Security Agency, had presences on the post.
The post was selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005. Most Army functions and personnel were required to be moved to Army facilities in Maryland—such as Aberdeen Proving Ground—and Ohio by 2011. The post officially closed on September 15, 2011. However, it was temporarily reopened on December 2, 2012, for the evacuation of the borough of Paulsboro's residents to be temporarily resettled until it was deemed safe for them to move back to Paulsboro, following a freight train derailment on November 30, 2012.
The installation began with the lease of a defunct Monmouth Park Racecourse (later re-opened at another site in 1946) by the Army for a training site for officers. The location near Eatontown, with rail sidings out of Hoboken and proximity to the port of Little Silver, was ideal. Known temporarily as Camp Little Silver, it was renamed Camp Alfred Vail shortly after in September 1917. The Chief Signal Officer authorized the purchase of Camp Vail in 1919. The Signal Corps School relocated to Camp Vail from Fort Leavenworth that year. The Signal Corps Board followed in 1924. In August 1925 the installation was granted permanent status and was renamed Fort Monmouth. It was named in honor of the soldiers of the American Revolutionary War who died in the Battle of Monmouth; aptly, it is also located in Monmouth County. The first permanent building was built in 1928. Other structures were built to house units the Army consolidated at Fort Monmouth.
Fort Monmouth had three theaters. Two are in the main building and one in a stand alone building. Unfortunately two are stripped, but one still remains in good condition.
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Theater FM by
Sean, on Flickr
Theater FM by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Also had its own bowling alley
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Its own Fire Department
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Even its own Burger King
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Fort Monmouth by
Sean, on Flickr
Some of Fort Monmouth is already renovated with people living there or other buildings are used by local police departments as their headquarters. Another section is currently being renovated as we speak. Its nice to see such a giant piece of property be renovated, instead of demolished to make room for condos. Hopefully everything building here can be renovated into something useful.
Before its BRAC closing was announced, Fort Monmouth was the home to the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command (CECOM LCMC). CECOM LCMC was a lead command for the Army in the area of C4ISR development, acquisition and sustainment. Though no longer the home of the US Army Signal Corps (after its move to Fort Gordon, Georgia in the 1970s), Fort Monmouth is sometimes referred to as the "Soul of the Signal Corps". It housed the official Time capsule of the Army Signal Corps until June 21, 2010, when it was removed for relocation to the U.S. Army Signal Center & School at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The fort also hosts the Avenue of Memories, a set of trees and monuments dedicated to Signal Corp soldiers who died in World War II. The memorial is a part of the main road through the Eatontown side of the fort.
Another building nearby, known as CECOM was demolished sometime around 2009. Unfortunately this picture, probably taken around 2005, is the only one I have from there.
US Army Communications Electronics Command(CECOM) by
Sean, on Flickr
