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Beginnings
US government buys 15,000 acres of land in Monterrey to be used as an artillery training field for the Army. The area, named Gigling, has diverse terrain that makes it an ideal location for infantry to train on. -
Camp Ord
The artillery field is named Camp Ord, in honor of Major General Edward Ord, a Union Army leader in the American Civil War. -
First Building
$3,000,000 is spent to construct barracks for the newly activated 7th Infantry Division. -
Fort Ord
Camp Ord is renamed Fort Ord. For the next 30 years, the fort would be the Army's primary basic training base, as well as a staging area for units departing for war. -
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix starts his three months of basic training at Ford Ord -
Deactivation
The training area is deactivated and Fort Ord again becomes the home of the 7th Infantry Division -
BRAC
Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), an agency dedicated to disposing of unnecessary United States Department of Defense real estate, is legislated by Congress. -
Beginning of the end
BRAC recommends that Fort Ord be closed and the 7th Infantry Division be relocated to Fort Lewis, Washington. -
Closed
Fort Ord is finally closed. Most of the land is given back to the state of California. The remainder is given to UC Santa Cruz to be developed into the UC MBEST, a center focused on the development of new technology through innovative research. -
CSU
Cal State Monterrey Bay is founded on the old Fort Ord site. Some of the fort's old barracks are adapted into student living quarters. -
National Monument
President Obama signs a proclomation designating a 14,651 acre portion of the former post as the Fort Ord National Monument