CECOM presence at APG enters second decade

By Susan Thompson, CECOM Command HiistorianSeptember 24, 2021

(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. —September 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the closure of Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, ending its 94-year run as a military base. A final retreat marked the end in an inactivation ceremony at Fort Monmouth Sept. 15, 2011. As part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure or BRAC process, what was then C4ISR moved 4,806 employee positions, 117 laboratories, and 100,000 pieces of equipment and furniture from Fort Monmouth to APG without interruption to its support to Soldiers.

On the same day, APG marked the day with a BRAC completion ceremony, and the C4ISR community hosted a Campus Dedication Ceremony, celebrating the continuity of bringing the names and traditions from Fort Monmouth to the new C4ISR Campus at APG.

"The legacy of this great installation will remain forever as a proud part of our region's and our nation's history," said George E. Fitzmaier, garrison manager of Fort Monmouth, during the Fort's final retreat ceremony. "Let us continue to look toward the future with faith, hope and confidence." Several hundred people turned out to recognize the occasion.

At APG, the Army spent more than $1 billion on construction, added 2.8 million square feet of facilities and 18 buildings, demolished 140 structures, improved nine miles of roads and upgraded electric, water and information technology infrastructure. The BRAC efforts at APG brought 11 organizations from other installations.

The last moving truck carrying C4ISR Center of Excellence equipment arrived at APG Sept. 1, 2011, signifying the completion of the move from Fort Monmouth to APG. All BRAC actions were required by law to be completed by Sept. 15, 2011.

Maj. Gen. Randolph P. Strong, then-commander of the CECOM, led the C4ISR Campus Dedication Ceremony at APG’s Myer Auditorium on the organization's $800 million Center of Excellence campus. Accompanying Strong in the official party were Brig. Gen. N. Lee S. Price, Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical; Brig. Gen. Harold Greene, PEO Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Surveillance; Jill Smith, director of CERDEC (now the DEVCOM C5ISR Center); and Bryan Young, director of the U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen.

Ground was broken for the campus March 17, 2008. Where once the C4ISR organizations were spread over 70 buildings at Fort Monmouth, in addition to sites at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; the organizations were combined at APG in 15 state-of-the-art buildings within walking distance of each other. Many buildings were named for a significant leader whose accomplishments built the foundation of the Signal Corps heritage. Several family members of former leaders attended the ceremony.

The buildings were dedicated to the following individuals:

  • Building 6000, the campus auditorium, for  Brig. Gen. Albert James Myer, the father of the Signal Corps;
  • Building 6001, for Col. Charles S. Wallace, who signed the contract with the Wright Brothers for the first military airplane in 1908;
  • Building 6002, for FM radio pioneer Maj. Edwin Howard Armstrong;
  • Building 6003, for Dr. Walter McAfee, the renowned physicist who helped put man's imprint on the moon for the first time with radar;
  • Building 6006, for Night Vision pioneer Dr. Rudolf Buser;
  • Building 6007, for Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, a pioneer computer programmer and co-inventor of COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language);
  • Building 6008, the mission training facility, for Lt. Gen. Alfred Mallette, commander of CECOM during the Gulf War;
  • and, lastly, Building 6009/10, for Col. William Blair, the “father of radar.” 

In addition to naming buildings for founding members of the Signal Corps, the heritage from Fort Monmouth was carried forward in other memorialization efforts. A full list of the memorials at the C5ISR Campus is available at https://cecom.army.mil/PDF/Historian/Feature%201/C5ISR%20Memorialization%20Paper.pdf