Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action.

When Fort Ord was later converted to civilian use, space was set aside for the first nature reserve in the United States created for conservation of an insect, the endangered Smith's blue butterfly.

Additional endangered species are found on Fort Ord, including Contra Costa goldfields and the threatened California tiger salamander.

[2] On April 20, 2012, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation designating a 14,651-acre (5,929 ha) portion of the former post as the Fort Ord National Monument.

[3][4] In his proclamation, the President stated "The protection of the Fort Ord area will maintain its historical and cultural significance, attract tourists and recreationalists from near and far, and enhance its unique natural resources, for the enjoyment of all Americans."

By 1940, the 23-year-old Camp Ord was expanded to 2,000 acres (810 ha), with the realization that the two-year-old conflict of World War II could soon cross the Atlantic Ocean to involve America.

Soon the first threat came from the west as the Imperial Japanese Navy struck the island of Oahu, Hawaii at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu in an unannounced air attack, Sunday, December 7.

In a few days the other Axis powers, such as Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, along with Fascist Italy of Benito Mussolini, declared and spread war in Europe against Great Britain, France and the Low Countries to the U.S.

[5] In 1957, land on the eastern side of the post was used to create the Laguna Seca Raceway which served to replace the Pebble Beach road racing course that ceased operations for safety reasons in that same year.

The post continued as a center for instruction of basic and advanced infantrymen until 1976, when the training area was deactivated and Fort Ord again became the home of the 7th Infantry Division, following their return from South Korea after twenty-five years on the DMZ ("demilitarized zone").

The remainder was given to the University of California, Santa Cruz to be developed into the "UC MBEST" (Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology) Center.

FORA implements this legislatively mandated mission by overseeing replacement land use; assuring compliance with adopted measures; removing physical barriers to reuse; financing and constructing major components of the required infrastructure and base wide demands; and protecting identified environmental reserves.

FORA exercises its planning, financing, and monitoring responsibilities under state law authority to meet these objectives in the best interest of the northern Monterey Bay community.

As of 2009[update] the center was looking to expand by adding more housing units and a non-profit store (to be run by partner company, Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists Incorporated) with the express purpose of employing as many veterans as possible.

[19] At the end of Gigling Road, where the Department of Defense Building is located, there is one of many entrances to the Fort Ord National Monument; the land underwent comprehensive remediation that involved an extensive munitions clean-up.

A small portion of the former Fort Ord still remains under U.S. Army control, originally called the Presidio of Monterey (POM) Annex.

Management of the military housing has been outsourced to private firms, but the homes are still occupied by personnel stationed at the Presidio of Monterey and the Naval Postgraduate School.

A large commercial strip mall along Highway 1 at the former 12th Street Gate entrance to Fort Ord opened in late 2007, and houses retail stores.

Twelve of the original twenty-one World War II stables for the horses and mules were about 200 yards away, on Fourth Avenue and General Jim Moore Boulevard, but were demolished by CSUMB in 2011.

Abandoned, Stilwell Hall fell into disrepair and was torn down in 2003 after severe coastal erosion threatened to cause the structure, filled with asbestos and lead paint, to collapse into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.