Fort Hunter Liggett

Fort Hunter Liggett, named after General Hunter Liggett, is a United States Army fort in southern Monterey County, California, about 250 miles (400 km) north of Los Angeles and 150 miles south of San Francisco. The fort is primarily used as a training facility, where activities such as field maneuvers and live fire exercises are performed. Land for the fort was purchased in 1940 from William Randolph Hearst (Hearst Castle is down the coast), and from adjacent landowners. It was named after Hunter Liggett in 1941. It was under the authority of Camp Roberts, California, to the southeast, until 1952, when it became a sub installation of Fort Ord on the Monterey Peninsula. It was made a sub installation of Fort McCoy, Wisconsin in 1993.

The Salinas Valley is the fort's northern border, the Santa Lucia Mountains bound it on the east, Los Padres National Forest on the west and the Monterey and San Luis Obispo County line on the south. The fort originally comprised 200,000 acres (800 km²), but even at its present size of 165,000 acres (668 km²), it is the largest United States Army Reserve command post. Some of the land, 52 acres, was given to Mission San Antonio de Padua, bringing its size to 85 acres. Additionally, land has been traded between the United States Forest Service, which owns the adjacent Los Padres National Forest, and the Army. Junipero Serra Peak or Pimkolam (native American name), formerly called Santa Lucia Peak, is to the north. The fort also contains the headwaters of the Nacimiento River. There is also a hotel/motel on the Post known as the "Hacienda", this services civilians and military personnel and can be used as guest housing for military. Also just before you come in the front gate, there is a road to the left which goes to what is known as the "Primitive Campgrounds". There are some camper trailers there, and some water spigots around the site. There is also a central restroom on the site. What brings it up from true primitive status is the hunters store which has some staples, for instance: LP gas, snacks, beer, and other items including some ammo for hunters.

There are only 250 permanent civil and military residents at the fort. However, the population can swell up to 4,000 when a rotation of personnel comes for training.

In its 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations, the Department of Defense recommended to relocating the 91st Division from Parks Reserve Forces Training Area to Hunter Liggett. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-parks.htm]

Hearst Castle is actually directly across the mountain range from the Fort, not down the coast.The hotel on the fort property was once Hearst's hunting lodge and where one of his mistresses lived.

Fort Hunter Liggett was also used to film parts of the movie We Were Soldiers [http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Fort%20Hunter%20Liggett,%20California,%20USA&&heading=18;with+locations+including;Fort%20Hunter%20Liggett,%20California,%20USA] .

The base was also used in the filming of "A Clear and Present Danger", starring Harrison Ford.

References

* [http://www.liggett.army.mil/ Fort Hunter Liggett homepage]
* [http://www.liggett.army.mil/fhlhistory.htm Fort Hunter Liggett - History]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-hunter-liggett.htm Global Security - Fort Hunter Liggett]
* [http://brysonresort.com/hunting.html Guided Hunting at Fort Hunter Liggett]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liggett/ Fort Hunter Liggett Veterans Yahoo Group]