Rebuilding: Fort Monmouth – Part 4

In this final component of the series on the rebuilding of Fort Monmouth, the implications of the new development on the site, the future, the difficulties of life in the military service, and my own perspective on all of these changes will be examined.

Unique Opportunity

I can attest as a life long resident of Monmouth County that the closure of Fort Monmouth dealt a huge blow to our local and regional economy. However, as in most situations which appear dire, unique opportunities are presented for positive growth and change.

The closure of Fort Monmouth and the subsequent redevelopment of an enormous amount of land set within a very densely populated area, represents a unique opportunity for our county and region to grow and move forward. The redevelopment of the former military base provides: the potential for the housing crunch to be addressed, the introduction of new recreational areas without having to use budget dollars to develop them elsewhere, an increased amount of green open space, the infusion of commerce, and new job creation.

The retail offerings from the “Main Street” or “Town Square” proposals could offer the residents of the region a variety of services. The economic impact of new businesses into the region will be a welcome addition as well. The closure of Fort Monmouth provides that area of New Jersey with essentially a clear palette to reshape the region.

 While I disagree with the decision that was made to move the base, and I know many other people who are upset about the closure as well; it is time to move forward and focus on the positive impact the revitalization of the fort can provide to the area.

I admit it is difficult to drive by the fort at times now and see all of the vacant buildings and deserted areas. I worked at a restaurant near Fort Monmouth back many years ago when I was in high school and when I was home on breaks from college. I used to serve lunch or dinner to the military service members and their families. I got to know some of them over the years, and sometimes when I am driving by the fort, or if I am flipping through old photo albums, I wonder what happened to those military service members.

I wonder if they ended up working on another base somewhere, or if they were deployed into the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, or if they are still in the military at this point. The military provides some wonderful opportunities, but it is also a difficult life for the service member and their families. I admire them for their service to our country.

Next generation

In my preparation for this article series, I realized that growing up near Fort Monmouth was an integral component of my life. In my childhood, it helped me to feel safe during the tense days of the Cold War. I had a sense of pride and patriotism when I would hear the bugle playing, or see various ceremonies taking place on the grounds of the base.

In my teenage years, working near the fort and getting to know the people that served there or operated in a civilian capacity there, made me feel a camaraderie with a place that was part of the backdrop to my childhood. That experience brought me the knowledge that the life of a military service member was hard for them and their families. I would spend many nights at the restaurant, if business was slow, talking to the older military service members.

I learned through that experience just how lonely and isolated some of them were, they had sacrificed everything to serve the military. Some of them had injuries from battle, some of them had emotional problems, and all of them were good people who had very difficult life circumstances. The military speaks about collateral damage often with regard to war, but these men and women that I came to know who served this country had collateral damage of another kind.

They had lost their marriages to divorce, they had lost their children when the military family broke apart, and they had isolated themselves from their siblings and friends. That was their collateral damage from their military service. Most Americans do not have that perspective on the life of the military service member regardless of the awareness that the media has tried to bring to PTSD and the perils of warfare.

In a post-9/11 world, Fort Monmouth had a significant role in the counter-terrorism efforts of the military in border security and in surveillance of the suspected terror “hot spots” throughout the world. In my own perspective, I had a great deal of pride that such an important base was located in the area where I call home. The sense of nationalism was at an all time high in the days after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. and growing up near Fort Monmouth heightened that pride for me for this country which I love.

The closure of the fort changed all of that, it left an emptiness here in the place where I call home. It caused thousands to lose their jobs from the civilian work force, and dealt a huge loss to the economy in New Jersey. The way forward is unclear, FMERA is in charge of the development of the former military base, and is aiming to bring high-tech jobs to the site.

The major issue I see with that strategy is that the former employees from the fort that have experience working in high-tech positions for government contractors will largely have relocated out of the area by the time FMERA creates those new jobs. In that scenario, they will now have created jobs with very few local applicants able to fill them. I do not know how that will be addressed.

I also realized in my preparation of this article series that the next generation of children, teens, and young adults will not know Fort Monmouth the way that I experienced growing up near it. Today, most of those children and young people know the fort as an enormous desolate place which has sat unused and largely untouched since the base closure was completed over two years ago.

 They have never heard the bugle playing “Taps” on a hot summer night at dusk with the open windows letting in what little relief the air could provide. They will never know the pride it gave to me and to my friends and other kids in the neighborhood growing up during the Cold War. They will never have the opportunity to get to know the military service members at a local business like I had the opportunity to do.

They will never understand the fear and anxiety we all experienced in the wake of the terror attacks on 9/11, and how the presence of Fort Monmouth helped in a small way to attenuate some of those feelings. They will only know Fort Monmouth as an abandoned monolith, a place that they drive by in their parent’s cars and see only the State Police at a deserted gate.

That will change when the old Fort Monmouth site becomes something else, when it becomes a place that is vibrant again, when it is the place that is home to a town square or provides a new job for someone who has been out of work for a long time. The role and the purpose that Fort Monmouth represented in my life will change and evolve, as it will for other residents in this area.

The future is unknown, but my hope is that Fort Monmouth will be redeveloped into a new place of community pride, commerce, and a place where families can live in a new and affordable home. It is my hope that the next generation will know Fort Monmouth as a place where their future can be shaped and their goals can be realized.

Whether the plans and objectives that FMERA have laid out will be achieved remains to be seen in the months and years ahead. I think we all have a collective interest in the success of this redevelopment program to bring positive growth to a place that once represented so many different things to so many different people. It will evolve, as everything does, into a place where housing, jobs, and business will take place; and where children can dream of a future filled with endless new opportunities.