Fort Hunter Liggett

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Monterey County's Fort Hunter Liggett, America’s largest Army Reserve training base. A ribbon-cutting ceremony signaling the opening of a multi-million dollar high-tech training school has just concluded. Come along and join the conversation with Fort Hunter Liggett Garrison Commander Colonel Charles Bell Jr.; Major General Bruce Hackett, Commanding General, 80th Training Command; and Brigadier General Matthew Baker, Commanding General, 102nd Training Division.

On this week's Issues & Ideas: A unique spacecraft is now orbiting the earth and soon a team at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo will command it to unfurl a super-thin Mylar sail. The craft will then glide through space, propelled only by sunlight. We talk to the mission's project manager to learn more. Also, there was a recent change of command ceremony at Army Reserve Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County. We hear from both the outgoing and incoming commanders.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer attended the change of command ceremony at Army Reserve Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County on June 25, 2019. Wilmer talks with outgoing commander Colonel Kerry Norman and incoming commander Colonel Charles Bell.

Even though Mary Beth Breen Collins was a pacifist, her curiosity about the war spurred her to sign up for an 18-month stint as associate director of the USO Club in Di An, Vietnam, where she served from January 1969 to June 1970.

In our final installment about life on base at U.S. Army Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County, correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with troops assigned to full-time duty at the fort.

Federal firefighters based at Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County are trained to respond to a wide array of emergencies, including range, forest and structure fires, medical emergencies, aircraft incidents and mutual aid response to the surrounding region in Lockwood Valley. Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with firefighters Greg Fryer and Jason Hall.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Brian Neumann, Ph.D., a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. Newmann talks about General Hunter Liggett, who was second-in-command of the Army’s World War 1 American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Liggett was a visionary tactician who transformed field tactics that remain employed today.   

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Monterey County's Fort Hunter Liggett, where he visits with Augusta Vargas, wife of Sergeant Garcia. Vargas talks about the rewarding aspects of life as an Army spouse and raising a family on a remote base.  

Correspondent Tom Wilmer reports from Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County, where he visits with Deputy Commander Lt. Colonel Jason McKenzie.

The United States Army’s Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County is larger than all of the other Army Reserve’s training installations combined, and the U.S. Army’s seventh largest training facility in geographic area.

Recently, correspondent Tom Wilmer covered a combat training exercise at an Army base in Monterey County. In this segment, Wilmer visits with Brigadier General Shane Buzza, commander of the 91st Training Division at Fort Hunter Liggett, followed by insights from two of the troops.

Join correspondent Tom Wilmer as he embeds with Army Reserve troops during a training exercise at Fort Hunter Liggett in Monterey County. Wilmer observes and visits with soldiers during training operations to clear a minefield, remove an anti-tank ditch and build a bridge, with Stryker combat vehicles providing cover.   

William Randolph Heart’s old ranch headquarters was constructed in 1930.

Located a mere 11 miles as the crow flies from Hearst Castle. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan’s classic, Moorish/Mission Revival structure, dubbed the Hacienda or Milpitas Ranch House, was sold to the U.S. Army in 1940.

The Hacienda initially served as operations headquarters for Fort Hunter Liggett until the base facilities were constructed in the dawning days of WWII.

A mere taste of Colonel Norman’s diverse background with the U.S. Army includes service as Operations Officer 82nd Airborne, Provost Marshall Military Reserve Command, and the Military Intelligence Readiness Command. She also served as Professor of Military Science at Seattle University.