Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth was an installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County , New Jersey . The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown , Tinton Falls and Oceanport , New Jersey , and is located about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean . The post covers nearly of land , from the Shrewsbury River on the east , to Route 35 on the west ; this area is referred to as ' Main Post ' . A separate area ( Camp Charles Wood ) to the west includes post housing , a golf course , and additional office and laboratory facilities . A rail line , owned by Conrail , runs through Camp Charles Wood and out to Naval Weapons Station Earle . The post is like a small town , including a Post Exchange ( PX ) , health clinic , gas station and other amentities . Until the September 11 , 2001 terrorist attacks , the post was open to the public to drive through ; since that time , the post is closed to all but authorized personnel . The post was home to several units of the U . S . Army Materiel Command and offices of the Army Acquisition Executive ( AAE ) that research and manage Command and Control , Communications , Computing , Intelligence , Surveillance and Reconnaissance ( C4ISR ) capabilities and related technology , as well as an interservice organization designed to coordinate C4ISR , an academic preparatory school , an explosive ordnance disposal ( EOD ) unit , a garrison services unit , an Army health clinic , and a Veterans Administration health clinic . Other agencies , including the Federal Bureau of Investigation , Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Security Agency , have presences on the post . The post was selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005 . Most Army functions and personnel were required to be moved to Army facilities in Maryland , such as Aberdeen Proving Ground , and Ohio by 2011 . The fort officially closed on September 15 , 2011 . However , it was temporarily reopened on December 2 , 2012 for the evacuation of the borough of Paulsboro ' s residents to be temporarily resettled to the former Fort Monmouth until it is deemed safe for them to move back to Paulsboro , following a freight train derailment on November 30 , 2012 . History . The installation began with the lease of a defunct Monmouth Park Racecourse ( later re - opened at another site in 1946 ) by the Army for a training site for officers . The location near Eatontown , with rail sidings out of Hoboken and proximity to the port of Little Silver was ideal . Known temporarily as Camp Little Silver , it was renamed Camp Alfred Vail shortly after in September 1917 . The Chief Signal Officer authorized the purchase of Camp Vail in 1919 . The Signal Corps School relocated to Camp Vail from Fort Leavenworth that year . The Signal Corps Board followed in 1924 . In August 1925 the installation was granted permanent status and was renamed Fort Monmouth . It was named in honor of the soldiers of the American Revolutionary War who died in the Battle of Monmouth ; aptly , it is also located in Monmouth County . The first permanent building was built in 1928 . Other structures were built to house units the Army consolidated at Fort Monmouth . In 1928 , the first radio - equipped meteorological balloon reached the upper atmosphere , a forerunner of weather sounding techniques universally used today . In 1938 , the U . S . Army ' s first radio - based aircraft detection and ranging system ( later called radar ) was developed on post . A production model of this equipment detected the oncoming Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor , but the warning it provided was discounted . In 1946 , celestial communications was proved feasible when the radar developed by the Project Diana team was used to bounce radio signals off the moon . During the late 20th century , Fort Monmouth was home to the US Army Chaplain Center and School ( USACHCS ) . Enlisted soldiers , Non - Commissioned Officers ( NCOs ) and Officers training to become Chaplain Assistants and Chaplains were trained at Fort Monmouth . World War II . Additional property was purchased in 1941 for Camp Coles near Red Bank , Camp Charles Wood in Tinton Falls , and Camp Evans in Wall Township . At its peak during World War II , Fort Monmouth measured 1 , 713 acres ( 6 . 9 km² ) , and had billeting space for 1 , 559 officers and 19 , 786 enlisted personnel . The Eastern Signal Corps Training Center consisted of the Eastern Signal Corps Schools ( enlisted , officer candidate , and officers ) and the Replacement Training Center at Camp Charles Wood . The Signal Corps Officer Candidate School ( OCS ) , the major activity on the main post , graduated 21 , 033 new Signal Corps second lieutenants during the period 1941 - 1946 . More communications units , including the Pigeon Breeding and Training Center , were consolidated into Fort Monmouth after the war ended . The pigeon service was discontinued in 1957 ; the birds were either sold at auction or donated to zoos . Special effects artist Harry Redmond , Jr . designed and constructed a new film studio for the Army Film Training Lab at Fort Monmouth during World War II . Rosenbergs . Julius Rosenberg had worked as a radar inspector at Fort Monmouth in 1942 and 1943 . It is from the fort that he was accused and convicted of stealing proximity fuze plans and passing them on to the Soviet Union . Documents released by Russia after the Cold War showed that Julius Rosenberg was indeed a spy . In October 1953 , Joseph McCarthy claimed that Julius Rosenberg had set up a wartime spy ring at Fort Monmouth and that the ring might still be in operation . Two Fort Monmouth scientists , Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant fled to the Soviet Union . The hysteria surrounding Fort Monmouth and the Rosenbergs was not limited to Julius and Ethel ; others with last name Rosenberg ( or Kaplan ) lost their security clearance for no reason other than sharing a name with communists . Final years as an Army post . Before its BRAC closing was announced , Fort Monmouth was the home to the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command ( CECOM LCMC ) . CECOM LCMC was a lead command for the Army in the area of C4ISR development , acquisition and sustainment . Though no longer the home of the US Army Signal Corps ( after its move to Ft . Gordon , Georgia in the 1970s ) , Ft . Monmouth is sometimes referred to as the " Soul of the Signal Corps " . It housed the official Time capsule of the Army Signal Corps until June 21 , 2010 when it was removed for relocation to the U . S . Army Signal Center & School at Fort Gordon , Georgia . The post was home to the CECOM Life Cycle Management Command ( CECOM LCMC ) , which consists of the following : Also located on the post were : Most of the personnel located on the post are civilians employed by DoD , or employees of companies under contract with the DoD . Fort Monmouth was also noted for its SunEagles Golf Course , one of the better DoD golf courses in the nation . School - aged children residing on post in grades 9 through 12 attended Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls , part of the Monmouth Regional High School District . Closure by BRAC . Fort Monmouth was recommended for closure by the Pentagon in May 2005 . BRAC voted in August 2005 to close the post ; its decision was upheld by President George Bush and Congress . An appeal headed by U . S . Representatives Frank Pallone and Rush D . Holt , Jr . to remove the post from the list was made to the BRAC commission , but was rejected . In particular , BRAC recommended : The DoD estimated the closure of Fort Monmouth would cause the loss of 9 , 737 jobs ( 5 , 272 direct and 4 , 465 indirect jobs ) between 2006 and 2011 , leading to a 0 . 8 % increase in unemployment . DoD also calculated the closure and other changes would save it about $ 1 billion in the long run . However , in June 2007 , an investigation by the " Asbury Park Press " revealed that the projected cost of closing Fort Monmouth and moving its research functions to Aberdeen , Maryland , had doubled from $ 780 million to $ 1 . 5 billion . Add to that the $ 3 . 3 billion loss to New Jersey ’ s economy coupled with the estimated $ 16 billion it will cost Maryland for needed infrastructure improvements to accommodate the largest job influx since World War II . In addition , recent Government Accountability Office ( GAO ) findings have uncovered substantial errors in the Army estimation of BRAC cost savings — in one case turning a projected $ 1 billion savings into a $ 31 million savings . In light of these issues , the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the BRAC 2005 legislation . Redevelopment . On April 28 , 2006 , Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine signed into law the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Act , which established the Fort Monmouth Revitalization Planning Authority , to plan the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth once it closes . The legislation creating the commission , proposed by State Senators Joseph Kyrillos and Ellen Karcher , received bipartisan support , but only after wrangling in the legislature over its composition and authority . FMERPA completed the Fort Monmouth Reuse and Redevelopment Plan in 2008 , although an appellate court has thrown out the portion of the plan concerning affordable housing . FMERPA is no longer active following the creation of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority ( FMERA ) to provide investment , continuity and economic growth to the communities impacted by the federal government ' s decision to close Fort Monmouth . The bill was sponsored by Sen . Jennifer Beck ( R - Monmouth ) and Assembly members Joseph Cryan ( D - Union ) , Albert Coutinho ( D - Essex ) , Angel Fuentes ( D - Camden ) , Annette Quijano ( D - Union ) and Upendra Chivukula ( D - Somerset ) and signed into law by Gov . Chris Christie Tuesday , August 17 , 2010 . FMERA will advance FMERPA ' s Reuse and Redevelopment Plan for economic development , growth and planning , with a focus on technology - based industries , for the 1 , 126 acres of real estate at Fort Monmouth following the base closure in September 2011 . The authority holds meetings that rotate between the municipal buildings of Eatontown , Oceanport and Tinton Falls , the three towns whose mayors sit on the authority . As mandated by federal law , the authority must advertise for notices of interest from any state , county , municipal or private , non - profit agency which would provide homeless assistance to Monmouth County residents .