Fort Hunter Liggett Fort Hunter Liggett ( US Army Garrison , Fort Hunter Liggett ( USAG , FHL ) ) , named after General Hunter Liggett in 1941 , is a United States Army fort in southern Monterey County , California , about 250 miles ( 400 km ) north of Los Angeles and south of San Francisco . The fort is primarily used as a training facility , where activities such as field maneuvers and live fire exercise s are performed . It is adjacent to Camp Roberts , California . Geography . 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 , , was given to Mission San Antonio de Padua , bringing its size to . 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 an historic hotel on the Post known as The Hacienda ( Milpitas Ranchhouse ) which serves the general public and can be used as guest housing by military personnel . A short distance past the old main gate , there is a road to the southwest 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 and a store . Near that area is a lot that has several used FEMA trailers stored . Climate . Under the Köppen Climate Classification , " dry - summer subtropical " climates are often referred to as " Mediterranean " . This climate zone has an average temperature above 10°C ( 50°F ) in their warmest months , and an average in the coldest between 18 to - 3°C ( 64 to 27°F ) . Summers tend to be dry with less than one - third that of the wettest winter month , and with less than 30mm ( 1 . 18 in ) of precipitation in a summer month Demographics . 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 . History . Land for the fort was purchased in 1940 from William Randolph Hearst ( Hearst Castle is down the coast ) , and from adjacent landowners . This surrounded the small unincorporated town of Jolon , which remains today in a significantly diminished form from its heyday . Fort Hunter Liggett 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 . From the 1970s through the early 1990s , the base served two purposes : as a training area for the 7th Light Infantry Division ( based at Fort Ord ) , and as the home for the USACDEC ( usually abbreviated as CDEC and later as TEC , the Training and Experimentation Command ) . The mission of CDEC was to evaluate new Army and Marine Corps weapons systems by providing a simulated Soviet Mechanized Rifle Company to act as the " OPFOR " , or opposing forces . By this method , the Sergeant York Air Defense Gun was found to have serious flaws , while the Marine ' s LAV vehicle was validated . In 1993 , in preparation of the closure of Fort Ord due to BRAC 1991 , Hunter Liggett was transferred to the Army Reserves , which in turn made it a sub - installation of Fort McCoy , Wisconsin in 1995 . Since 2003 FHL has managed Camp Parks and Army units and housing that remain at former NAS Moffett Field . BRAC 2005 . In its 2005 Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) recommendations , the Department of Defense recommended relocating the 91st Division from Parks Reserve Forces Training Area to Hunter Liggett . A new US Army Reserve Center was constructed and the 91st Division move into their new Headquarter ' s building in May 2009 . On September 11 , 2010 the new HQs was designated as the Master Sergeant Robb G . Needham Army Reserve Center after the first 91st Division combat casualty since WWII . Filming location . Fort Hunter Liggett was used to film parts of the movie " We Were Soldiers " . The base was also used in the filming of " Clear and Present Danger " , starring Harrison Ford . Fire . In 2002 a large portion of Fort Hunter Liggett was scorched by a 2000 - acre fire started by a U . S . Forest Service employee ' s personal Jeep . The fire resulted from a " mechanical failure " in the vehicle , and the employee tried to put the fire out before it spread to brush . No injuries were reported but the fire did consume several outbuildings . Ecology . The fort covers hundreds of acres of grassland , chaparral and oak woodland . There are several vernal pool s , a rare habitat type . The entire world population of the rare Santa Lucia mint ( " Pogogyne clareana " ) occurs on Fort Hunter Liggett grounds .