Cole Keller - Super Blog 2 - Artillery and Fort Ord

 

Source #1: 

Whaley, Derek. “Gigling & Ord.” Santa Cruz Trains, Railroads of Santa Cruz County, June 19,
    2015. https://www.santacruztrains.com/2015/06/gigling-ord.html. 

    This is an unorthodox source to use for my research project, however it has proved necessary as there is very little information on the history of the land Fort Ord is situated upon. I saw many references to the “Gigling Reservation” with no elaboration on the original name of Fort Ord. It appears to be the family name of German Immigrants that settled the land in the 1850s to raise cattle and sheep. It came into the possession of the David Jacks Corporation which would allow the US Army to use the land before outright selling the over 15000 acres of the land to the government outright. There is also an image I plan on using from this, the one pictured below showing artillery training at the then named Camp Gigling. 

Source #2:

War College, and Robert B. Gatlin, BRAC, what will it cost? § (1992).
    https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA250842.pdf. 

    This second source serves two main purposes. The primary purpose of this document in my research is the costs involved in cleaning up the base, which was estimated to be between 60 and 380 million dollars. This estimate only includes a preliminary cleanup of the artillery ranges rather than the in depth cleanup it is expected to need. This document also discusses the purpose of the base and impact on the community. I believe this will be useful as an inclusion to the final blog just as background information to add further depth to the historical significance of the base. 

Source #3:

Ryce, Enid Baxter. “Fort Ord - About.” Fort Ord. Accessed February 21, 2021.
    http://planetord.com/home.html. 

The purpose of this source is specifically to use it for images. This database contains pictures dating back to when the base opened all the way into the modern day with pictures of some decrepit buildings. The use of both contemporary and historical photographs will help the reader better visualize the fall from grace the base has taken and what the base looked like in its heyday. One of the images I plan on using is shown below, just a picture of part of the base with the lights on to show what it looked like when it was operational. 

Source #4:

Army, U. S. "Fort Ord Yearbook: Company E, 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division,
    June 1952-September 1952." (1952).

    The fourth source I plan on using is once again for images. The primary focus for my paper is the effect of artillery on the environment, so I found it prudent to find images of artillery both being used and maintained. I found that the use of a page of the yearbook is just an interesting glimpse into the past of the base. That page specifically features Mortars, both 61 and 80 mm. The other image, with what appears to be tracer rounds being fired downrage is also a visually striking image that demonstrates some of the ordinance that was used at Fort Ord. 

  


Source #5: 

Hunt, John W., and Gregory N. Huntington. “A Comprehensive Environmental Investigation of

an Active Artillery Range.” Wiley Online Library. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, January 10,
2007.  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ffej.3330090206?casa_token=VZn1zVOeG5oAAAAA%3AcrDf5FE5Z7et_-zJUVjkZ2JFs5XEFnyuRWIRKNOLHrwdT5EAve774zzr5HPA3vIRu_uBOpK9vi3e9wI.

    This last source gives me a general overview of the effects of an active artillery range on the environment. It shows there was minimal current groundwater contamination with some metals being found in the sediments and low water levels. It also says that there hasn’t been any major impact on macro invertebrates in the nearby streams or lakes. Explosives were found to have contaminated the area but it was subsequently said to be “remediated”. Despite this apparent clean bill of health, they do recommend further monitoring of groundwater as the possibility of phosphorus contamination appears to be grounds for some concern.


    I have honestly hit sort of a dead end in sources over the past week. Any information there is on Fort Ord is usually buried in the search results under scores of yearbooks and training exercises. I am planning on heading back up to Monterey from Riverside this weekend and hope to meet with someone to see if they can help further point me in the right direction or have any sources I could use. In the meantime I would appreciate any help you could give regarding sources!

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