It has been my distinct pleasure over the last five years to regularly travel to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey to teach Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Life Cycle Logistics courses to US Army CECOM (Communications-Electronics Command) Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) students (as well as many others from a variety of organizations, sites, and Services).  This past week marked my last time teaching at this historical U.S. Army fort; starting in FY11, DAU will be moving these Life Cycle Logistics training classes to Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in advance of Ft Monmouth’s pending closure in 2011 as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC) decision.

Fort Monmouth’s rich and varied history dates back almost a century. Established in 1917 and coinciding with America’s entry into the First World War, the post has long served as a center of excellence for Army communications and electronics among a variety of other missions over the years.

A personal vignette if you will permit me: in the early 1970s, while performing duty as an Army reservist, my father sent me a post card depciting an aerial view of what at the time was called Army Electronics Command (ECOM), extolling what an interesting place Ft Monmouth was, and concluding with the words “maybe someday you can visit Ft Monmouth.” Little could he (or I) know at the time that more than three decades later, that it would be my privilege to regularly travel to the installation to provide training to Army civilians working there.

So to the many colleagues and friends who work (or have worked) at Fort Monmouth and its nearby New Jersey communities, I thank you for your service. For those who are moving, have already relocated to, or were already part of the APG team, I look forward to continuing to support the professional development of your workforce.  

Although the German phrase “Auf Wiedersehen” (literally “until we see again”) seems more appropriate than "farewell", it is still with a touch of sadness that I officially bid the venerable Fort Monmouth a fond farewell for the last time. Tempus fugit, non autem memoria.  Or as Bob Hope and band leader Les Brown used to say, “thanks for the memories!”