Fort Monroe was once a powerful symbol of America's national defense system. From 1823 to 1945, its primary military mission was to protect Hampton Roads and the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay from enemy attacks. Over the years, as military technology advanced, Fort Monroe's defensive posture changed. To counter potential threats, American coastal defense installations such as Fort Monroe developed sophisticated steel disappearing guns, mortars, anti-aircraft weapons, and submarine mines. As the site of the army's Coast Artillery School, Fort Monroe trained thousands of soldiers. After World War II, Fort Monroe's role as a coastal defense installation ended, and the post took on new missions as a training headquarters facility. With more than 200 original photographs, this volume unveils the layered history of this massive stone-and-brick installation from the end of the Civil War to the present. This volume will highlight more than 140 years of images that capture Fort Monroe's varied missions, historic buildings, the families who lived there, the resort hotels, and other aspects of this unique national landmark.

DoD¿s cost estimates to implement recommendations from the most recent Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round have steadily increased each budget year since 2005. This BRAC round is the fifth such round undertaken by DoD since 1988 and, it is the biggest, most complex, and costliest BRAC round ever. To implement BRAC 2005, DoD plans to spend nearly $35 billion. This review of DoD's FY 2010 BRAC budget indicates that DoD plans to spend more to implement BRAC 2005 recommendations compared to last year's BRAC budget. DoD's estimated one-time costs to implement this BRAC round increased by almost $2.5 billion from FY 2009 to FY 2010, bringing the total implementation cost estimate for this BRAC round to $34.9 billion. Illustrations.