Expand All Collapse All Extent 50 folders, approximately 2,794 pages Summary The Oakland Army Base operated from 1941 to 1999, during that time it played a vital role in shipping war material to the pacific theatre of operations. It was closed as part of the 1995 round of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). Records to be released include those related to the Oakland Army Base and the 1995 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. However the majority of documents are more closely related to the 1995 BRAC round as a whole, including the BRAC recommendations report for 1995. Included are documents related to the economic impact of closing bases, letters from legislators, local officials, and business associations expressing support for or urging refusal of the commission's recommendations, and records related to why bases considered in 1995 should not be closed. Scope and Content Note The materials in FOIA 2011-0460-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. The Oakland Army Base operated from 1941 to 1999, during that time it played a vital role in shipping war material to the pacific theatre of operations. It was instrumental in shipping 15.7 million tons of materials during both World War II and Korea. During Vietnam, the port was the largest military port in the world and, along with adjacent commercial partners, it shipped more than 37 million tons of cargo. In 1995, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to close both the Oakland Army Base and its East coast counterpart the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne, NJ. The closure of Oakland Army Base became effective September 30, 1999. During 1940, as the United States increasingly saw Japan as a threat to peace, the San Francisco Port of Embarkation Board of Officers recommended that the small facility at the Port of Embarkation, Fort Mason, California should be expanded. The War Department agreed and in January 1941, the expansion plan was approved. Construction began in earnest by February and in December the Oakland Sub-port of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation was officially commissioned. The headquarters remained at Fort Mason. In 1942, the administration and housing areas were commissioned and named Camp John T. Knight. Though the facility was already in use, it was not complete until 1943 and it cost $35 million to construct. Upon completion, the entire facility was named the Oakland Army Base. During the 1950s and 1960s the Army reorganized its material and traffic commands and the Oakland Army Base was alternately named the Oakland Army Terminal and then returned to Oakland Army Base. In 1965, the base became the headquarters of the Western Area, Military Traffic Management and Terminal Services. During the eight years of Vietnam seventy percent of the all the Department of Defense cargo was shipped through Oakland-San Francisco. In 1974, the Department of the Army granted the Department of the Navy a five year lease on the Oakland Army Terminal. The terminal was operated under the Navy’s Navy Public Works Center, San Francisco. The lease was renewed several times until 1998 when the Navy Public Works Center closed under BRAC 1993. Oakland Army Terminal had seventy-five acres of open storage, sixteen acres of warehouse space, three railroad yards with twenty-six miles of track, the only 100 ton crane in the Bay Area, and 112 family housing units. One-time closing costs were estimated at $36.5 million with a projected savings of $15.9 million a year. Though the Army fought against closure of the base, the BRAC commission included the base in its recommendation sent to the President on July 1, 1995. President Clinton approved the commission’s report on July 13, 1995. Materials available in this collection include a variety of records related to the BRAC 1995 process as well as the Oakland Army Base. Much of the material from the National Security Council is focused on the closure and privatization of Kelly and McClellan Air Force Bases. The records include correspondence from Congressmen, Senators, mayors, and business associations offering support for or arguments against base closure. They include economic impact reports and reports the Department of Defense provided to the commission related to base closures. Record Type Textual System of Arrangement Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in three collections area—Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject Files, Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files, and Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) contains a variety of series created to organize and track documents and correspondence. The WHORM Subject file was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management and is a series of categories designated by a letter/number combination White House Staff and Office Files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and documents all levels of administrative activity. WHORM files are processed at the document level; whereas, Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. FOIA 2011-0460-F includes WHORM records from these subject codes: FG Federal Government - Organizations ND National Security - Defense. Access Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions. Copyright Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Researchers are advised to consult the copyright law of the United States (Chapter 17 U.S.C.) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Provenance Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Subject Headings United States. Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission Processed by Staff Archivist, 2011. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released. Last Modified Date 2014-05-06 Container List The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2011-0460-F: Box 1 Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject File Category Case Number FG488 119204 [OA/ID 23322] FG488 120599 [OA/ID 23322] ND009 120777 [OA/ID 14072] ND009-01 118633 [OA/ID 14072] ND009-02 121037 [OA/ID 14073] ND009-02 122910 [OA/ID 14073] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files Legislative Affairs Maldon, Al BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [1] [OA/ID CF 1015] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [2] [OA/ID CF 1015] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [3] [OA/ID CF 1015] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [4] [OA/ID CF 1015] National Security Council Defense Policy Bell, Robert BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] April-June 1995 [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [1] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [2] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [3] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [4] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [5] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [6] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [7] [OA/ID 1428] Box 2 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Defense Policy Bell, Robert BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [8] [OA/ID 1428] BRAC-95 [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] July-September 1995 [8] [OA/ID 1428] Seaton, James 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [1] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [2] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [3] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [4] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [5] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [6] [OA/ID 1236] 1995 BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [7] [OA/ID 1236] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [1] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [1] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [2] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [3] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [4] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [5] [OA/ID 1237] Box 3 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Defense Policy Seaton, James BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [6] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: BRAC ’95 [7] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: 9505210 [Loose] [1] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: 9505210 [Loose] [2] [OA/ID 1237] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] Files 1993-1995: 9505210 [Loose] [3] [OA/ID 1237] Von Lipsey, Roderick BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [1] [OA/ID 1274] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [2] [OA/ID 1274] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) National Security Council Von Lipsey, Roderick BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [3] [OA/ID 1274] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [4] [OA/ID 1274] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [5] [OA/ID 1274] BRAC [Base Closure and Realignment Commission] [6] [OA/ID 1274] Box 4 Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System NSC Cables Jan 1995-Dec 1996 [Oakland Army Base, BRAC] [07/14/1995] [OA/ID 510000] Jan 1997-Dec 1998 [Oakland Army Base, BRAC] [07/22/1997] [OA/ID 520000] NSC Emails MSMail-Record (Sept 94-Sept 97) [Oakland Army Base, BRAC] [06/27/1995-07/13/1995] [OA/ID 590000] MSMail-Non-Record (Sept 94-Sept 97) [Oakland Army Base, BRAC] [07/03/1995] [OA/ID 605000] NSC Records Management System [Oakland Army Base, BRAC] 9505047 [OA/ID 591] 9505195 [OA/ID 592] 9505550 [OA/ID 595]