Presentation short abstract

This paper conceptualizes the beforemaths and aftermaths of war staging through a case study of California's former Fort Ord Army Base. We show that the geographies of war and production of multiple sacrifice zones extend to include the toxic legacy of military bases and domestic training grounds.

Presentation long abstract

California’s iconic and singular central coast was dominated by the Fort Ord Army Base from 1933 until its decommissioning in 1991. In 1990, it was designated a federal Superfund site following decades of war staging for military theaters abroad, from the South Pacific to Korea to Vietnam. In this paper, we conceptualize the environmental remediation triggered by base closure as a critical moment linking the beforemaths and aftermaths of war staging. ‘Before’ is constituted by the toxic activities of the military base, such as improper storage and disposal of toxic waste and artillery and munitions testing. ‘After’ is constituted by ongoing environmental harms, including a cancer cluster among former soldiers and their families, unexploded ordnance, and toxic blight in abandoned military infrastructure. Here, remediation accounts for but does not fully resolve these toxic legacies, aiming instead for acceptable threshold levels of pollution. While over 60% of the former base is classified for biodiversity conservation and open lands recreation – having effectively turned Fort Ord from a testing ground to a camp ground – it remains an active Superfund site. This case, we argue, contributes novel insights into the geopolitical ecologies of war. We show that the geographies of war and production of multiple sacrifice zones extend to the beforemaths and aftermaths of war staging, including military bases and domestic training grounds.