25 years later: How 9/11 changed the Presidio of Monterey
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept 10, 2026) – On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States transformed the nation’s security priorities and military mission. At the Presidio of Monterey, the effects were immediate and would reshape the installation and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center for years to come.
For decades prior to 2001, the installation functioned more like an open university campus. Local residents routinely drove directly through PoM, transiting between Monterey and Pacific Grove. In the late summer of 2001 however, installation leadership was preparing to end that open-access era.
A Monterey Herald article published Sept. 1, 2001, detailed command plans to install perimeter gates and limit civil transit. This proposal was met with significant resistance from local commuters and community leaders who viewed the access control points as unnecessary public inconvenience and were accustomed to the scenic neighborhood thoroughfare.
"To neighbors, driving through the Presidio is a cherished shortcut between Monterey and Pacific Grove. But to base leadership, an open perimeter is an unacceptable vulnerability in an unpredictable world." — Monterey Herald, Sept. 1, 2001
When the morning attacks unfolded on the East Coast on Sept. 11, 2001, installation commanders immediately initiated Force Protection Condition (FPCON) Delta. PoM ceased all public transit within minutes. Makeshift roadblocks and physical checkpoints were established and 100-percent identification checks began immediately. By the morning of Sept. 12, a military community built for one strategic era was already beginning to adapt to the next.
To sustain 24-hour physical security operations and guard the high-density military language institute, California National Guard units were mobilized and deployed directly to the Presidio of Monterey. Active-duty service members, alongside National Guardsman manned access control points, patrolled fence lines and conducted physical searches of delivery vehicles and staff automobiles.
PoM physical security specialist, Ed Wilkins, had just left active duty and was serving as a motor transport operator and mechanic assigned to the California Army National Guard’s 149th Armor Regiment in Seaside.
“On the morning of 9/11, I was sitting in my living room in Seaside when the attacks came on the TV. I immediately started thinking about being activated and knew I wasn’t going to sit still. I had to do something,” Wilkins recalled.
Shortly after, Wilkins received a call from an unfamiliar sergeant with an unexpected mission to activate in Monterey.
“The orders I received were to secure the base. It was essentially a deployment across the bay,” Wilkins said.
The sudden transition created challenges on both sides of the gate. Securing an open civilian thoroughfare with improvised infrastructure left those manning the gates vulnerable.
“The hardest thing for us at the access control points was the concept of there being an active threat,” Wilkins said. “We didn't have any real setback, and the guard shacks were makeshift and made of wood. There was no real physical barrier for protection.”
For civilian residents of the Monterey Peninsula, closing a historic bypass fundamentally disrupted daily life.
“This essentially cut the peninsula in half and that was a major challenge for people locally,” Wilkins recalled. “People were so used to post being open access. It had always been that way. It was just in recent years that we stopped having people drive up to pass through.”
While physical security adapted along the perimeter of the base, another transformation was underway inside DLIFLC classrooms.
Prior to 2001, academic curriculum heavily reflected the national security priorities of the Cold War era. Following 9/11, demand for military linguists shifted rapidly toward the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Within months, DLIFLC established task forces to develop courses and train linguists in critical languages, including Dari and Pashto, the primary languages of Afghanistan.
Arabic programs also expanded significantly. By 2007, Arabic had replaced Russian as DLIFLC’s largest language program, reflecting the shift in national security priorities from those that shaped the Cold War to the conflicts that followed 9/11.
A DLIFLC article published March 29, 2007, highlighted how substantial a change this was for the academic mission of the institute.
"If someone had told me six years ago that we would be teaching languages such as Urdu, Kurdish, Uzbek or Hindi, I would have told them they were crazy," said Lt. Col. Deborah Hanagan, then DLIFLC chief of staff, in a March 2007 interview.
The Presidio of Monterey and DLIFLC have continued to evolve during the quarter-century since the attacks as threats, technologies and national security priorities have changed.
Today, DLIFLC provides culturally based foreign language education, training, evaluation and sustainment to support Department of War requirements around the world. PoM enables that mission by providing a safe, secure and ready installation where service members can train and prepare for what comes next.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the missions continue to evolve, but the imperative demonstrated in the days that followed remains: adapt, prepare and remain ready to answer the nation’s call.
For Wilkins, with 40 years of federal service including 21 years in direct support of PoM, the mission remains unchanged.
“Looking back at where we started 25 years ago with wooden guard shacks to where we are today, the focus has always remained the same,” Wilkins said. “Keeping this installation and our people safe and secure.”
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