OMI was founded in 2001 after a hard-fought two-year campaign led by then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. Governor Gray Davis helped secure the charter after local school boards rejected it. It was the first charter ever sponsored by the state, the first public military school and the first school sponsored by the National Guard. The school site at its inception was located on the Oakland Army Base - 2405 West 14th Street. AC Transit provided a dedicated bus line for student transportation to the base. Hundreds of applications were submitted from all over the East Bay and each prospective student was required to appear (with their parent/guardian) in front of a panel that included a military member, faculty member, administrator and representative from the Mayor’s Office. There were so many applicants that a lottery was held at the Oakland Army Base Theater to determine which lucky applicants would be given an opportunity to attend a two-week summer camp held in Camp San Luis Obispo (Camp SLO). The first class of 167 seventh-graders enrolled that August under the direction of then Commandant, Colonel Bradford M. Jones, then Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, Command Sergeant Major Alex Cabassa and then Academic Director, Rick Moniz. On 18May07, OMI moved from the Oakland Army Base to current location on Lusk Street.