Ok so I have fought my way free in the military base, but when I hack the computer on the first floor to try to bring the force fields down, it tells me I have been sucessful, but then they are all still up. Am I doing something wrong here? Or is this an odd bug?

one of the force fields is disabled unless the base is under alert, the red force field cannot be disabled.
edit test

can't edit previous post, stupid forums
When you enter level 4, you should get 2000 xp for just going this far
without annoying the guards. Go to the left, and go straight up until you
enter the room with all of the computers (control room). There should be a
COC tech in Purple Robes guarding the area. He'll surrender, and so will
his comrades.
NOTE: If you want an extra 1000 experience and a minigun, ammo, and
stimpacks, use 'Repair' (1st) and 'Science' (2nd) on the robot near
the elevator. He is supposed to blow up the forcefield emitter that
leads to the Vats.

I think you have to use science on them after breaking the computer or something. Also, use the radio on the computer to link them, then you can toggle the forcefields with the radio.