A benefit to everyone
Local National Guard unit excited about future building
By Pat Caldwell
Argus Observer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 10:19 AM PDT
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| This shot from the hill of excavated dirt gives an overview of the area where the new National Guard Armory will be built next to Southwest Fourth Street. |
Ontario — No one could blame members of Ontario’s Oregon Armory National Guard unit if they were a bit impatient regarding a move into a new armory.
After all, the last time the local citizen-soldier unit stepped into new quarters was during the Korean War.
More than 50 years ago.
Even a casual inspection of the current Ontario armory near the fairgrounds proves that facility has outlived its usefulness.
Yet, at least some of the members of Ontario’s Guard unit, Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, said they are simply focused on the fact the unit will soon be in a new, state-of-the-art building.
“I’m excited to finally be out of this,” Charlie Company 1st Sgt. Wayne Chastain, Baker City, said about the existing armory during a recent unit drill weekend.
Chastain conceded the unit has waited a long time to move into a new facility.
“It’s a long time overdue, but I think it will be a good thing for the community,” Chastain said.
The dual-use, community outreach motif plays a large role regarding how the Guard views the new facility. For top 3rd Battalion leaders, the new armory is about two things: creating a better training environment for its citizen-soldiers and building on the bond with the area community.
“It will help us in a lot of ways,” Charlie Company commander Capt. Seth Musgrove said.
For one, he said, the new armory will showcase more office space for classrooms, a 3,000-square-foot vehicle maintenance bay, two M1A1 Abrams tanks, full-crew simulators and a five-lane, 75-meter indoor firing range.
The new facility represents a prototype of the relationships Eastern Oregon’s 3rd Battalion seeks to build with local communities.
The aim of the battalion regarding community outreach revolves around the individual towns and area educational institutions, such as Treasure Valley Community College.
“We have partnerships with Blue Mountain Community College’s extension office in Hermiston and are developing one at Columbia Basin Community College,” Lt. Col. Kevin Sheehy, commander of the 3rd Battalion, said last week.
Sheehy said the dual-use aspect to Eastern Oregon armories is one of the keys to the future of the 3rd Battalion.
“It is not just a place for the unit’s citizen-soldiers. The rest of the community can use the new facility as well,” he said.
The new 36,600-square-foot building, to be completed in late 2009, is the cap on an ambitious building program for new armories across Eastern Oregon.
Hermiston, La Grande and Baker City already boast new armories, something that has paid off for those towns, Sheehy said.
The new Ontario armory represents an investment in the future in another way, Sheehy said.
“I think there is a sense of the growth potential of the Oregon Guard in Eastern Oregon. We are trying to get ahead of that growth, and our older buildings were worn out,” he said.
For Musgrove, the new facility is also about the intricate connection between a local Guard unit and its town that goes back all the way to the Revolutionary War.
“I think it’s important to the health of the community to have a strong relationship with the local Guard unit. Our mission is the state of Oregon. Ontario is our baby, what we take care of in an emergency. A new armory will help us with that mission,” he said.
