Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan | North Carolina National Guard leaders welcome a delegation of North Carolina...... read more read more
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GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- North Carolina National Guard leaders welcomed a delegation of North Carolina congressional staffers to the NCNG’s Readiness Center in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Aug. 10, 2016.
The topic of the meeting was the National Guard’s Readiness Center Transformation Master Plan (RCTMP) to shift from aging armories planned and built nationwide in the middle of the last century to innovative facilities ready to serve for decades into the future.
“We can fix what we have, improve it and add fifty years to what we and our state partners got,” said Army Lt. Col. Rodney Newton, the NCNG’s construction and facilities management officer.
The day began with a briefing by Newton and Tom Bowlin, the NCNG’s director of government affairs, highlighting the plan to consolidate units to serve their community at larger readiness centers designed to train and deploy several hundred Soldiers for federal and state missions. The plan balances the greater training and deployment needs of the modern Guard with the traditional ties to the community that defines today’s Minuteman.
“With all the changes we have to consolidate but maintain our local feel,” Bowlin said.
The tour stressed the center’s training effectiveness, energy efficiency and ready access to state transportation networks. The congressional staff kept a steady stream of questions for the NCNG leaders about future mission requirements, where the armories will be located and what will be needed to complete the plan.
The staff inspected the supply room, audio-visual classrooms, arms vault, drill hall and vehicle repair and staging area. Soldiers explained how the improvements and renovations make training and deployment easier for unit members.
“We are really invested in this,” Newton said.
After the tour, the staff traveled to the local airport and boards a NCNG UH-72 Lakota Helicopter training flight to Smithfield. After the flight, they drove to meet with Soldiers and tour the NCNG armory there.
The Armory is nearly everything the Goldsboro facility is not, old, cramped, crowded, in need of repair and upgrades. However, it has one thing in common, Soldiers needing a headquarters to train and deploy from on a moment’s notice.
“We have some excellent and some substandard sites with a team of officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted Soldiers dedicated to their duties to state and nation but limited by their facilities,” said Dwight Williams, district director with U.S. Representative David Rouzer’s office.
Newton briefed the staff on the RCTMP benefits of larger, modern readiness centers located near large population centers by or on major transportation routes: shortened commuting distance, faster response to state active duty, better training at lower cost.
“Soldiers need safe and effective places to train and some do not have that,” said Janet Bradbury, a field representative with U.S. Senator Janet Bradbury.
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2016 08:07 |
| Story ID: | 206894 |
| Location: | GOLDSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 210 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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