New armory is largest in state

FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) — - The Indiana National Guard opened a new $27 million training facility that is now the largest of the 65 Guard armories around the state.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indiana Adjutant General Martin Umbarger took part in a ceremony Monday at the new 169,000-square-foot facility in Franklin, where more than 900 Guard soldiers will meet each weekend to train for combat and disaster assignments.

The new facility was paid for with federal funding and includes a two-story assembly hall, a fitness center, an auditorium and classrooms.

The complex will serve three U.S. Army Reserve units and eight Indiana National Guard units. One of them, the 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, will be headquartered at the armory.

The brigade is responsible for tactical battlefield operations, including gathering military intelligence during combat. To meet the unit's needs, the armory is equipped with communication technology that most National Guard facilities don't have, armory manager Maj. Bradley Compton told the Daily Journal.

Two "hot rooms," which connect to the military's encrypted computer systems, allow soldiers to speak to officials anywhere in the world, Compton said.

"This facility reminds us how important it is to transition back from active to reserve duty, back to citizen soldiers," Col. Ivan Denton, commander of the 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, told the crowd at Monday's ceremony through a live video link from southern Iraq.

"As we continue to serve as an operation, not a strategic force, we still have a responsibility and obligation to be ready for both our state and federal missions," he said.

Umbarger said the site for the new facility about 20 miles south of Indianapolis was picked because it is about a mile from an interchange onto Interstate 65.

"In the case of a natural or man-made disaster, we want to have the ability to get on a major roadway and get anywhere in the state right away," he said.

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., said the Franklin armory reflected the growing importance of Guard units to national defense. The Indiana Guard has sent about 20,000 soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade.

"The state Guards are doing the job of protecting the nation a lot more nimbly and a lot cheaper than the federal government," Rokita told The Indianapolis Star. "I see this facility and the Indiana Guard in particular as an excellent example of what the U.S. military will look like in the future."