AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine National Guard has been awarded $32 million from the federal government to build a new joint headquarters for the state’s Air Guard and Army Guard units that will be located next to the Maine Veterans Cemetery.
The new 100,000-square foot command, administrative and logistical support nerve center for both of Maine’s Guard units will be a significant upgrade compared to the aging Camp Keyes that still uses some cinder block buildings built after World War II.
“Our existing joint force headquarters at Camp Keyes will relocate to the new facility once it’s complete,” Capt. Norman Stickney, spokesman for the Maine National Guard, said Wednesday.
Maine was awarded the construction funds on Feb. 25.
The building will sit on 43 acres located off Civic Center Drive and will be separated from the cemetery by a thick line of trees, concept designs for the building project show.
“We are hopeful to break ground at the new facility at the end of this summer,” Stickney said of the two-year construction project.
The new facility, which will have 230 parking spaces, will provide an up-to-date working environment for personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics, resource guidance and support to the major commands in the Maine National Guard, Stickney said.
“Over the past decade, the Maine National Guard has grown more closely knit as a joint force than in the history of our proud organization, mobilizing and deploying our citizen-soldiers and airmen throughout the United States and overseas, wherever and whenever they are needed,” Stickney said.
When a disaster hits maine, or New England, and a state of emergency is declared, “our joint staff assembles in our joint operations center to analyze each mission and assign capabilities across both organizations toward a common goal,” the captain said.
Not everyone at Camp Keyes, which is located next to the Augusta Municipal Airport, will move into the new facility.
“Currently, family and veterans outreach services, which includes the family program, ID cards, Bureau of Veterans Services support personnel, the ground maintenance shop, National Guard print plant, [Maine Army National Guard] training sites section, United States property and fiscal officer, the warehouse, and facilities maintenance office,” will remain at Camp Keyes, Stickney said.
The new facility is the latest federal commitment to the state for the military. The Maine Army National Guard was given $15.5 million in federal funds in 2010 for the second and final phase of its Regional Training Institute that is located adjacent to the Bangor Armed Forces Reserve Center.
Before the Bangor training center opened, much of the Guard’s training in Maine took place at Camp Keyes.
The award of the construction funding comes on the heels of news that the Army National Guard is planning to change the role of Maine’s oldest and largest military force in order to save as many jobs as possible amid federal defense belt-tightening.