AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine National Guard’s newest investment, a $32 million Joint Forces Headquarters, is a 100,000-square-foot command, administrative and logistical support nerve center for both of Maine’s Guard units that also pays tribute to the state’s historic military past.
“Camp Chamberlain is named after former Maine governor and adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain, a Civil War hero who became famous for leading a bayonet charge down Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg,” Maj. Norman Stickney, spokesman for the Maine National Guard, said in a news release about the facility’s Thursday groundbreaking.
The existing joint force headquarters at Camp Keyes, which still uses some cinderblock buildings built after World War II, will relocate to the new facility once it’s complete.
The new Joint Forces Headquarters, located on Blue Star Memorial Highway next to the Maine Veterans Cemetery, will be home to Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel who specialize in human resources, intelligence, operations, logistics and resource guidance and support.
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, according to concept designs for the building project.
Not everyone at Camp Keyes, located next to the Augusta Municipal Airport, will move into the new facility.
“Camp Keyes will remain open after completion of the new headquarters and continue to provide family and veterans outreach services, ground maintenance support, National Guard print plant operations, training sites, resource management, shipping and receiving, and facilities maintenance,” the news release said.
The construction of Camp Chamberlain is scheduled to be completed in two years.