ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Virginia Department of Military Affairs plans to consolidate the Virginia Army and Air National Guard headquarters by 2014.
Department officials said the new headquarters will be in Sandston, close to Richmond, so the Guard can work more closely with top state officials and departments.
“The world has changed since September 11, and the role of the Department of Military Affairs has changed as well,” said Maj. Gen. Robert B. Newman Jr., the adjutant general of Virginia. “The vast majority of state agencies are in Richmond. And during emergency operations, our missions require fast coordination and often face-to-face meetings” with emergency officials.
The Department of Military Affairs, which oversees both arms of the Guard, is in Richmond, while the Army National Guard is headquartered in Blackstone and the Air National Guard is based in Sandston.
The department’s Joint Operations Center will move to Sandston later this year, followed by the departments of personnel, operations, logistics, facilities and fiscal operations that are now at Fort Pickett, in Blackstone.
Roughly 260 duty positions, primarily in the Army Guard’s headquarters at Fort Pickett, will move to the new location.
Fort Pickett will continue to function as a training center, and the 183rd Regional Training Institute and 34th Civil support Team will remain in place, Gen. Newman said. The department also will maintain other detachments there.
“We value our relationship with the communities of Blackstone and Nottoway County, and we understand the importance of Fort Pickett to the local economy,” he also said.
More than $100 million in construction projects are planned for Fort Pickett from now until 2013, including a combat pistol range, a new armory, a multipurpose range, a combined arms training facility and a state police driver-training track, Gen. Newman said.
Fort Pickett employs nearly 900 people.
Gen. Newman said the addition of new training operations should leave the base with about 675 employees by 2013, despite the relocation of jobs to Sandston.
“I am confident this is the best course of action to ensure we can effectively execute our assigned missions for the commonwealth,” he said.
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