N.H. National Guard training facility opens in Pembroke

By LOLA DUFFORT

Monitor staff

Published: 12-05-2016 11:33 PM

Alongside representatives from the state’s congressional delegation, the New Hampshire National Guard celebrated the opening of its newest training facility in Pembroke, a multi-million dollar project many years in the making.

As snow fell outside, Maj. Gen. Bill Reddel told a small audience on Monday morning that one of the first things he had done when he took over as adjutant general for the N.H. National Guard had been to buy the 200-acre parcel on Riverwood Drive.

“That was in 2009. And remember, quite a few years before that, probably two to three years before that, we started planning for this building,” he said.

Construction began on the facility in 2011 and was scheduled to finish in 2013. But construction was halted in 2012 over concerns about the quality of work being done by then-contractor TLT Construction of Wakefield, Mass. The state terminated their contract with company and Eckman Construction of Bedford was chosen to finish the job in 2014.

Reddel noted “a hiccup” had further delayed the facility’s construction.

“But once you walk through this building, it was worth the wait,” he said.

The 100,000-square foot facility includes a 180-seat auditorium, five multi-use classroom spaces, 64 double-occupancy and 8 single-occupancy dormitory rooms, office space, and a vehicle training bay.

Built with regional and recycled materials and featuring environmentally-friendly elements like porous pavements, rainwater harvesting, and solar-powered hot water, the building holds a silver LEED certification.

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The state funded the $3 million land purchase. The federal government paid $31.8 million for the facility’s construction and design.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, called the new training facility “magnificent” – and long overdue.

“As you all know, for too long, we’ve had training facilities in New Hampshire that have been outdated. So many of them before the Cold War,” she said.

The complex will replace an aging facility in Strafford and be a regional training center for New England, hosting military qualification courses as well as officer and warrant officer candidate schools.

The role of the National Guard had dramatically expanded since Sept. 11, 2001, Shaheen said.

“We’ve made extraordinary demands on you, on your families, on your employers. And so we are very grateful for your service,” she said. “But, we pay the price in those repeated deployments and the relentless operational tempo. Most significantly, it’s taken a toll on the readiness of the Army.”

Shaheen said she was “struck” by recent testimony delivered by Army chief of staff Gen. Mark Milley to the Senate Armed Services Committee when lawmakers asked him what his number one priority was.

“His answer was readiness,” Shaheen said – ahead even of weapons systems modernization and infrastructure.

“Within readiness, one of his top three priorities was providing realistic training to National Guard soldiers at Combat Training Centers, CTCs, like this one, both stateside and abroad,” she said.

Shaheen continued: “He said that many more Guard units should be going to a CTC and that the key to success at the CTC is home-station preparatory training, ideally, training at facilities as excellent as this one.”

The first class will arrive in late spring, N.H. National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Gregory Heilshorn said.

Representatives from Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and U.S Rep. Annie Kuster’s offices read statements on their behalfs. Reddel read a letter of congratulations from Gov. Maggie Hassan.

(Lola Duffort can be reached at 369-3321 lduffort@cmonitor.com.)

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