After Upgrades, South Bend Armory Hosts Open House
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
For four hours Saturday, the ING held an open house for the armory at 1901 Kemble Ave., South Bend, with free food, vehicle and weapons displays and benefit reps on hand.
The armory reopened in February after three years and over $21 million in improvements, according to a May 13 South Bend Tribune story. With its reopening, the 2nd Battalion of the 151st Infantry Regiment was able to move back in from its temporary home in LaPorte County. The federally funded project added approximately 40,000 square feet to the building and remodeled 39,000 square feet of existing space, the Tribune story states.
Master Sgt. Denny J. Harlan organized Saturday’s open house.
“The purpose of the open house is that we just did a $23 million upgrade to this building so it’s a chance to invite the public out to kind of see what we had done to it over the last three years, see the capabilities of what our units do and what type of equipment they use. And, obviously, we want to try and educate the community on what type of benefits there are to being a member of the National Guard,” Harlan said Saturday at the open house.
He said they were “very pleased” with the turnout.
“This is a very patriotic area of the country, so we knew we would do well, but this is very impressive,” Harlan said.
The original armory was built sometime in the 1950s, he said. “The upgrades that they did here really modernized the training facilities that we have here in the building. The classrooms are all up-to-date, 100 percent digital. We’ve got some virtual training opportunities here that we didn’t use to have,” he said.
The armory eventually will become a regional training base for units from Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, he continued.
“Very proud of this building. They’ve done an excellent job with the renovations of this,” Harlan said.
“Thank you to everybody who came out and supported our event today. It really shows what our community can do when we come together and show support for the soliders and stuff, so we really appreciate everybody’s support,” he stated.
The weapons on display were those all Guardsmen get to train on. The M4 is the 6.5-pound standard infantry rifle that every soldier uses. The M240B is a medium machine gun weighing 27.6 pounds empty, and the M2 Browning machine gun weighs 84 pounds empty.
Sgt. Ryan Everett was giving visitors information on the Front Line Ambulance. He said the big difference between the military ambulance and a regular ambulance is that the FLA doesn’t have lights and sirens and it’s more basic without the advanced technology.
The military ambulance does have an air filtration system in it so if necessary it can be closed up and “good” air can be put into it for the patients. The patient area can be both heated and cooled.
Everett said minor surgeries can be performed in the back of the ambulance. It can carry four patients if they need to be strapped down, or eight mobile patients.
Once a Guard medic graduates from 16 weeks of Advanced Individual Training, they can operate the military ambulance. After the first half of their AIT, they earn their national registry EMT basic, which is the lowest level of EMT certification. The second half of AIT is the Army side of training.
The military ambulance is provided for every firing range that is live. “There’s always a medic on scene,” Everett said.
Also on hand at the armory was a UH-72 Lakota helicopter. All Army helicopters are named after Indian tribes, according to Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Orr. The helicopter at the armory was a 2013 model.
“It’s just a civilian helicopter painted green. It’s used only domestically,” he said. There are no weapon attachments, but it has camera, laser, thermal and spotlight systems. Orr said the Guard uses its helicopters for border patrol, homeland security and other domestic purposes.
SSG. Jennifer A. Zalaker was offering the public information on the University of Notre Dame Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program. She said the numbers of people in it fluctuate, but it also has satellite schools like at Bethel and Holy Cross. Because Notre Dame is a private school, those in the ROTC program have range of backgrounds.
“It’s a nice blend with the ultimate goal that once they start the program, they hopefully will commission,” she said.
Just because a person is in the ROTC, there’s no assumption of military obligation. In a student’s freshman and sophomore year, they can participate as a civilian and there is no monetary or educational incentives. The cadets do learn skills like leadership, time managements and Army courtesy.
Around a student’s sophomore and junior years, if they are an active participant and doing well, they may be offered a scholarship.
Zalaker highlighted the Guard’s four-year Minuteman Scholarship, which high school seniors, current college or graduate students can apply for and receive. It covers full tuition and fees uncapped at any college or university served by an Army ROTC program. “We have opportunities,” she said.
For more information on the Notre Dame ROTC program, Zalaker can be contacted at 219-577-7576 or [email protected]
Pvt. Kathleen Gearhart is a Penn High School junior who joined the Guard in November. She wants to go to active duty right out of college. By joining the Guard, she said she will be able to go to college, paid for by the Guard, and then go into active duty with all the skills. She is learning to be a combat medic.
She’s also an All-American rugby player, who can bench 135 pounds; do 66 pushups in 2 minutes; and 65 situps in 2 minutes; and run 2 miles in 14 minutes, 40 seconds. “That kind of sport made me realize the strengths I never knew I had. The Army didn’t seem as intimidating after that,” she said.
While Gearhart’s Guard career is just beginning, Sgt. Maj. Rick Weber enlisted Feb. 4 1990.
He said he enjoys being in the Guard “because we’re a community-based organization. We get to help other Hoosiers. We get to answer our nation’s call – I went to Iraq in 2003; I’ve sandbagged; I’ve responded to tornadoes. It’s the one unique service where we can change lives, help people here and all over the world.”
Weber said that while recruits might enlist for the benefits, they stay in the Guard because “they love wearing the uniform, they love knowing the flag flies because they wear this uniform. They love the pride when they walk down the street and someone thanks them for their service. That’s a learned behavior, that’s not something you just have inherently coming in. One percent of the population wears this uniform, so it’s 1 percent protecting the other 99. That 1 percent makes sure that no matter what, that flag we fly (is flying) when we wake up in the morning.”[[In-content Ad]]
For four hours Saturday, the ING held an open house for the armory at 1901 Kemble Ave., South Bend, with free food, vehicle and weapons displays and benefit reps on hand.
The armory reopened in February after three years and over $21 million in improvements, according to a May 13 South Bend Tribune story. With its reopening, the 2nd Battalion of the 151st Infantry Regiment was able to move back in from its temporary home in LaPorte County. The federally funded project added approximately 40,000 square feet to the building and remodeled 39,000 square feet of existing space, the Tribune story states.
Master Sgt. Denny J. Harlan organized Saturday’s open house.
“The purpose of the open house is that we just did a $23 million upgrade to this building so it’s a chance to invite the public out to kind of see what we had done to it over the last three years, see the capabilities of what our units do and what type of equipment they use. And, obviously, we want to try and educate the community on what type of benefits there are to being a member of the National Guard,” Harlan said Saturday at the open house.
He said they were “very pleased” with the turnout.
“This is a very patriotic area of the country, so we knew we would do well, but this is very impressive,” Harlan said.
The original armory was built sometime in the 1950s, he said. “The upgrades that they did here really modernized the training facilities that we have here in the building. The classrooms are all up-to-date, 100 percent digital. We’ve got some virtual training opportunities here that we didn’t use to have,” he said.
The armory eventually will become a regional training base for units from Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, he continued.
“Very proud of this building. They’ve done an excellent job with the renovations of this,” Harlan said.
“Thank you to everybody who came out and supported our event today. It really shows what our community can do when we come together and show support for the soliders and stuff, so we really appreciate everybody’s support,” he stated.
The weapons on display were those all Guardsmen get to train on. The M4 is the 6.5-pound standard infantry rifle that every soldier uses. The M240B is a medium machine gun weighing 27.6 pounds empty, and the M2 Browning machine gun weighs 84 pounds empty.
Sgt. Ryan Everett was giving visitors information on the Front Line Ambulance. He said the big difference between the military ambulance and a regular ambulance is that the FLA doesn’t have lights and sirens and it’s more basic without the advanced technology.
The military ambulance does have an air filtration system in it so if necessary it can be closed up and “good” air can be put into it for the patients. The patient area can be both heated and cooled.
Everett said minor surgeries can be performed in the back of the ambulance. It can carry four patients if they need to be strapped down, or eight mobile patients.
Once a Guard medic graduates from 16 weeks of Advanced Individual Training, they can operate the military ambulance. After the first half of their AIT, they earn their national registry EMT basic, which is the lowest level of EMT certification. The second half of AIT is the Army side of training.
The military ambulance is provided for every firing range that is live. “There’s always a medic on scene,” Everett said.
Also on hand at the armory was a UH-72 Lakota helicopter. All Army helicopters are named after Indian tribes, according to Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Orr. The helicopter at the armory was a 2013 model.
“It’s just a civilian helicopter painted green. It’s used only domestically,” he said. There are no weapon attachments, but it has camera, laser, thermal and spotlight systems. Orr said the Guard uses its helicopters for border patrol, homeland security and other domestic purposes.
SSG. Jennifer A. Zalaker was offering the public information on the University of Notre Dame Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program. She said the numbers of people in it fluctuate, but it also has satellite schools like at Bethel and Holy Cross. Because Notre Dame is a private school, those in the ROTC program have range of backgrounds.
“It’s a nice blend with the ultimate goal that once they start the program, they hopefully will commission,” she said.
Just because a person is in the ROTC, there’s no assumption of military obligation. In a student’s freshman and sophomore year, they can participate as a civilian and there is no monetary or educational incentives. The cadets do learn skills like leadership, time managements and Army courtesy.
Around a student’s sophomore and junior years, if they are an active participant and doing well, they may be offered a scholarship.
Zalaker highlighted the Guard’s four-year Minuteman Scholarship, which high school seniors, current college or graduate students can apply for and receive. It covers full tuition and fees uncapped at any college or university served by an Army ROTC program. “We have opportunities,” she said.
For more information on the Notre Dame ROTC program, Zalaker can be contacted at 219-577-7576 or [email protected]
Pvt. Kathleen Gearhart is a Penn High School junior who joined the Guard in November. She wants to go to active duty right out of college. By joining the Guard, she said she will be able to go to college, paid for by the Guard, and then go into active duty with all the skills. She is learning to be a combat medic.
She’s also an All-American rugby player, who can bench 135 pounds; do 66 pushups in 2 minutes; and 65 situps in 2 minutes; and run 2 miles in 14 minutes, 40 seconds. “That kind of sport made me realize the strengths I never knew I had. The Army didn’t seem as intimidating after that,” she said.
While Gearhart’s Guard career is just beginning, Sgt. Maj. Rick Weber enlisted Feb. 4 1990.
He said he enjoys being in the Guard “because we’re a community-based organization. We get to help other Hoosiers. We get to answer our nation’s call – I went to Iraq in 2003; I’ve sandbagged; I’ve responded to tornadoes. It’s the one unique service where we can change lives, help people here and all over the world.”
Weber said that while recruits might enlist for the benefits, they stay in the Guard because “they love wearing the uniform, they love knowing the flag flies because they wear this uniform. They love the pride when they walk down the street and someone thanks them for their service. That’s a learned behavior, that’s not something you just have inherently coming in. One percent of the population wears this uniform, so it’s 1 percent protecting the other 99. That 1 percent makes sure that no matter what, that flag we fly (is flying) when we wake up in the morning.”[[In-content Ad]]
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