Washington – Senator Evan Bayh is urging the chief of the National Guard Bureau to use funds from the economic recovery package to help repair two Indiana National Guard training facilities: Muscatatuck Urban Training Center outside Butlerville and the Joint Maneuver Training Center at Camp Atterbury in Columbus.

In a March 19 letter to National Guard Chief General Craig McKinley, Bayh asks the general to allocate a portion of the more than $290 million in operation and maintenance funding the National Guard Bureau will receive as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to repair vital training facilities for the Indiana Army National Guard.

“Nothing is more integral to the success of our troops than proper training. Providing our servicemen and women realistic training scenarios here at home helps ensure they are duly prepared for the challenges they will face in a deployed environment,” Bayh wrote.

Bayh emphasized that the facilities are “in dire need of maintenance” and urged McKinley to “consider the needs of the Indiana Army National Guard.” Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC), a full-immersion contemporary urban training environment, requires approximately $15.2 million for building repair and maintenance. The Joint Maneuver Training Center at Camp Atterbury needs approximately $5.4 million for building and road repair.

Also signing the letter to McKinley are Indiana Congressmen Pete Visclosky, Baron Hill, Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and André Carson.

Indiana has also received $15.9 million in economic recovery funds through the Department of Defense (DoD) for operations and maintenance projects, including:

• $4.9 million for repair and modernization of two buildings at the Crane Army Ammunition Activity in southern Indiana to create a safer, more efficient environment for Army civilian employees.
• $4.8 million to refurbish Stout Field in Indianapolis, home of the Indiana National Guard Headquarters. The building being repaired being is currently unoccupied but will house headquarters staff after renovations are complete.
• More than $2.4 million will be shared throughout Indiana to repair or replace roofs of Indiana Army National Guard (INARNG) readiness centers in Indianapolis, Michigan City, Hartford City, Lebanon, Muncie, Terre Haute, Jasper, Frankfort and Seymour.
• $1.7 million to renovate the Family Readiness Center at Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base outside Peru. The center provides programs to Indiana service members and their families to adapt to the changes and demands of military life, including employment and financial services assistance.
• $915,000 for building repairs to an INARNG readiness center in South Bend.
• $750,000 to replace the roof of the INARNG Regional Training Institute, located at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh.
• $425,000 for window replacement at an INARNG readiness center in Lebanon.

“Indiana’s soldiers make extraordinary sacrifices to serve their fellow Hoosiers and keep the United States safe,” Bayh said. “These funds from the economic recovery package will help ensure that Hoosier soldiers have the training, preparation and support facilities necessary to continue their exceptional record of service.”

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