Guard Offers Armory To City
The Mississippi Army National Guard extended an offer to the City of Water Valley to terminate the lease on the city-owned building as part of a plan to reduce the number of armories in the state. The 14,000 square foot building located on Wise Street in Water Valley houses a detachment of the 289th Engineer Company.
By David Howell
Editor
WATER VALLEY – City officials heard an offer from the Mississippi Army National Guard to relinquish the lease on the city-owned armory located on Wise Street as part of plans to reduce the number of armories in the state from 73 to 55.
Speaking at the city board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5, Col. Paul McDonald explained that the National Guard is reaching out to cities and towns across the state to offer the buildings back to the communities. McDonald also said the offer is not an attempt to force the City of Water Valley to close the armory, but added that downsizing is inevitable.
“If there is a strong reason that the city really wants to keep the guard presence there, then we are not abandoning,” McDonald told city officials. He said the state’s armory infrastructure dates back to the 1960s when there were 12,500 Army National Guard soldiers in the state, adding that the current number is around 9,500. McDonald also explained that young recruits no longer join a unit because family members previously served in the same unit.
“They go where the military career is that they want. If they want to be signal, they go to Meridian, if they want to be military intelligence, they go Camp Shelby because that is where that unit is,” McDonald explained. “The mindset of young people, they don’t mind driving.”
The Water Valley armory houses a detachment of the 289th Engineer Company and the company’s headquarters is located in Bruce. McDonald said his latest check indicated that seven of the 50-plus soldiers assigned to the Water Valley detachment live within a 25-mile radius of the armory.
The armory building in Water Valley is approximately 14,000 square feet and is located on a 2.5-acre tract of property. The building and property is valued around $2 million, according to McDonald. Under the lease, the city does not receive payment from the National Guard for use of the building. The city and county split the cost of utilities for the building,
McDonald said a number of armories in the state have been repurposed for local communities, citing an example in Grenada where the armory building will be utilized by the Grenada School District.
Questions from aldermen
“How many folks work there today?” Ward 1 Alderman Kagan Coughlin asked.
McDonald said two full-time soldiers are assigned to the Water Valley detachment. He also said if the armory was closed, they would be reassigned to a nearby unit and would not lose their jobs.
“So the Army is not trying to shut this armory down,” Ward Three Alderman Cinnamon Foster asked.
“No, the stationing of the National Guard is purely at the discretion of the governor and adjutant general,” McDonald answered. “The Army tells the guard how many soldiers we can have in this state… where the governor and adjutant general decide to station those soldiers is purely their decision,” McDon-ald answered.
“But they are not doing that, correct?” Foster asked about input from the governor and adjutant general regarding the closure of the Water Valley armory.
“They are not doing that, General Boyles has taken the position that we are going to come first to the communities that want the facilities for whatever purpose that they want them for,” McDonald answered about the decision to allow communities to have input about the closures.
“Do they do any training here any more?” Mayor Pro Tempore Donald Gray asked about activities at the Water Valley detachment.
“They are supposed to drill one weekend a month,” McDonald answered, adding the local commander has the discretion to decide if the training is conducted at the Water Valley detachment or at the parent company in Bruce.
“I just wanted the community to know and talk about it because it is one of the biggest assets we have in town,” Coughlin said about the building. “I would rather not be in the position where the closure is being pushed on us.”
“Why would you voluntarily take two people that are full-time out of their jobs and displace them where they don’t know where they are going next?” Foster asked.
McDonald answered, explaining that soldiers go where they are assigned.
“But why would we want to displace them on purpose?” Foster asked.
“I don’t think anybody here wants that, I think we want the understanding of what y’all are doing,” Gray explained about the intent of the meeting to learn what the National Guard’s plans are for the local armory.
“I can’t guarantee they won’t be reassigned anyway,” McDonald also said about the two-full time soldiers assigned to the detachment in Water Valley. “I have moved my whole career,” he added about military life.
“If it is the city’s intent to keep the facility, to leave the lease with us then that is fine, we will keep the facility,” McDonald added. He also told aldermen that after the number of armories in the state is reduced to 55, no citizen in Mississippi will be located more than 40 miles from a National Guard armory.
“We stand by the Guard’s motto, ‘Always Ready, Always There.’ We are going to be nearby but we can’t afford to be in every community,” McDonald said.
“I just wanted awareness, this is an asset, as the hospital is talking about expansion and the school is doing things,” Coughlin said about extending the invitation for McDonald to attend the city meeting.
