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Idaho National Guard proposal would close
Bonners Ferry Armory—and
others—many
years from now |
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November 2, 2014 |
Boundary County's Idaho Army National Guard
Armory in Bonners Ferry (also known as a
"Readiness Center") would close in a proposal
the Idaho Army National Guard has submitted to
the U.S. Congress. But before any immediate
alarms or concerns are set off—that
proposed closure would take place quite a few
years from now.
Idaho National Guard Proposes Plan
Back in 2011, Congress asked the National Guard
Bureau to study "Readiness Centers" across the
nation to determine if those facilities,
including some constructed nearly 60 years ago,
remain viable today. The average age of Idaho’s
Readiness Centers is 44 years.
Currently, the Idaho National Guard has
facilities in Bonners Ferry, St. Anthony,
Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Blackfoot, Pocatello,
Preston, Burley, Twin Falls, Gooding, Jerome,
Hailey, Mountain Home, Nampa, Caldwell, Emmett,
Payette, Grangeville, Orofino, Moscow, Lewiston,
Post Falls, Rigby, Driggs, Twin Falls, Wilder,
and Boise.
After an extensive study of National Guard
facilities in Idaho, and taking several factors
into consideration, Idaho's proposal to Congress
for our state would close National Guard
facilities in many areas around the state,
including the Bonners Ferry armory, and
establish nine Readiness Centers in the
vicinities of Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin
Falls, Post Falls, and the Lewiston-Moscow area,
as well as four in southwestern Idaho’s Treasure
Valley.
The Idaho National Guard's study turned up
several issues of concern relating to the
currently operating Readiness Centers around the
state.
1. Most current Idaho Readiness Center
sites have insufficient acreage for expansion.
The Idaho Army National Guard’s study determined
that all but two of the existing readiness
center sites—Mountain Home and Gowen Field in
Boise—have insufficient acreage for expansion.
That means 24 of the 26 sites do not suitably
accommodate soldiers and unit equipment, and as
a result are being considered for closure.
2. City populations and businesses
encroaching closely to current Idaho Readiness
Centers. Many of these facilities were
built on what were at the time remote tracts of
land donated decades ago to the Guard by the
city or county and away from town centers. But
in many cases the communities have grown and now
envelope the sites, limiting their ability to
expand. Additionally, federal guidelines now
include new mandates regarding storage, square
footage per soldier, and distances between
perimeters and structures—all requiring
additional space.
“If the Guard needs to remodel a building, most
likely there’s a need for additional land to
expand and in most cases, the current lots are
too small for additional square footage, force
protection perimeters, and even vehicle
parking,” said Major Lee Rubel, a planning
officer with the Idaho Army National Guard’s
Construction Facility Management Office.
3. Changing demographics.
Current personnel and future recruits also are
considerations, and the demographics have
changed. Recruiting populations have shifted
over the past 50 years to larger regional
population centers. Idaho's new plan attempts to
establish sites within 50 miles of these
population centers. In some cases the Guard’s
study found Readiness Centers located in
communities without a single local soldier being
assigned there.
4. Travel distances and times.
“It is a command and control issue for leaders
of units that sprawl across a large geographical
area,” said Colonel Farin Schwartz, Construction
Facility Management Officer for the Idaho Army
National Guard. “A commander uses so much of his
or her precious time just commuting while
circulating though the units. This proposal
would reduce that. It would also facilitate a
commander’s ability to rapidly coordinate and
respond to a state emergency by having personnel
and equipment consolidated in regionally
strategic locations.”
5. Aging facilities. “When we
construct facilities, they’re built with the
next 67 years in mind, and during that lifespan
we can plan to conduct one major and two minor
remodels in order to keep conditions safe and
efficient for our personnel,” said Major Rubel.
“For our buildings that were constructed in the
1950s and 60s, we need to plan the end of their
life cycle.”
In adding all this up, the Idaho Army National
Guard determined the Guard and the state would
best be served by closing many facilities around
the state and establishing the nine regional
Readiness Centers as described above. One of the
facilities on the closure list is the Armory in
Bonners Ferry.
Proposal Submitted to Congress—Multiple
Times
Idaho has submitted this proposal annually to
Congress in 2013, 2014, and again this year in
2015. The Idaho National Guard has had hopes
each year its proposal would be accepted.
Idaho's proposal competes each year in a group
of proposals from 54 U.S. states and territories
for modernization and upgrades to their
facilities. The 2013 proposal was not successful
for Idaho. The results of the 2014 proposal
won't be announced until February 2016, and the
most recent 2015 proposal has to wait until
February 2017 and the publication of the Annual
Presidential Budget before its status is known.
The nationwide Readiness Center Transformation
Master Plan, involves setting priorities years
into the future, contingent on congressional
approval and funding. Therefore, if Idaho's
proposal were to be accepted by Congress, it
would be years before definite changes would be
seen.
Were the plan to be accepted and the Bonners
Ferry Armory eventually closed, the Bonners
Ferry personnel and equipment would most likely
be transferred to the planned Post Falls
regional facility.
"There is not a set time for when the Bonners
Ferry facility would be closed because these new
Readiness Centers are all part of a 30-40 year
plan, which has not been approved or funded, and
there are no certainties at this point," said
Major Christopher Borders with the Idaho
National Guard. "Also, the new proposed
Readiness Center in the Post Falls Area would
have to be constructed prior to the closing of
Bonners Ferry."
Brief History of the Early Years of the
Boundary County Unit of the Idaho National Guard
The Bonners Ferry unit of the Idaho National
Guard began in 1940 as Battery B Field
Artillery. Later, in 1954, as local citizens
successfully lobbied to have an engineer unit
assigned to Bonners Ferry, the unit was
transformed into the 127th Engineer Company. The
hope was that an engineering unit would be a
powerful resource to use when the Kootenai River
threatened flooding, and sure enough, that very
summer of 1954 the unit had to skip their summer
training to help combat the overflowing Kootenai
River.
In 1956, the unit was reorganized as Company A
of the 882nd Engineer Battalion, a member of the
Idaho Falls 145th Engineer Group, and that same
summer once again helped combat the flooding
Kootenai. Because of the need for help with
spring flooding, the unit kept equipment on hand
specifically to help with flood control.
But their work locally back in those days
extended far beyond flood control alone. Bonners
Ferry's Company A also pitched in to help with
snow removal in the wintertime, leveling of the
playground areas at Mt. Hall and Valley View
schools, helping with earth projects for the
city's Myrtle Creek water system, helped in
construction of the boat landing approach area
in Bonners Ferry, worked on a race track at the
fairgrounds, and helped out with many other
local area projects over those beginning years
for Boundary County's unit of the Idaho National
Guard.
It was around 1956 that efforts were first
directed toward construction of a new armory in
Bonners Ferry. After two years, bids were
requested, a Moscow, Idaho company was selected
for the construction, and In mid 1958
construction of the armory began on county
property at its current site on the South Hill.
But a big problem arose a couple of months into
construction of the new building. Word was
received that plans were being considered at the
state level to deactivate Bonners Ferry's
Company A of the 882nd Engineers.
Protests arose from the community, and citizens
and their leaders contacted their congressional
representatives, the governor, and National
Guard leaders to state their opposition to the
unit's deactivation and express their desire to
continue with Company A in Boundary County.
As that particular issue continued to smolder,
construction of the new armory continued. The
original cinderblock building was completed in
the fall of 1958, and was first occupied when
National Guard personnel moved their equipment
into the building on Sunday, November 15, 1958.
The original building was approximately 8,500
square feet, it's final cost around $90,000
(which would be equivalent to about $730,000
today), and was owned on a 50-50 basis by
Boundary County and the State of Idaho.
Three months after Company A moved into the new
armory, in February 1959, a public open house
was held to let everyone see the new building
and inspect the unit's equipment.
And that summer, the decision was made regarding
the proposed deactivation of Bonners Ferry's
National Guard unit. Bonners Ferry's Company A
of the 882nd Engineers was eliminated. But the
local unit was then converted to a new
designation: Service Battery, 148th Field
Artillery battalion, with battalion headquarters
located in Lewiston, Idaho.
Information obtained from the Idaho National
Guard shows that 11 years later the unit was
designated as Company D, 1092 Engineering
Battalion in 1970. Sometime later it became
Detachment 1, C Company of the 116th Engineering
Battalion. Today the Boundary County Unit of the
Idaho National Guard is Detachment 1, A Company
of 145th Brigade Support Battalion of the 116th
Cavalry.
Currently, 23 soldiers are authorized for the
Bonners Ferry Armory, but only 15 are actually
assigned there.
Disposition of the Property
If and when the Bonners Ferry facility is
closed, what would become of the building and
property there? "There is currently a one-half
state and one-half county interest in the
property," said Major Borders. "It is likely
that the land would go back to Boundary County
and the state would negotiate with the county
the disposition, sale, or transfer of the
buildings on the property at a time yet to be
determined."
So, to sum it all up, plans are on the table for
the Bonners Ferry National Guard Armory to
close. That event, however, will not become a
reality until—and if—the Idaho National Guard
proposal is actually accepted and funded by
Congress, and even then would likely not happen
for several years in the future. |
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