The South Dakota National Guard has a new, state-of-the-art readiness center in Rapid City.
Soldiers, state officials and builders celebrated the 20-million-dollar structure during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday.
Captain John Barnes grew up visiting the National Guard building at the Rapid City airport with his father. And he’s used the crowded facility during his 13-and-a-half years as a pilot.
He said the new Army Aviation Readiness Center is a much-needed addition to the older building.
“I think I’m mostly excited for the extra space, the offices and the classrooms. That has always been the hardest part of drill because we always have a ton of mandatory training and there’s not enough space for everyone,” Barnes said.
The building has storage areas, a gym, vehicle-maintenance bay and other rooms.
“From a perspective of just the building itself, it’s aesthetically just nice,” said Major General Jeff Marlette, the leader of the South Dakota National Guard. “It's bright, it’s modern, it’s well-equipped with classrooms as well and office space for our soldiers to be able to train and do those things. State-of-the-art as far as technology.”
Gov. Kristi Noem said the building sends a message that South Dakota supports its National Guard.
“It says to everybody who sees this facility or hears about it that ‘we support our troops. Here we back them.’ And we back them by making sure that you have the type of the facilities and equipment that you need to do the job.”
The eco-friendly structure was funded with $15 million from the federal government and $5 million from the state.