CHICOPEE, Mass. (April 25, 2010)- Hundreds of military service members in the Massachusetts and Connecticut areas have a new "home" after the official opening of a new, joint reserve center recently.
The Armed Forces Reserve Center was officially dedicated and opened during a ribbon cutting ceremony here on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at the Westover Air Reserve Base.
Among the attendees were Rep. Richard E. Neal, Maj. Gen. William Monk III, commanding general of the 99th Fort Dix, N.J., Brig. Gen. Peter Lennon, commanding general of the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Coraopolis, Pa., Col. Stephen J. Falcone, commander of the 655th Regional Support Group, Devens, Mass., and Air Force Col. Patrick Cloutier, vice commander of the 439th Airlift Wing, which is located on Westover Air Reserve Base here.
The creation of the AFRC will bring together the reserve's latest training and administration requirements using an array of sustainability concepts for classroom training, vehicle maintenance and storage. The new complex consists of five buildings and will house approximately 800 service members from the Army Reserve, Massachusetts National Guard, and Marine Corps Reserve to include the Army Reserve's 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 655th Regional Support Group, 382nd Military Police Battalion, 226th Transportion Company, 287th Dental Company, 304th Transportation Company, and the Massachusetts National Guard Detachment 1, 747th Military Police Company, and Marines from the Machine Gun Platoon, Support Company, Anti-Terrorism Battalion, and the 4th Marine Division.
The center, a result of the Base Realignment and Closure Act recommendations that were made in 2005, brings units together that were formerly located at five centers throughout, Chicopee, Springfield, Devens and Windsor Locks, Conn.
Approximately $35 million went into the construction of the facility which was built by military engineers and Consigli, a civilian construction company. The new center is approximately 122,000 square feet and includes a 25,000 square-foot vehicle maintenance shop, an unheated storage building with approximately 3,600 square feet, and approximately 17,600 square feet for employee and military vehicle parking.
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