National Guard finalizes relocation to Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany

MCLB-ALBANY — The commitment for mission expansion at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany will be further solidified this week with the ribbon-cutting of a National Guard facility onboard the base.

Work was done on a former maintenance facility at the installation to meet the needs of the Albany-based National Guard armory located on North Monroe Street. The culmination will come on Thursday morning, at which time there is a ribbon-cutting set for the renovated building.

“The Georgia Army National Guard has a scheduled Oct. 5 ribbon-cutting to announce its official move to Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany, as agreed to between the Department of Defense and the state of Georgia,” Colie Young, public affairs officer at MCLB-Albany, said. “This move enhances the security of the applicable units and makes MCLB-Albany’s resources, in accordance with regulations and the agreement, much more available to the Guardsmen who will work and drill at these units.

“Moreover, this continues a historical relationship that has existed between the Marine Corps and the National Guard for so many years in peacetime, national emergencies and armed conflict. MCLB Albany officials are looking forward to working with the Georgia Army National Guard to address various challenges and opportunities in a mutually beneficial manner.”

A reality faced by military installations at a time when reduced costs are necessary is a potential mark from Base Realignment and Closure, from which military bases can gain more leverage by increasing the number of missions they support. The move of the National Guard armory to MCLB-Albany was something that was several years in the making.

On April 28, 2014, the armory was dedicated for the late Command Sgt. Maj. Billy G. Manning. At the time of the dedication, friends of Manning said his name would still likely be attached to the armory if it were to relocate to MCLB-Albany.

Funding allowing for the relocation of the armory onto the base came when Gov. Nathan Deal’s supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2016, announced on Jan. 14, 2015, included $1.1 million for the facility. Shortly afterward, the Albany City Commission and Dougherty County Commission each committed $200,000 to cover the remainder of the necessary cost.

The former maintenance facility was vacated to make room for the National Guard. An EF3-strength tornado that came through southeastern Albany on Jan. 22 impacted the facility when the tornado cut across the industrial sector of the base. The intended building was on the western edge of the storm’s path, so there was roof damage that required repair.

One prominent person recognized as essential to the armory move who will not be there for the official opening is Brig. Gen. Tom Carden, until recently the Georgia National Guard’s assistant adjutant general. Nominated by National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel and supported by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Carden was approved for the appointment as the U.S. Army’s deputy commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) multinational division headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and shipped off to his new post on Sunday.

“It breaks my heart not to be there,” said Carden, who was born in Dawson and grew up in Sumter County. “This is something I’ve been actively involved in for 20 years, for most of the 32 years I’ve been in the Guard. But I’m so proud to see this come to fruition.

“The move is, I believe, a textbook example of what can happen when the public, the community and the government work together for the common good. In addition to the people of Albany and the surrounding area, our governor, the state legislature, and the city and county commissions there all had a hand in making this happen.”

Georgia Guard Deputy Adjutant General Joe Farrero, who is also an attorney, credits former Dougherty County Commission Chairman Jeff Sinyard with making the move happen.

“Bodine’s the guy,” Farrero said, using Sinyard’s nickname. “There were so many people who had a part in making this happen, from the governor on down. But I’m telling you, without Bodine Sinyard, the move would never have happened.”

Sinyard downplayed his role in the move. But he acknowledges that his advocacy for the Guard armory’s location onboard the Albany Marine base became one of his primary goals as he served on the Dougherty Commission and in appointed statewide positions.

“We knew we had to get ahead of the curve when it came to BRAC,” Sinyard said. “We’d been through two, and in one of them our base was actually put on the list (for closure), but was taken off. We knew we had to be proactive and aggressive when it came to fighting for our base. Because, I’m telling you, that base is the nucleus of this region. We figured if we could get the Guard inside those gates, it was one more layer – along with locating the Veterans Affairs clinic there – one more mission for that facility.”

Carlton Fletcher contributed to this report.