Spencer's National Guard Armory will be closed
With West Virginia being a state where every job counts, the Pentagon's base closings has caused a furor.
This week, an announcement was also made to close the National Guard armory in Spencer, home of the 1092nd Engineers, the company that completed a tour of duty in Iraq.
Charleston's Republican Mayor Danny Jones quickly cut to the political chase after hearing that Charleston's 130th Airlift Wing will be taken out of the valley, meaning job losses of about 160 full-time employees.
Jones angrily reminded the Bush administration that West Virginia went red, and "Now we get this."
Sen. Robert Byrd (Democrat), speaking before a Charleston rally for the 130th, threw the base closing list to the floor and Adjutant General Gen. Allen Tackett drop-kicked the document across the auditorium.
Spencer's armory, while a loss to Roane County, will be replaced with a new regional facility that is likely to be built near Ripley.
It will also serve an army reserve unit in Ripley.
The closure of the Spencer armory came with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission report, which would result in the closure or consolidation of five reserve centers in West Virginia.
The chief of the National Guard Bureau, Lieutenant General Steven Blum, says he fully supports the Pentagon's base realignment and closure process, but doesn't want it to cloud important issues such as recruitment and retention.
Staff Sgt. John Lawrentz, a readiness officer at the local 1092nd, told Spencer Newspapers "They want the facilities to be near major highways for access of heavy equipment and to facilitate movement."
The local armory will remain open until the new facility is ready.
Spencer's 1092nd completed a tour in Iraq, returning in 2004
Spencer's armory, built in 1961, is home to the 60-plus members
of Co. B, Detachment 1 of the 1092nd Combat Engineers.
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