THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511170918
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORIE GOMEZ, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Virginia National Guard officials have announced that the Capt. Frederick E. Consolvo Jr. Memorial Armory on Bainbridge Boulevard will be closed.
After 39 years of service, the armory will shut its doors forever by the end of the year, and the men and women of the 229th Military Police Company will take up residence at the Norfolk Armory on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
The Chesapeake Armory is one of six in Virginia that will be closed as part of a restructuring of the Department of Defense, according to Guard spokesman Capt. Tom Craig.
Several criteria were used in making the decision. One was consolidating resources to take the Virginia National Guard successfully into the next century, and another was cost savings.
Paid for with a combination of federal, state and local funds, the armory site on Bainbridge Boulevard was provided by the then city of South Norfolk. Originally, operation and maintenance expenses for the facility were paid by the city in return for use of the armory when it was not in use by the National Guard. However, Chesapeake withdrew its support in 1982, and the state assumed all operating costs. Since the Chesapeake Armory is now funded exclusively by the state, its estimated $33,000 annual operating costs will mean a significant savings when it closes.
Space was available at the Norfolk Armory, so Guard officials saw that moving the 229th to that location would not only be more cost effective, but it would also keep the unit intact.
``Part of the intent was to minimize the impact on our soldiers,'' Craig said. Indeed, soldiers of the 229th fared better than the men and women from other state armories. Several units were disbanded or moved to other states. The 229th MP Company, under the command of Capt. Wesley K. Stewart, will retain all its 180 soldiers.
During peacetime, the 229th, like the rest of the National Guard, reports to the governor and is available to provide additional manpower during natural disasters or civil disturbances. But they spend their training weekends preparing for their primary mission, which is wartime prisoner of war control and other security/police functions.
During Operation Desert Storm, the 229th was activated and served in Saudi Arabia for about eight months, Craig said. There they handled POWs and helped guard port facilities in Dhahran.
Once the Armory is closed, the state-owned property will be turned over to the Department of General Services to be sold. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
The Chesapeake Armory is one of six in Virginia that will be
closed.
by CNB