La. Guard breaks ground on new readiness center in Pineville

By Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana National Guard held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new readiness center at Camp Beauregard in Pineville, Louisiana, Nov. 3.

The Camp Beauregard Readiness Center will house Soldiers from the 2228th Military Police Company and Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, after their armories sustained damage from an EF2 tornado in 2018.

“I am extremely excited to officially break ground today. This center will certainly ignite a sense of pride and a feeling of home for the Soldiers and units who occupy it,” said Maj. Gen. Keith Waddell, adjutant general of the LANG. “I want to express my thanks to Governor Edwards, our congressional delegation, and our state legislators who made this project possible.”

The new facility will increase their square footage and serve the units better using a 2-sided design, improving the units’ readiness posture and providing better spaces for the Soldiers to train. The new facility will have separate offices, storage spaces, and vaults for each unit with main spaces shared by the units including the drill hall, kitchen, locker rooms and classrooms.

The total square footage for this project is 41,878 square feet with a total construction cost of $17,687,160.

“What a couple of years you guys have had between multiple hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, and a global pandemic. I’m afraid to look out the window to see what’s next, but I rest assured that we’ll be taken care of by the men and women who do so much for our state through the National Guard,” said Rep. Mike Johnson of the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana. “General [Waddell], I’m proud to represent the district where this facility is to be located, and I’m particularly proud to see all of these ribbon cuttings that will happen during your tenure and mine.”