43
Ceremony celebrates Camp Ravenna
By ED RUNYAN
NEWTON FALLS
Though the work began several weeks ago, officials broke ground Monday on a $2 million, 116-bed barracks and a $1.6 million water and sewer project at Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center.
The location of the barracks is at the eastern edge of the 21,403-acre Ohio National Guard military training site, close to the intersection of state Routes 5 and 534 in Braceville Township.
The ceremony also celebrates the investment the federal government has made in the former Ravenna Arsenal site acquired by the Ohio National Guard in 1999.
In addition to the $9.3 million worth of building and infrastructure improvements completed and in progress, the training center also had in 2009 a payroll of about $10 million, with contracts of about $3.8 million, the National Guard says.
Major General Gregory Wayt, Ohio adjutant general in Gov. Ted Strickland’s cabinet, gave credit to U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, for securing the funding for the center.
Wayt said it’s beneficial for members of the Ohio National Guard to train in Ohio instead of having to travel to Michigan and Indiana as in the past.
“The long-term vision is to train soldiers not only for mobilization [abroad], but also homeland defense,” he said, adding that soldiers all over the U.S. and the world can train here.
Already since 2005, the facility has doubled the amount of training it provides, he said.
The training center itself is massive. At 21,403 acres, the camp makes up 15 percent of the land in Portage County, he noted.
Ryan mentioned that he secured $2 million for construction of a 5,500-square foot live-fire “shoot house” to train soldiers in the complexities of urban combat. Its construction will be finished sometime next year.
“We’re going to build these facilities up ... because these soldiers deserve it. They deserve the best,” Ryan said.
Ryan said the training facilities for today’s soldier need to be the best because their tasks are more difficult than ever before in places like Iraq, where the battle zone frequently is a city.
With his new position on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Ryan said, “I think we’re going to ramp up what we’re going to do here.”