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FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, Aug 16, 2011

ON SITE: Mr. Eric Durr -518-429-5186

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (08/15/2011)-- Members of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps Reserve join the New York National Guard Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Patrick A. Murphy, to officially open the new Armed Forces Reserve Center. This facility will jointly house Reserve Component elements of the National Guard, Army Reserve, Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve. WHAT: Ribbon-cutting and formal opening of the Armed Forces Reserve Center. WHO: New York National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Patrick Murphy, along with representatives of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve and elected officials and contractors who contributed to the budget funding, planning and construction of the Armed Forces Reserve Center. WHERE: 25 Baiting Place Road, Farmingdale, New York, 11735 WHEN: Tuesday, August 16 at 11 a.m. BACKGROUND: The new Armed Forces Reserve Center in Farmingdale will house some 1,530 total troops, administration and support elements, including about 150 full-time staff of the New York Army National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve when occupied later this summer. Traditional part-time personnel include about 430 New York Army National Guard; 560 U.S. Army Reservists; 220 U.S. Navy Reservists and 160 U.S. Marine Corps Reservists. The facility, with more than 212,000 square feet, will sustain some 150 military vehicles and include a dozen maintenance bays to support equipment readiness. The $92 million, four-story, state-of-the-art center will contain administrative offices, storage space for military equipment, classrooms, conference rooms and training areas for the maintenance and operation of military equipment. The facility’s central location on Long Island was developed to better serve the reservists from all over the island while giving the New York Army National Guard an advantage in local response. As part of the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC), the new center will consolidate New York Army National Soldiers from multiple New York State Armory sites. The realignment of National Guard forces will both save funds from maintaining numerous sites and provide today’s Citizen Soldiers with modern, technological and sustainable training and administration space. The committee recommended that the U.S. Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve close Reserve Centers in Uniondale and Amityville and re-locate units into the new Farmingdale site. The new facility will also absorb New York National Guard troops from Bayshore, Freeport, Huntington Station, Patchogue and Riverhead and the Field Maintenance Shop in Bayshore. Results of the commission report can be found at http://www.hqda.army.mil/acsim/brac/StateInstallationBreakdown/NYReserveComponent.pdf. The lead contractor for the facility, J. Kokolakis Construction employed as many as 200 various tradesmen at one time during the facility’s construction over the past three years. Updated 08/16/2011 at 08:07 AM EDT

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