Kansas: National Guard, Sebelius propose regional training centers

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April 13, 2007

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Fri Apr 13, 2007, 11:09 PM CDT

The Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. — The state would create five regional centers to train state and local emergency responders and the Kansas National Guard under a plan outlined by officials Friday.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said she would ask legislators to allow the Adjutant General’s Department to issue up to $32 million in bonds over three years to buy the land and establish the centers. Sites would be chosen in each of the state’s four corners, with a central hub in Salina.

“The training centers provide a great opportunity to bring Guard and first responders together for ongoing training, because we know that’s the team that’s called on to respond,” Sebelius said. “Proper training not only enhances the safety of our Guard members and Kansas first responders, but it helps them protect us.

“And right now, we’ve got some real gaps here in Kansas.”

Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting said the project was conceived after many discussions with local and state emergency officials about the need for training. Homeland security missions also require that agencies work closely in responding to disasters — natural and man-made.

“It’s wildly important to us,” Bunting said of the project and its goals. “In Kansas, we actually talk to each other. We believe the best way to be safe in this country is to train together every day.”

Sebelius said the bonds would be repaid with general tax dollars beginning in fiscal year 2009. Legislators will consider the request when they return on April 25 to begin the wrap-up of the 2007 session.

Ongoing operating costs would be funded by about $1.4 million in federal funds and $300,000 in state funds. However, Bunting said, operations could be funded by fees charged to other states or first responders that use the centers for training.

Each center would be built on up to 1,280 acres, with space to land helicopters and aircraft such as small planes or the Army’s C-130 cargo plane.

Mock villages would be constructed to allow responders to train on fire, medical and hazardous material responses; National Guard units could use them to prepare for tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Bunting said the centers would reduce the amount of time soldiers or first responders spend driving to sites outside Kansas and away from their families.

He said up to 90 percent of the training required to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan could be completed at one of the centers, reducing the time away from families and jobs, currently lasting as long as 18 months.

“Many of them wouldn’t have to leave the state at all,” Bunting said. “No other state has made this investment.”

Sebelius said with the frequency of deployments and lack of equipment — the Kansas National Guard has only about 40 percent of gear it needs — soldiers have to leave the state months in advance of when they must go to Iraq. Currently, more than 800 Kansans are in Iraq, with 170 scheduled to go later this year and two other units on alert.

Bunting envisions the Salina center as the state’s largest, building on existing facilities at the Smoky Hill National Guard range, where aircraft have trained for years. With adjacent controlled airspace near Fort Riley, the military could expand its training capability to conduct air operations in 4 million acres of open Kansas skies.

Brig. Gen. Ed Flora, commander of the Air National Guard, said the state already has an agreement with Fort Riley for joint training operations. Last year, the 4th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division trained at the Smoky Hill site before it went to Iraq. The brigade sent 2,000 soldiers to the range to work on coordinating air and ground support.

The Smoky Hill site, which includes 36,000 acres on the ground, plus two adjoining controlled air spaces, is 60 miles southwest of Fort Riley.

“It provides realistic training, and it can be ongoing realistic training,” Flora said. “We call it the intersection of air and ground power coming together. It is a unique arrangement.”

————

On the Net:

Adjutant general’s department: www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral

Governor’s office: http://www.ksgovernor.org

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Kansas: National Guard, Sebelius propose regional training centers

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

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