Airport leasing more land to guard Armory consolidation relocating equipment

The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission has approved leasing more land to the Iowa Army National Guard for military vehicle parking at the Cedar Rapids Armed Forces Reserve Center near The Eastern Iowa Airport.

Don Swanson, airport director of finance and administration, said the 2.5 acres of land adjacent to the armory at 1500 Wright Brothers Blvd. SW will be paved to provide parking for heavy equipment. The airport will receive annual rent of $14,500 for the land, which has been used for farmland.

The Iowa Army National Guard has been closing outdated armories since 2000, relocating military units into higher demographic areas and consolidating units on a regional basis to better utilize training resources.

Col. Greg Hapgood, director of public affairs for the Iowa National Guard, said the 203,000-square-foot Cedar Rapids Armed Forces Reserve Center, which opened in 2011, can accommodate additional military personnel. He said the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 224th Engineer Battalion will move from Fairfield to the Cedar Rapids Armed Forces Reserve Center in late 2016.

Hapgood said approximately 80 soldiers comprising Company A, 224th Engineer Battalion will be assigned to either the Headquarters, 1034th Composite Supply Company, a new unit of approximately 95 soldiers to be based in Fairfield, or Company E, 334th Brigade Support Battalion based in Cedar Rapids, which consists of approximately 100 soldiers.

Every soldier moving from the Fairfield armory, both full-time and part-time personnel, will have the option to either remain at Fairfield, transfer to Cedar Rapids, or transfer to another Iowa Army National Guard unit.

The changes, announced in mid-December 2015, are attributed to a nationwide restructuring of the Army National Guard due to changes in national defense needs and strategies.

'We are doing everything in our power to minimize inconvenience to soldiers, their families, and the affected communities, and to maintain the highest possible readiness for soldiers and units during the restructuring,” said Maj. Gen. Tim Orr, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, in a statement.

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