Kansas National Guard Armory Closure Factsheet – January 2010

Background.  Due to recent and projected budgetary cuts, continued force structure reductions and long-term sustainment plans, the Kansas National Guard announced the closure of 18 of its 56 National Guard Armories.  The closures are scheduled for early 2010 and will not result in any personnel layoffs. While we would like to be able to keep all the armories open, the realities of force structure reductions and budget cuts made this a necessary decision.  It is important to note, we have never had a facility in every community, but we’ve always responded anywhere we were needed including Greensburg, Chapman and many others locations.

Budget.  Closing the 18 armories addresses the $156,662 state agency cut for Fiscal Year 2010 and $264,217 for Fiscal Year 2011.  For the past ten years, the maintenance and repair of armories has been reduced by more than 70% from $837,000 in 2000 to $229,000 in 2011.  This does not allow us to properly maintain adequate facilities for our personnel.  Also, during this period utility costs have increased almost $500,000. Meanwhile, federal support is also a concern and has only been at 65% of the necessary funds for our armories. And, with funding below the required levels for several years now, we have not been able to bring all of the facilities up to code. We received a one-time bond to improve armories, but will need to have a new round of funding for future needs.

Force Structure and Demographic Changes.  Since the year 2000, the Kansas National Guard has lost one Field Artillery Brigade Headquarters and One Field Artillery Battalion.  Additionally, the 1st Battalion 137th Infantry and 1st Battalion 635th Armor were combined into one battalion.  The total loss for Kansas was 1,536 authorized personnel.  Closing 18 facilities is keeping in line with these force structure reductions.   Our armories were built 40 to 50 years ago based on demographics and key transportation routes of the time and were designed to support Company/Battery size units – 100 to 150 or more troops, but many of the facilities to be closed have 50 or less soldiers training at them. 

Reductions.  Although the focus has been on armories, additional cost-saving reductions have been applied throughout the agency.  These include the Air National Guard significantly reducing their operations in excess of $80,000 which equates to over $320,000 with Federal matching funds.  As the Adjutant General’s Department has always been a lean organization, the final choice for dealing with the cuts ultimately had to be infrastructure or essential personnel.  In order to continue providing disaster-related emergency services, most cuts were taken in infrastructure.

New kind of armory. To ensure future sustainability, the Kansas National Guard is joining with other public safety and community partners in future armory projects. We have done this in Pittsburg, partnering with Pittsburg State University, and will build similar facilities in Wichita and Kansas City, maximizing shared use space with other agencies and partners to increase long-term sustainability.

Comparison.  A comprehensive strategic statewide analysis was conducted examining a variety of options surrounding the closure of armories and consolidation of operations. The analysis included: location and proximity to other armories, historical and projected demographic shifts in population, feasibility of consolidation of operations, condition of current facilities, the potential to expand to accommodate new mission requirements, required facility upgrades, maintenance costs, and ensuring a National Guard presence in each of the seven homeland security regions to support domestic response operations.  Comparisons to other states:

The Future.  With fewer armories strategically located around the state, we will be far better positioned to sustain the remaining 38 facilities and provide Kansas communities with the type of capabilities they deserve.