Fort Pickett holds open house

The Virginia National Guard Maneuver Training Center - Fort Pickett holds an open house Sept. 6 to showcase the facilities and capabilities that make the installation one of the premier military and public safety training destinations on the East Coast. The first phase of the open house was an information briefing for federal, state and local government officials and a short tour that included the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site, renovated barracks and the new training facilities for the 183rd Regiment, Regional Training Institute. The second phase of the open house was open to the general public and included a tour of several training venues where visitors observed training conducted by Marines from the 22nd Maine Expeditionary Unit. Fort Pickett is approximately 41,000 acres and operated by the Virginia National Guard and features a combination of open and wooded terrain maneuver areas and 21 ranges capable of supporting almost any weapons system in the U. S. Army inventory. In addition, the installation has a rail spur and C-17 capable airfield as well as barracks to support more than 5,000 personnel and morale, welfare and recreation facilities including a gym, post exchange and leisure center.

More than 120 personnel assigned assigned to the MATES provide maintenance support on more than 500 combat vehicles and other equipment positioned at Fort Pickett including M1A1 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, howitzers and a variety of other tracked and wheeled vehicles. In addition to Virginia National Guard vehicles, MATES personnel maintain equipment assigned to the West Virginia and Pennsylvania Army National Guard that is drawn when units from those states come to Fort Pickett for training. In addition to vehicle maintenance shops, MATES also contains supply areas and a variety of repair shops including vehicle painting, body work, communications equipment and small arms.

At the RTI's state-of-the-art training center, Virginia Guard personnel teach infantry, military police and transportation military occupational skills as well as conduct commissioning programs for officers and warrant officers. The education facilities and living quarters for personnel conducting training at RTI were dramatically improved with a new education complex completed in December 2010 and barracks facilities completed in September 2012 at a total cost of $57 million.