Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Camp Chamberlain: Maine National Guard's New Joint Force Headquarters in Augusta

AUGUSTA, ME (06/04/2018) (readMedia)-- Maj. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the Adjutant General for the Maine National Guard, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the newly completed Camp Chamberlain located on 23 Blue Star Avenue on Sunday, June 3rd.

Gov. Paul R. LePage attended the ribbon cutting ceremony along with representatives from Maine's congressional delegation and community members.

"I am proud that Maine can provide our National Guard with a facility worthy of their dedication to serving our country," said LePage.

The joint forces headquarters is home to approximately 190 fulltime Soldiers and Airmen from the Maine Air and Army National Guard. This number increases to over 220 service members during a drill weekend.

The $34 million facility took approximately 2.5 years to complete. The 100,000 square foot headquarters is an energy efficient and world-class building that sits on approximately 43 acres of land.

"The Maine National Guard is fortunate to have such a phenomenal space for its joint forces headquarters and is appropriately named after one of our greatest leaders, Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain," said Farnham. "This facility is more than just a building, it represents our commitment to the citizens of Maine and provides our Soldiers and Airmen with a headquarters that they can be proud of."

The facility provides ample office, classroom and collaboration space for the full time and traditional National Guard service members. The facility is state of the art, featuring an auditorium, multipurpose classroom space, operations center, multiple conference rooms, kitchen & dining area, maintenance bay, gym, showers, locker room, and will proudly display our historical artifacts throughout the building.

The facility was designed to LEED Silver and includes an 18KW Photovoltaic Array on the roof, external monitoring of heating controls, automatic sensors for lighting fixtures and use of LEDs throughout the building.

"Camp Chamberlain was designed to provide the Maine National Guard with a 100 year facility," said Col. Normand Michaud, director of facilities and engineering for the Maine Army National Guard. "This facility will provide us with the space that is required by regulation that is state of the art, energy efficient and modern."

The Maine National Guard hosted guided tours of the facility following the ribbon cutting.

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The Maine National Guard held the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly opened Camp Chamberlain in Augusta, June 3, 2018. Col. Normand G. Michaud, director of facilities and engineering, Robert M. Frank III, representative for WBRC Architects Engineers, Governor Paul R. LePage, and Maj. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the Maine National Guard's adjutant general shared the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially mark the grand opening. Camp Chamberlain is the new joint force headquarters building for both the Maine Air and Army National Guard. (Maine Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Alyson Pelletier.)

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Maine Governor Paul R. speaks at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Camp Chamberlain in Augusta, June 3, 2018. This is the first time the Maine Air and Army National Guard headquarters will be in the same building. LePage said this collaboration will help save taxpayers money as well as improve the Maine National Guards' readiness to respond to emergencies.

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Maj. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the Maine National Guard's adjutant general speaks at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Camp Chamberlain in Augusta, June 3, 2018. He explained the heritage of the Maine National Guard and the significance of Joshua Chamberlain, a prominent Officer during the Civil War, and former governor of Maine, who the building is named after.