Guardsmen to train at state base

The Muscatatuck State Development Center in Jennings County will be a site for national homeland security training and an agricultural research project for Purdue University under a plan released Wednesday. \nGov. Joe Kernan announced an agreement earlier this week to use the buildings and land for civilian and military agencies to begin training next summer.\nCongressman Baron Hill, Indiana National Guard Adjutant General Martin Umbarger, Purdue's Agricultural Interim Dean Randy Woodson and state and local officials joined Kernan in Jennings County to make the formal announcement Tuesday.\nThe land, formerly used as an institution for the developmentally disabled, will close Jan. 1, 2005, because of a decline in residents in institutionalized developments.\n"It is viewed wrong to keep and treat people with disabilities in places like the developmentally disabled center;," Kernan's spokeswoman Lisa Sirkin said. "Instead, the people are being moved to community base care for treatment."\nAfter the developmentally disabled center closed for financial reasons, the National Guard proposed to use the land as a site for homeland security training. \nThe facility will be the first of its kind to provide real-world water base and urban warfare situations. \n"The site holds 66 buildings, and provides a ready-made, first-of-its-kind training center for military and civilian security agencies," Kernan said. "Not only will this help strengthen homeland security efforts, but this use of the facility will also bring new opportunities to Jennings County."\nIn addition, Purdue University has been granted 850 acres of the Muscatatuck land for agricultural resource projects. \n"A National Guard homeland security training center raises the possibility of partnering with Purdue on issues of bio-security and agro-terrorism," said Woodson. "We are pleased to be in a position to help Indiana."\nThe development of the military site will cost the state $2.6 million instead of costing $35 million to close the site and demolish it.\n"The site will not only be beneficial for the National Guard and Purdue University but will also save the state a significant amount of money," Sirkin said. \nThe development of the site will begin in summer 2005 and will bring economic growth to the state, according to Kernan's office. Kernan said the Muscatatuck project will serve as a bridge between many areas and agencies in the state. \n"This cooperation between the public, private and academic sectors can serve as a model on how we can work creatively to use existing resources as a way to stimulate economic growth in Indiana," Kernan said.\nSirkin said the site is unique in its training and its versatility.\n"For the National Guard - it's the first (facility) of its kind," Sirkin said. "There will be no live ammunition training, but it will re-create real-life situations. It's an ideal training ground for all different scenarios."\nContact staff writer Nellie Summerfield at nsummerf@indiana.edu