Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Meadows, left, and Sgt. 1st Class Alex Jones listen to speeches Saturday during the opening ceremony of the Army Reserve Center on Bonny Oaks Drive. Meadows and Jones are members of a local recruiting station and turned out in support of the event.FAST FACTS46,940-square-foot training building13,585-square-foot maintenance building$15 million total cost26 acre site5 Army Reserve units housed at center:316th Engineer Company327th Chemical Company212th Transportation Company591st Transportation Company detachment631st Transportation Company detachmentSource: U.S. Army Reserve 81st Regional Support Command
Soldiers and speakers noted Saturday at the opening of the U.S. Army Reserve Center that the building symbolizes the area’s support of military service.
John Dyess, an Army Reserve Ambassador, said the larger disconnect between the American public and military service can be somewhat bridged through local reserve and Army National Guard units.
“We really don’t understand what the local reserve and Guard bring to the community … or, indeed, what their mission is,” Dyess said. “This is a way to be community-based, an easier chance for Chattanooga to find out about the military.”
About 25 local residents and dignitaries, including U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, attended the ceremony at the facility on Bonny Oaks Drive.