Washington armory revamping community involvement

Officials at the National Guard Armory in Washington, home to the 294th Medical Company, are ramping up efforts to engage the community.

“This is really all the way from the state general, Gen. Corell, one of his lines of effort is to get more integrated, more involved in our communities,” said Capt. Corey Takes at a building tour Wednesday. “We just had a change in leadership here in Washington, we have a new company commander, we have a new first sergeant … they’re taking more of a front seat approach.”

While community involvement has long been a priority for National Guard centers, those in Washington said ramping it back up was made possible by a mix of factors, including the withdrawal from Afghanistan and gradual waning of COVID-19.

“We’re trying to get back into giving back to the community because it seems like you guys have done a lot for us,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tony Burke, one of a handful of the Washington armory’s dedicated personnel. “With COVID last year, it really disrupted us and everybody’s life.”

Capt. Brandon Lindsey said the Guard’s engagement with the community could be mutually beneficial, with the potential to optimize recruitment and to combine civilian and military skill sets.

“We lack clinical skills, so we (want to) get with the local hospital and work on clinical stuff,” he said. “The more the community is involved with the armory, the more likely that armory will stay in that community. But if they are not tied together, they will centralize us somewhere else … we need to work hand-in-hand together, keep an open dialogue.”

Family Readiness Group Leader Cheryl Byerly said Guard’s presence would be a boon to Washington in the event of a major disaster.

“If we had a catastrophe here, we could help out,” she said. “We’ve got everything here that we need. If we needed to set up dental, surgical X-rays, we’ve got it all here … we want to be here so that we can help everybody around here.”

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