Evening star., 1947-06-09
National Guard
Ends Long Wait
To Use Armory
Moves Into Quarters
Built in Al but
Never Available

The National Guard moved back
to its armory today to occupy 1t in
force for the first time since it was
completed in 1941.
So eager were the Guardsmen to
reclaim the spacious quarters at
Twentieth and East Capital streets
that they began moving in almost
before the FBI had completed its
evacuation and expected to COM
plete the seizure by tonight.
The acquisition ended months Of
impatient waiting during which the
Guard trained the best it could in
cramped quarters at Third street
and Indiana avenue NV.
Before that there was the war
and the guardsmen already had
gone into active service with the
Army when the big drill hall and
four adjoining buildings were COM
pleted.
FBI Moved in In 1943,
Even before the Armory was COM
pleted war conditions forced the
Guard to yield part of the space to
the War Department, and in l943
the FBI took over the entire block,
despite the vigorous protests of
Brig. Gen. Albert l.. Cox, District
commander, who remembered how
the Guard had been kicked around
for years without a home"
With that background, and addi-
tional delays recently while the FBI
tediously moved its vast collection
OF secret files to a new home at
Third and d streets S.W., the Ma
tional Guard was primed to move
fast when the signal came today.
Col. Peyton G. Nevitt, District
adjutant general, said six or eight
rooms of Office equipment would be
transferred today. And by tonight
one of the Guard units will be try
ing out the 200x400 foot drill hall.
Gen. Cox was elated at the real
ization OF long deferred opportun-
1ty to bring the Guard up to its de-
sired strength. Upward of 500 of
flcers and enlisted men now in the
ranks will be expanded to 1000 now
that space and equipment are avail
able.
To Dedicate Place Soon.
After nearly six years of waiting,
the Guard will have a chance to
dedicate the Armory, probably
within the next 80 days. 1t will be
an appropriate ceremony with high
ranking military and civil leaders
taking part and at a time most
propitious for the public to partici-
pate, Col. hewitt said.
The vast drill hall will be made
available to civic enterprises and
sports at such times that will not
interfere with Guard activities, Col.
hewitt added.
Not all the material necessary to
equip the District unit fully was
moved into the Armory today. Some
property still is in storage, but
most, such as antiaircraft guns, still
is to be issued.
Each of the four buildings at the
corners of the drill hall will be used
by four major Guard groups, and
eventually each building will be
identified as separate armories.
Headquarters in North Building.
The headquarters and headquar-
ters detachment group, moving
from the Municipal Center offices.
will occupy the north building. The
south building will be used by the
260th Antiaircraft Artillery group,
commanded by Col. LIE Roy S. Mann.
In the West building will be the
163d Military Police battalion COM
manded by 1t. Col. George Weber.
The East building will house the
18th Aircraft Control and Warn
ing Squadron, commanded by Maj.
Arthur E. Kimberly. and the 171st
Military Police Battalion, to be or
ganized.
In addition. there are the 18th
Fighter Group, the 121st Fighter
Squadron and the 213th Air Service
Group, stationed at Andrews Field
For Gen. Cox, who recalled the
long fight to gain an appropriation
for the $2,700,000 limestone struc-
ture, moving day was a major
event.
Now we can get on with the
work of giving the District the
kind of National Guard we have
limo SOUGHT he said