JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — The Air National Guard plans to dedicate a new classroom and dormitory facility at the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tennessee, in honor of a former chief of the National Guard Bureau and former director of the Air National Guard, during a July 27 ceremony.
The 47,000-square-foot facility will be named Craig R. McKinley Hall in honor of retired Gen. Craig R. McKinley, the 26th chief of the National Guard Bureau and 13th director, Air National Guard.
McKinley served as ANG director from May 2006 to November 2008. During his tenure, he was a driving force for enhancing the Guard's professional military education programs and was the catalyst for the integration of the ANG's Academy of Military Science cadets with their regular Air Force counterparts in Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He commonly referred to the TEC as the "Crown Jewel of the ANG" for its excellence in mission accomplishment.
The new Craig R. McKinley Hall features two 100-person classrooms and 10 20-person classrooms, high-definition audio/visual capabilities, wireless capability, 97 single-occupancy dorm rooms, and hearing and mobility accessible accommodations. The facility grounds will feature an inner courtyard as well as new landscaping and walkways.
The facility has been rated LEED Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council, and incorporates many environmentally friendly design and construction elements. The majority of building materials were locally sourced, with almost a third derived from recycled materials. The facility is also estimated to be 37 percent more energy efficient than the average building thanks to a design favoring natural and LED lighting.
The Air National Guard's I.G. Brown Training and Education Center was established in 1968 as the I.G. Brown Professional Military Education Center, named in honor of the first director of the Air National Guard, Maj. Gen. I.G. Brown. In 2012, its name was changed to the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center to accurately reflect and reassert its commitment to professional and military heritage and keep true to its mission and vision.
The center's staff of approximately 85 people is comprised of regular Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Command and civil service members who serve together to train and educate tomorrow's enlisted leaders.
As a detachment of the Air National Guard Readiness Center, the TEC conducts an average of 16 Enlisted Professional Military Education courses and 40 Professional Continuing Education sessions throughout the year. Typically, the TEC accommodates 4,000 service members on campus annually from the Air Force, Coast Guard and partner-nation armed forces.