CAMP CHAMBERLAIN, Maine - Engineers with the Maine Army National Guard are hard at work this spring, conducting critical training to keep their skills sharp and simultaneously providing a valuable and direct service to their communities.
Through the Guard’s Innovative Readiness Training program, Soldiers in the 133rd Engineer Battalion performed a variety of community development projects in locations across Maine.
The Guard specifically selects projects to maximize training value for the Soldiers performing the work and for the economic and social impact on the community where the projects are taking place.
“Engineers, as part of their mission essential task list, have to conduct construction training, both vertical and horizontal, to stay ready,” said Maj. Adam Davis, executive officer for the 120th Regional Support Group who oversees many of the state’s engineer units and is a member of the panel that reviews projects for consideration. “Training typically involves collective projects that can include both those horizontal and vertical units, and the best way we found in the state of Maine to identify these opportunities is to partner with communities that have identified the need for this kind of support.”
The collaboration that has developed between the Guard and the communities that request engineering support is of significant economic benefit, not just for the services that can be born out of these newly rehabilitated grounds but also because of the savings seen in construction costs.
A lack of funding availability for these projects is a prerequisite for most applications, Guard leadership said.
“We find construction projects that otherwise would not be able to be done usually based on funding constraints,” Davis said. “The community provides the building plans, permits and such, and we provide the manpower, expertise and equipment to make these projects happen. It’s a win-win, to say the least.”
Heather Kerner, a resident of Canaan, Maine, and former president of the Lake George Regional Park, offered testimony about the recreational value engineers from the Maine National Guard are providing to her community through one of these projects.
“The facility these guys are working on sits on a 320-acre parcel that only became available to the town in 1992,” Kerner said. “Since then, this building has not been widely used. With these improvements, we will look to use this facility for a variety of recreation opportunities all year long.”
Those opportunities include things like a summer camp for kids, as well as winter sports such as skijouring, ice kayaking and kite skiing, whose participants will have access to the newly renovated facility to use as a warming hut.
There are other benefits that communities reap when redevelopment projects, such as the Lake George hut, come to fruition through these collaborations.
In East Millinocket, a vast property that has been unused since 2014 is being redeveloped through a partnership between the Guard’s IRT program and the town, which took ownership of the property in recent years. The area was once home to a thriving paper mill that employed hundreds of residents. Since the mill closed, the site had primarily gone unused and was in disrepair.
Steps are underway to make the location functional and desirable to new businesses. The Maine National Guard is using heavy construction equipment on the property to move hundreds of tons of dirt and debris to make way for potential new construction.
“It will have a huge economic impact,” said former U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud.
Michaud worked at the mill for more than 30 years, is a lifelong resident of the area and has been an active proponent of economic reform in the town since the mill closed.
“The value of another business setting up here is several million dollars into the local tax base and does not even count the jobs from the business itself, the restaurants and all the other businesses that support people in the community,” Michaud added.
A key element of the program is its emphasis on collaboration between the Maine National Guard and local, state and non-profit organizations. Coordination ensures that IRT missions are logistically feasible, legally compliant and tailored to community needs. Additionally, the program helps to foster stronger relationships between the military and the public, improving trust and building relationships with residents who witness the projects as they unfold.
Ultimately, the program enables Soldiers to apply their skills in real-world environments during peacetime, providing mutual benefit for the military and the local communities. This dual-purpose approach strengthens unit cohesion and improves readiness for deployments while also supporting community redevelopment in Maine.