CAMP GRAYLING -- Two multi-million dollar construction projects at Camp Grayling in Crawford County are nearing completion. A ribbon cutting Wednesday to marked the occasion.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., attended the two ribbon cuttings; One for new barracks and one for a new dining hall. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Levin helped secure funding for the new facilities.
The new barracks is a 16.7 million dollar project which will be used for training troops. The Operational Readiness Training Complex (ORTC) includes sleeping facilities for more than 700 soldiers as well as a dining area. The building will be used for transient training for soldiers.
The ORTC project began in September of 2009 and will be complete this week.
The second ribbon cutting took place at Camp Grayling's dining facility. The 1.8 million dollar renovation project began in October 2010 and will be complete by the end of this month.
Hallmark Construction out of Traverse City was the primary contractor for the projects.
Camp Grayling is the largest National Guard joint training center. Year around training is conducted on its 147,000 acres by the National Guard, as well as active and reserve components of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. Units of the Canadian Armed Forces train year round at Camp Grayling along with visiting Armed Forces from Latvia, United Kingdom, Hungary and Serbia.
The Northern Michigan Law Enforcement Training Group has over 100 law enforcement agencies that train at Camp Grayling.
