Miller Guard Unit Restationing
by Laura Monteverdi, Reporter
October 14, 2012 10:18 PM
The South Dakota National Guard Unit stationed in Miller is set to be relocated to Watertown early next year.
To mark the event, the 100 man unit held a ceremony on Sunday.The ceremony was largely focused on thanking the people of Millerfor their support over the years.
Carl Stearns, commander of the relocating unit, says it has deep ties with the small town.
He said, “One person in particular in this unit, his father was in the unit in the 1950s.. so there's an outstanding history of families being tied to guard units in small communities.”
The unit has been around for over 100 years. This will be the first time it has been relocated. The South Dakota National Guard has a rich history in the town of Miller. The started as an infantry unit in 1901 and have been here ever since.
Though the news has just been made public, Major General Tim Reisch says the plan was set in place a long time ago.
He said, “Probably close to 15 years ago, when they were in the design stage of the facility, you have to tell the Federal Government which units are going to go in to that facility and so really this thing was kind of on a path for a long time."
With Federal budget cuts, the U.S. Army's restructuring and the opening of a new regional readiness center, the move was inevitable.
