Henry Signs Bill To Allow Land Purchases

Friday, May 4th 2007, 3:06 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Gov. Brad Henry on Friday signed a measure appropriating $1.5 million to the Oklahoma Military Department for the purchase of land that will leverage $85 million in federal funding to build seven new Armed Forces Reserve Centers.

The centers will replace aging armories across the state.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the state of Oklahoma to replace many of our aging National Guard armories with new state-of-the-art facilities," Henry said. "The men and women of the Oklahoma National Guard represent the very best this state has to offer, and so we should do all we can to offer them the very best in training, equipment and resources."

The federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission is providing the $85 million on the condition that the Oklahoma National Guard acquire land to build the seven AFRCs.

The Oklahoma National Guard already owns four tracts of land, and the appropriation will be used to secure the remaining three.