Virginia National Guard celebrates major expansion of Roanoke Regional Readiness Center in Troutville
Virginia – On August 2, 2025, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor the completion of a major expansion at the Virginia National Guard’s Roanoke Regional Readiness Center (RRRC) in Troutville. The project is a big improvement for the complex. It adds more space for training, administration, maintenance, and storage, and it also makes the complex more useful.
The expansion includes both new structures and improvements to old ones. This makes it easier for the Guard to fulfill both national defense tasks and disaster response efforts in the state. The celebration will focus on how the property has changed into a stronger center for regional activities.
One of the biggest changes is that the 229th Chemical Company is moving from Rocky Mount to the newly expanded RRRC. There are 85 enlisted Soldiers, six officers, and one chief warrant officer in the company. They are experts in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance, decontamination, detection, and transfer. Their migration gives the Troutville property new life and strategic power.
Also, Field Maintenance Shop #10 is getting a makeover and a new name: the Combined Support Maintenance Shop – West (CSMS-West). This bigger building will be a key support center for maintenance in the field and for keeping things running across the region. CSMS-West will cut down on travel time for units that need special repair by giving them new tools. This will speed up the process and make units more ready.
The construction project, which started in March 2023, had three main parts: a new 33,500-square-foot readiness center structure, a 12,000-square-foot support facility that was rebuilt, and a 16,300-square-foot maintenance building. These upgrades make it possible to offer a wider range of services, from fixing vehicles and generators to more specialized tasks like welding, electronics, and calibration. View photos from the ceremony at https://vngpao.info/2p8v94fr.
The current RRRC complex was built on the site of the old Botetourt Correctional Center and opened in August 2017. The state said the 56.5-acre land was no longer needed and gave it to the Virginia National Guard for free in 2015. The site is next to a Virginia State Police shooting range and a VDOT repair facility, which makes it even more valuable strategically.
The senior officials of VNG thanked the facilities management team and state and local partners for their work in making the expansion happen. The Guard was able to save taxpayers money and have less of an impact on the environment by leveraging a lot of the existing infrastructure instead of building everything from new.
Now home to both the 29th Infantry Division Band and the newly arriving 229th Chemical Company, the upgraded RRRC stands as a modern, multi-functional installation designed to meet the evolving demands of military readiness in western Virginia.
