Individual Paves Way for Urban Training Complex at Camp Atterbury

To: ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS

Contact: Robert E. DiMichele, USAEC Public Affairs Officer, +1- 410-436-2556, Robert.DiMichele@us.army.mil

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., May 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Karstin Carmany-George is a new kid on the block at Camp Atterbury, Ind., where she manages cultural resources for the Indiana Army National Guard (INARG). Yet, since she arrived just over two years ago, she has cleared the way for a historical hospital complex acquired in 2005 to be turned into an urban training center.

The Indiana Army National Guard acquired the self-contained community, once home to the Muscatatuck State Development Center, with its Soldier training mission in mind. The site included a hospital building and 67 other structures, such as power and sewer plants and a school — all of which have historic properties status. Before the training mission could be accomplished, the environmental mission had to be completed.

Carmany-George was the driving force behind a speedy Section 106 process and the quick development and execution of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Before INARNG even officially took over the property, she was working with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the local community to lay the groundwork for the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC).

Normally the Section 106 process would take from three to five years for a district as large as the MUTC. With time of the essence, Carmany-George worked through the process in about 16 months. She oversaw the inventory and evaluation of the 979-acre site; wrote an MOA among the INARG, the National Guard Bureau and the Indiana SHPO; responded to the concerns of six other stakeholder groups; and achieved an expedited Section 106 process that not only enabled conversion of the site to a training area but also ensured the unrestricted use of the Muscatatuck buildings for Department of Defense and homeland security training purposes. In its first year of operation, more than 16,000 people from the military, the government and private agencies have honed their urban engagement skills at the MUTC.

“Before Kari came on board, we weren’t doing a good job communicating with our internal and external stakeholders,” said Lt. Col. Rick Jones, supervisory environmental specialist for the INARG. “She worked with the SHPO, local and state historic preservation groups and Native American tribes to streamline the process, build the MUTC and realize our urban training vision.”

As important as it is, the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is only one of more than 140 projects Carmany-George manages. In the last two years, she has cleared about 392 acres for new construction projects that have included more than 57 miles of tactical trail. She created and executes a cultural resources management program for an organization with more than 50 National Register-eligible structures scattered across the state and more than 400 archaeological sites located on the 33,000-plus acres of training land managed by INARNG.

Carmany-George’s efforts on behalf of the Indiana Army National Guard have earned her a Secretary of the Army environmental award for individual achievement in cultural resources management. Her efforts showcase the talent and dedication of the Army in the practice of environmental stewardship.

This information is provided by USAEC. USAEC is the Army’s point organization for supporting the implementation of environmental programs that facilitate sustainable Army training and operations while protecting the environment. We provide environmental program management and technical support products and services in support of Army training operations, acquisition and sound stewardship.

“Sustaining the Environment for a Secure Future”

For more information on the U.S. Army Environmental Center, visit

http://aec.army.mil

SOURCE U.S. Army Environmental Command

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