Move, reorganization of 135th Rear Operations Center gets green light

By: Bill Phelan
Missouri National Guard Public Affairs

The 135th will be moving to Jefferson City from its current location at the Kingshighway Armory in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The 135th Rear Operations Center of the Missouri National Guard has been given the green light to move from the Kingshighway Armory in south St. Louis to Jefferson City.

The move and a reorganization of the battalion, was approved earlier this month, said Maj. Andre Edison, the unit commander.

"We're moving to Jefferson City to become a support troops battalion and we're taking all of the units that support headquarters and other auxiliary units and putting a battalion in charge of them," Edison said. "It will be a fairly large battalion because it's going to encompass all of joint-force headquarters, recruiting and retention, selective service, a civil support team out of Fort Leonard Wood, and about seven or eight other smaller units."

Specifically, the 135th is now detached from the 70th Troop Command at Jefferson Barracks and is assigned as Joint Force Headquarters Special Troops Battalion. Simultaneously, the unit will be re-stationed to the Ike Skelton Training Site.

The reorganized unit will include the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, the 27th Recruit and Retention Battalion, the 4175th Criminal Investigation Division Detachment, the 135th Military History Detachment, the 1924th Support Detachment, the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Counter Drug and the Guard's Agribusiness Development Team currently deployed to Afghanistan and those that will follow.

With the reorganization, Edison has his work cut out for him.

"This means I have a pretty large task ahead of me," he said. "I have to take a project that has just been initiated and make sure it gets off on the right foot. For me, it's very important that I look at the big picture of all the units we're supporting and also address the needs of the Soldiers that are affected by this."

Edison has spent the last two weeks visiting each of the units now a part of the reorganized battalion.

"I've been telling each of these units that our mission is to support them with a heavy emphasis on administration and supply," Edison said. "These units already know what they're doing, but now we'll have a consolidated support effort where they have one point of contact to deal with any issue that arises. A lot of these smaller units don't have the resources to support themselves, so we'll be able to provide them with better support, and some of the larger units will have responsibilities removed from them that they really weren't set up to do. That will allow them to better concentrate on their mission as they should."

While the paperwork for the newly reorganized battalion has been approved, Edison says a physical move of troops from St. Louis will follow some time later.

"Most of the troops we will be supporting are in the mid-Missouri area, but in order to provide the support that will be needed I think it's very important for us to be located in that area," he said. "So absolutely, there will be a move of some troops."

Edison said he is unsure of when that move will take place, but stressed he is ready for the challenge.

"You don't join the Army and achieve a position of authority to do nothing," he said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for us to do this right. I'm very excited about this."


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