The 155th Army armored brigade headquarters are being moved to Columbia from Tupelo, allowing the brigade to be commanded from the National Guard Armory. The brigade is the fourth largest armored brigade in the country with 4,000 soldiers.
The Army will soon be bidding out an estimated $1 million contract to expand the National Guard Armory on U.S. 98, allowing for between 15 and 30 high-ranking officials to operate the brigade out of the facility, according to City Engineer Jeff Dungan.
“It’s a big thing for us,” Dungan said. “(They) feel like this is a better place for the 155th. They do a lot of work at Camp Shelby. … They said we’ll see a lot of soldiers in town coming and going. It’s a good thing to me (for Columbia).”
Mayor Justin McKenzie said the brigade has worked out a deal with Magnolia Grille to feed the soldiers when they are doing drills in Columbia.
McKenzie said there will be a ribbon cutting in September to celebrate moving the headquarters.
“The guys I’ve talked to out there have said it makes a lot more sense (to move to Columbia) because they’re from this part of the state and have landed jobs closer to home. They said it should have happened a long time ago,” McKenzie said. “A lot of them have been just dealing with (commuting to Tupelo).”
The mayor added that one of the officials just purchased a home in Sumrall because his family was specifically looking for a new construction, which wasn’t available in Columbia. Dungan said that is a good reminder because there has been a big push and need for new construction homes in Columbia and Marion County.
The full brigade will not be moving to Columbia. The brigade will be commanded from Columbia at the armory.
