The Florida National Guard Armory in Gainesville is part of the DeSantis field

A $ 100 million package of budget proposals to better fund the Florida National Guard unveiled Thursday by Governor Ron DeSantis includes a new armory in Gainesville – the first of its kind in Alachua County in more than 40 years.

The governor announced this Thursday morning when speaking to a small group of guardsmen in the Pensacola National Guard armory.

“I’m proud to say that this budget will include large investments in support of the Florida National Guard,” said DeSantis. In fact, we recommend more than $ 100 million to support our National Guard to ensure they have the resources they need to carry out their mission – whether these are the federal responsibilities they can perform overseas, whether it is the assistance of disaster relief and relief operations in Florida: When we need help, we have the watch down the line for us. “

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DeSantis was joined in the Pensacola National Guard Armory by his three-year-old son Mason, who held his father’s hand during the roughly 20-minute press conference, and Maj. Gen. James O. Eifert, the Florida Associate General.

“This year the governor commits to make the largest investment in the Florida National Guard facilities program in the history of the Florida National Guard,” said Eifert. “These investments will help us maintain our preparedness and, hopefully, increase our strength so that we can continue to ensure the safety of Florida citizens.”

DeSantis said he plans to provide state assistance to the National Guard by:

• $ 87.5 million to expand the Florida National Guard’s existing readiness center in Miramar and build three new Florida National Guard armories across the state that would house up to 1,500 Guardsmen, including those in Gainesville.
• $ 8.9 million in support of maintaining existing armories across the state.
• $ 2.2 million in support of the Florida National Guard’s Drug Control Program.
• $ 5.1 million to help Florida National Guard members pursue higher education so they can better feed themselves and their families as they pursue their academic ambitions.
• US $ 3.6 million to improve infrastructure and other projects at Florida National Guard bases

The National Guard units closest to Gainesville are now in Ocala and Starke. In 2007, the state considered building an armory in Alachua County to examine 30 acre state property in eastern Alachua County. But that didn’t happen.

It’s not yet clear where the Gainesville Armory would be or how many full-time positions it would bring.

A 2007 story in the Gainesville Sun quoted Jon Myatt, then spokesman for the Florida Department of Military, as saying, “We haven’t had an armory in Gainesville for about 30 years.”

At the time, the estimated cost of a new armory was about $ 20 million.

DeSantis also announced that it will propose that $ 12.2 million of the state budget be allocated to scholarships for the children and spouses of deceased and disabled veterans.

In addition, the governor said he would recommend using $ 3.5 million of the state budget to reinstate a Florida State Guard. The Florida State Guard would act as a volunteer force to assist the Florida National Guard in “state-specific emergencies,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he hopes the $ 3.5 million will enable the training and equipment of up to 200 members of the Florida State Guard.

“The Florida State Guard’s restoration will allow civilians from across the state to train on the best of emergency response procedures and mobilize very, very quickly,” DeSantis said.

The Florida National Guard has been at the forefront in relief and recovery efforts related to natural disasters such as hurricanes, but also in the ongoing battle to contain the spread of COVID-19.

“We let the National Guard go to nursing homes and do other tests and screenings to protect our most vulnerable,” DeSantis said. “When it came time to distribute the vaccines, the National Guard helped very, very much with that response. So we appreciate all the efforts that have been made over the past year and a half. It made a huge difference. “.”

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680. The Gainesville Sun contributed to this report.

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