Camp Ashland

[Coyote]

Camp Ashland celebrates new facility following 2019 floods
The 1,100-acre site was under more than six feet of floodwaters after a levee failed.



ASHLAND, Neb. (WOWT) - Soldiers at the Camp Ashland Training Site are marching around a new facility.

Four years ago, a levee broke, the training site invaded by floodwaters. Camp Ashland was covered in more than six feet of water. “All of our buildings on the facility completely went above our flood measures we already had in place and did more severe damage than we’ve ever seen before,” said Major Dustin Young, a construction facility management officer. The camp had to be evacuated. All the buildings were damaged. When officials rebuilt the facility, they made sure to set the buildings higher.

“The floodway in here is about six feet,” Young said. “To get out of the floodplain, you have to build at least a foot, if not two feet above. The current deck is just over eight, around nine feet tall underneath it, so they can do other activities underneath here. We can gain additional space and it allows the soldiers to train in inclement weather.” Camp Ashland now operates more efficiently -- consolidating more than 20 structures into seven. Downtown Ashland welcomes the news that the camp is back in shape. Mary Ziegenbein has operated The Gift Niche for more than three decades. She says the training camp and the soldiers are a big part of the community. “They have come into town, I think a couple of times now and painted our light poles, repainted them a few times downtown streets here,a nd they come in shopping here in town and they’re in our parades, and we really appreciate that,” she said.

[Coyote]

Nebraska National Guard holds ribbon-cutting for new training site at Camp Ashland



SAUNDERS COUNTY, Neb. — Four years after severe flooding damaged Camp Ashland, the Nebraska National Guard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for new construction at the training site. The $35 million project marks the opening of seven new buildings, which are being replaced after the March 2019 flood. The project is located on the west bank of the Platte River, north of Highway 6.

Gov. Jim Pillen called it an extraordinary campus. "This building I was just talking about when I first walked in, I go, 'wow, this building's extraordinary.' A hundred years from now, we'll walk in and know nobody would want to change anything. It's going to stand the test of time. And then for the training. So the amount of people that will be coming here and utilizing it not only from the soldiers training in the leadership training, but down the football teams will be coming here this place will be used nonstop," Pillen said. He also said it's a great investment for the future.