FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
A group of local government officials attended a breakfast briefing Oct. 19 to learn about what goes on at the installation.
About a dozen officials from Lebanon, Dauphin and Schuylkill counties attended the breakfast, which was held at the Fort Indiantown Gap Community Club.
After welcoming them, garrison commander Col. Kevin Potts briefed the officials on Fort Indiantown Gap’s facilities and capabilities, the different types of training conducted here and the soon-to-open access control point.
“Fort Indiantown Gap is one of the busiest National Guard training centers in the country, so we wanted to give them an idea of what types of training take place here,” Potts said.
John Fronko, Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Bureau of Environmental Management, then gave a briefing on the status of a proposed wind farm in Schuylkill County that will no longer be built and PFAS testing at the installation. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are man-made chemicals used in many industrial and consumer products, including firefighting foam.
Steve Grossman, director of the Keystone State Challenge Academy, then gave a briefing about the academy. The KSCA, which opened in 2022, a residential academy for at-risk teenagers.
Following the briefings, the officials were given a tour of the Training Support Center where they were briefed on the training aids available to the personnel who train at Fort Indiantown Gap and had the opportunity to try the Engagement Skills Trainer, a virtual training aid that allows users to fire several different weapons.
"This event was a great opportunity to get these officials on post so they learn more about all the great things that go on here at Fort Indiantown Gap and answer any questions they might have,” Potts said.
Fort Indiantown Gap covers over 17,000 acres in northern Lebanon and Dauphin counties. It is home to the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Pennsylvania National Guard as well as numerous tenant organizations, and it is the primary training site for the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Fort Indiantown Gap is among the busiest National Guard training sites in the country, annually hosting over 100,000 personnel, including active-duty and reserve component military personnel and law-enforcement officers.