The Montana National Guard Limited Army Aviation Support facility is going up in Billings.
The facility broke ground back in late 2024 and officials say it will encompass aviation and infantry operations.
Construction crews are almost finished with the hangar at Billings Logan International Airport.
“It's exceptional for us to have this opportunity in this facility out here in eastern Montana,” said Brigadier General Trent Gibson, the Montana Adjutant General.
Gibson says location is everything.
The new hangar will help with search and rescue on the eastern side of the state and also will be great for training.
Lt. Col. Noah Genger has served in the 189th General Support Aviation Battalion and manages the search and rescue response.
“Eighty percent of the search and rescue that we've done in the last few years has been in and around the Beartooth Mountains,” said Genger. “That response is way faster from Billings than it is from Helena.”
The building near the airport will be big enough for , and the plan is to have it big enough to fit two Chinooks and two Black Hawks.
“Two Chinooks and two Black Hawks in there for maintenance,” said Gibson. “And it's also designed for the future vertical lift, the MV-75. The Army, they're in the process of procuring that now.”
Gibson says the men and women in the 189th will train with the best equipment available.
“People wonder why you build things so big,” Gibson said. “You build them for the future, right? And so it's built to be able to handle all those infrastructure for those aircraft as the Army starts to get those. And our Montana pilots will start flying those."
A training ground that can serve eastern Montana no matter what the mission.
"It's really great to be able to give our soldiers and airmen and the community, you know, a top notch state of the art facility,” said Genger.
The new facility is scheduled to be ready this summer and move from the temporary hanger complete in September.
