HERMISTON — Camp Umatilla, with its Oregon Army National Guard regional infantry training center west of Hermiston, now has a new name: The Raymond F. Rees Training Center.

The Oregon Military Department at a ceremony Thursday, Sept. 29, renamed the center in honor of Maj. Gen. Raymond F. “Fred” Rees of Helix. It was Rees’ 78th birthday.

Rees served as the adjutant general, Oregon National Guard, for more than 16 years. The Raymond F. Rees Training Center is the top National Guard infantry school West of the Mississippi.

Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, hosted the dedication ceremony. He noted normally it would be an uphill battle to get a facility named for a living general, but Gen. Dan Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau since 2020, is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Gen. Hokanson was profoundly influenced by Maj. Gen. Rees,” Stencel said.

He said without Rees’ vision, Camp Umatilla and its training center wouldn’t exist. Since the Oregon National Guard took possession of 7,500 of the former chemical depot’s more than 17,000 acres in 2017, the federal government has invested $60 million in schools, barracks and other facilities at the site. Another $40 million is in the pipeline for new ranges and barracks. More is expected, to make the Rees Training Center the best infantry school in the entire National Guard.

“Happy birthday, Fred,” he added.

Four-star Gen. Hokanson was keynote speaker at the renaming ceremony. He succeeded Rees as adjutant general, Oregon National Guard, before serving as deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command at Colorado Springs and in the Pentagon as director, Army National Guard and vice chief, National Guard Bureau.

Hokanson praised Rees’ mentorship and leadership. When he made three-star general, Hokanson said, his son asked if that meant the two-star Rees was no longer his boss. Hokanson replied that Rees would always be the boss.

“There are no words to convey the magnitude of Maj. Gen. Rees’ impact,” he said. “If I ever get my name on anything, it might be a maintenance closet at the Rees Training Center, since the best that I could hope to do is to maintain his standard of excellence.”

State Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, remarked on the long relationship the two Eastern Oregon farm boys have maintained since Helix’ Griswold Grizzlies played basketball against Athena’s McEwen Scots.

“Fred was an outstanding player on an average team,” he said. “Bill was an average player on an outstanding team.”

Hansell was among the local civilian, state and national military leaders instrumental in the long struggle to turn a portion of the former Umatilla Chemical Depot over to the Oregon National Guard.

“This is a day of elation and celebration,” said state Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner.

He thanked Rees for his role in the transition from Army to local control of the entire depot. Decades of work toward that end are just now bearing fruit.

Smith is the executive director of the Columbia Development Authority, the body with representatives from local governments overseeing development on the former depot lands. Smith on Sept. 29 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Army to turn over ownership of the remaining former depot land to the CDA for industrial and agricultural development, habitat restoration and other uses.

During his long, distinguished military career, Rees served honorably in staff and command positions in Germany, Vietnam, the Pentagon, Colorado and Oregon. His four terms as adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard made him the second longest-serving TAG in history, after fellow Oregonian George A. White, 1880-1941. An adjutant general commands each state National Guard.

Rees also served as chief of staff of Northern Command at Colorado Springs, as director of the Army National Guard in the Pentagon and twice as acting chief of the National Guard Bureau. He served in the Pentagon as a high-level civilian as well.

Rees thanked everyone who contributed to the creation of the training center. He recalled his days as commander of the 116th Cavalry Regiment in the late ‘80s. His troopers had to travel far away, to Yakima or the Coast, just for basic weapons training.

“Sometimes our transport was old school buses designed for children,” he said. “We would drive right by the depot and the Navy’s Boardman bombing range. Persistence is a virtue, but we had some luck, too.”

Rees cited depot commanders and civilian leaders who helped.

“Now $130 million has been programmed for the best training center in the National Guard, with $20 million more in the near future,” he reported. “And $25 million more for the Boardman range in two years.”

The Oregon National Guard is developing a heavy machine gun range on Navy land.

Rees looked forward to welcoming Guard members from Oregon and other states to the center, where they can learn their trade, improve their skills and bring honor to their service.

“Thanks to all who brought about this legacy to the future,” he concluded.

The Raymond F. Rees Training Center hosts a National Guard facility capable of providing individual and group training for units up to battalion size, i.e. 300 to 800 soldiers. The site contains a weapons firing range, small maneuver and tracked vehicle driver training spaces. Its infrastructure can support both weekend and annual training periods, while simultaneously hosting Regional Training Institute classes.

The RTI, one of two infantry training schools west of the Mississippi, is capable of housing and feeding 120 soldiers at a given time. Class cycles vary in duration, from five-day tactical certification courses to 19-day advanced leadership courses, which take place monthly throughout the year. During non-class times, the RTI facilities are used by the Oregon Training Command and Oregon National Guard units to fulfill weekend and annual training missions. Tactical skills taught include weapons qualifications, land navigation and wheeled and tracked vehicle driver training.

Rees’ backgroundRees was deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Training, Readiness and Mobilization from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed to that position as a career member of the Senior Executive Service on February 10, 2014.

Rees served four times as adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard. He was also Director of the Army National Guard and acting Chief of the National Guard Bureau.

As adjutant general, Rees was responsible for providing the Oregon and the U.S. with a ready force of citizen soldiers and airmen, equipped and trained to respond to any contingency, natural or man made. He directed, managed and supervised the administration, discipline, organization, training and mobilization of the Oregon National Guard, the Oregon State Defense Force, the Joint Force Headquarters and the Office of Oregon Emergency Management. He was also assigned as the governor’s homeland security advisor. In these roles he developed and coordinated all policies, plans and programs of the Oregon National Guard in concert with the governor and state legislature.

Raymond Frederick Rees was born on Sept. 29, 1944, in Helix. He graduated from Griswold High School in 1962 and the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York. in 1966, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of armor.

Rees completed Airborne and Ranger training, and was assigned as a platoon leader with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in West Germany. After completing several assignments, including as commander of two 2nd ACR troops, equivalent to a company in the infantry, he went to Panama for jungle warfare training.

Rees was assigned to Vietnam in December 1968, serving as S3 Air, Assistant Training and Operations Officer for 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and commander of the squadron’s Troop D.

After returning to the U.S., Rees completed training as an Army aviator. From March 1972 to August 1973, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and from August to November 1973 to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group.

Upon leaving the active Army, Rees joined the Oregon Army National Guard upon leaving the active Army. He advanced through several command and staff positions of increasing rank and responsibility, including command of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment as a captain and 3rd Squadron, 116th ACR as a lieutenant colonel. A cavalry or aviation squadron is equivalent to an infantry, armor or artillery battalion.

Rees also completed law school, practiced as an attorney for 18 months, and managed his family’s farm.

From November 1986 to May 1987 he was commander of the 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment and was promoted to colonel.

In May 1987 Rees was appointed adjutant general of Oregon, by then Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, the first of four times he served in this position. Promoted to brigadier general in 1988 and major general in 1990, he served until June 1991. He was the first member of his West Point class to make major general.

From July 1991 to August 1992, Rees served as director of the Army National Guard. In September 1992 he was appointed vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, where he served until January 1994. From January to July 1994, Rees served as acting chief of the National Guard Bureau.

In August 1994 Rees was named adjutant general of Oregon for a second time, by then Gov. Barbara Roberts. During this appointment, he served a five-year term, until March 1999.

In March 1999 Rees was appointed vice chief of the National Guard Bureau for the second time, serving until August 2002. From August 2002 to April 2003, he was again acting chief of the National Guard Bureau. From April to May 2003 he completed his assignment as NGB vice chief.

Rees served as chief of staff for U.S. Northern Command from May 2003 to June 2005.

Rees was appointed adjutant general of Oregon for the third time by Gov. Ted Kulongoski in July 2005.

Rees commenced another four-year term as adjutant general in 2009, serving under Kulongoski and the Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Rees’ final tenure as adjutant general was noteworthy for Oregon’s increased participation in the State Partnership Program. Oregon established a partnership with Bangladesh in 2008.

Oregon also established a partnership with Vietnam. During workshops and coordination meetings, Rees compared Vietnam War experiences with his counterparts in the Vietnam People’s Army.

Rees announced in 2012 that he would retire the following year, and a search began for his successor. In January 2013 Governor Kitzhaber announced that when Rees retired, Daniel R. Hokanson would succeed him.

Rees retired in a ceremony on July 13, 2013, with his official date of retirement as July 31. His 47 years of service surpassed the tenure of most four-star generals. Former Gov. Kulongoski and Gen. Frank Grass, chief, National Guard Bureau, attended his retirement ceremony. Grass awarded Rees the Distinguished Service Medal.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree from West Point, Rees completed his juris doctor degree at the University of Oregon School of Law in 1976. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1977 and the Army War College.

The depot originally opened in 1941 as the Umatilla Army Ordnance Depot, used to store munitions and conduct supply operations. In 1962, the installation began storing and maintaining chemical munitions. The Army in 2011 completed the disposal of all chemical agents at the site and in 2012 closed the installation.

The Oregon Military Department in 2017 signed a license to secure 7,500 of the depot’s former 17,055 acres as a training site for the Oregon National Guard. The Raymond F. Rees Training Center is to be the home of the 249th Regional Training Institute, providing a premiere joint and inter-agency training facility.The dedication ceremony ended with a fly over from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Pendleton’s Army National Guard flight facility. As adjutant general, Rees was instrumental in siting a second facility there, to augment the first in Salem.