About Us
On behalf of the State of Oregon, the Governor, and the Oregon Military Department, welcome to Raymond Rees National Guard Training Center (RTC).
Rees Training Center has a long history in the State of Oregon, performing a variety of functions. That history began in October 1941 when, as the Umatilla Army Ordnance Depot, two thousand workers, 27 percent of them women, began storing and supplying munitions for the United States war effort during World War II. This function continued through Desert Storm in 1991. In 1962 the installation was renamed to Umatilla Army Depot and began receiving and storing chemical weapons. In 1996 the installation's name was again changed, this time to Umatilla Chemical Depot and at that time, the depot stored 12 percent of the nation's chemical weapons. Chemical weapons disposal began in 2004 and was completed in 2011. The installation was closed in 2012.
Now, as in the past, the installation is once again transforming and taking on new responsibilities as Rees National Guard Training Center. As we shift into this new role of training today's warfighter, the role of providing lodging and temporary billeting accommodations has also become part of our overall mission. We take great pride in the future of these endeavors and hope to pass that onto you.
RTC is capable of providing individual and group training for units up to battalion size (300-800 soldiers). The site contains weapons firing ranges, small maneuver space, track vehicle driver training space, and infrastructure across approximately 8,000 acres to support both weekend and annual training periods while simultaneously hosting Regional Training Institute (RTI classes). The RTI at Camp Rees is one of two infantry training schools west of the Mississippi, capable of housing and feeding 120 soldiers at a given time. Class cycles vary in duration, from 5-day Tactical Certification Courses to 19-day Advanced Leadership Courses, which take place monthly throughout the year. During non-class times the RTI facilities will be used by the Oregon Training Command and by Oregon National Guard units to fulfill weekend and annual training missions in tactical skills such as weapons qualifications, land navigation, and wheeled and track vehicle driver training.